Questions To Ask Yourself To Get More Creative

All writers have times that they feel that their creativity needs a bit of a boost, but sometimes when we want to be at our creative best, those ideas just won’t come.

To get back into that creative mindset, it can help to ask ourselves particular questions. Ones which will remind us why we love the craft of writing, what our motivations are and tap into the writing methods that work best for you.

So next time you feel your creativity could do with some inspiration, ask yourself the following:

Do you care most about the finished product, or is it the writing process that drives you?

There is no right or wrong to this question. Instead, it is about understanding what motivates you to write in the first place. Writers who focus on the result are driven by the satisfaction of completing something. However, they may be simultaneously anxious about the idea of doing so because of what comes next and therefore find completing a manuscript more of a challenge. Remember, the best thing a writer can do for themselves when they’ve finished one writing project is to dive right into another one. Even if you’ve got to worry about the editing and marketing process, you can do this alongside writing your next and keep that creative process going.

Why are you writing this book in the first place?

One of the greatest creative motivators is genuinely understanding what caused you to think about writing a book in the first place. Why do you need to write? What message are you trying to communicate with the outside world? Often we don’t really explore this, and it is only when asking ourselves the question that we truly understand the deep meanings, our pathological needs as writers. If we can discover this, we can use it to our advantage and understand which approaches will best enhance our creative selves.

Are you able to fully accept the concept of change?

Often, writer's block their own creativity because they cannot get past the idea of fundamentally changing their ideas and their characters to make a better story. We can be so stubbornly attached to our original concept that when faced with an option, a pressure (be that internal or external) to make significant changes, we often shy away from these, or find it overwhelmingly impossible to do so. However, to be effective writers and to be at our most creative, we must open ourselves up to change, make important decisions, and kill our darlings for the greater good.

How do you self-sabotage?

Understanding the things that we do that make the writing process harder, the challenges that we create is hugely important. Understanding and addressing our weaknesses as writers and figuring out proactive, genuine solutions can make us much better writers, can mean that we can quickly open ourselves up to being creative, can let our imaginations flow and don’t block or criticize ourselves which can lead to self-doubt and fear.

Being as creative as possible means that you can explore so many different avenues, that you have the confidence to be creative and experiment, that you can identify when change is necessary and can write your stories in the best way possible. By asking yourself the above questions, you can try to tap into your true creative self and become a better writer as a result.

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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