Outtakes #18

 One Picture

There are times when the muse takes a vacation and I struggle to move from one scene to the next. I’ve even had the horrible experience of staring at the blank screen and nothing happens. No words come to mind. The characters fail to speak to me. The page remains blank. I can only shut down my computer and walk away.

So what do you do when faced with “writer’s block”? Here’s an exercise that works for me. Gather a few necessities—a tablet, your favorite pen, a kitchen timer, magazines, photo albums,  or coffee table books, a cup of coffee or tea. Now find a quiet spot, and relax. Forget about editing, you will write whatever comes to mind. Set the timer for no more than ninety minutes. Ready? You are about to put the expression “a picture is worth a thousand words” to the test.

Flip through a coffee table book or magazine for a picture that speaks to you. Study it for a few minutes and then draft as many story lines as possible from the scene before you. Imagine characters that would fit into the story ideas and write brief character sketches. Take the setting, your character sketches, and using one story line write a romance, a mystery, a paranormal piece, a thriller, and a horror story.  The possibilities are endless.

Review some of your ideas. Is the writing more vivid? Do the characters breathe? Compare the number of active verbs to the passive ones. Which is greater? I’ve learned my internal editor sometimes inhibits the creative process. When not concerned with perfection, the ideas pop. The words are sharper and the draft less cluttered.

Give this a try next time you are struggling. You’ll be surprised how quickly the creative ideas begin to flow and you are able to get back to your current work.

Cait Collins