Last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, I took a trip to the North Carolina mountains with my father. My sister and her husband were in Blowing Rock part of the time, too.
Taking trips without the kids isn’t something I get to do very often, but it’s fun when I do. I definitely miss the children, but it’s nice to pull away for a little while and not have to consider eating at restaurants that have chicken tenders and French fries on their menus.
Daddy is an English professor and was on spring break. He was excited to have time to read a couple of books he’d gotten for Christmas and his birthday. I was able to do a lot of revision work while he read—and I was even able to take some great pictures—including this rainbow we saw out the back of the cabin.
Doing something out of the ordinary is a great way to recharge your batteries. I have to admit that my batteries needed some recharging. I have one book for one series at the publisher waiting to hear what they think, a book for the other series I’m doing a final proof on before its July release, and a book I’m turning in on April 5. Sometimes it felt like all I was doing was searching and destroying my own mistakes—these novels were all either recently revised or currently being revised.
My head felt really clear in Blowing Rock and I don’t think it was only due to the mountain air. I could see some fresh approaches to my book and I think it had a lot to do with being in a different place and doing different things.
It’s easy for me to get in a rut. I’m a pretty quiet person and I frequently do the same things day in and day out. But occasionally I change things up a little and it always seems to help me out.
These are some (really minor) things I’ve done to shake up my routine sometimes (you can see how conservative I am with changes in my routine!) :) —
- Abruptly driven down a road I’ve never driven down before.
- Read a genre or subgenre that’s completely different than something I’d ordinarily read.
- Listen to different music (I listen to just about every type of music, so to be different I’ll try listening to the stuff my son does. Hmm…it’s different, all right…)
- Go to different library branches to write (Okay, y’all are laughing at me now. But this is a big change in routine for me!)
- Try some different activities—I’ve been gardening lately, which has been impossible due to the cold, rainy weather. Now with temps in the 70s, I’m able to get outside—and even write outside after I’ve done my yard work.
How about everyone else? How do you shake up your routine and get out of your ruts? Does it seem to help with your writing?
Elizabeth – I’m so glad that you had a good trip. I love that ‘photo, by the way. I think we all need to refresh and recharge at times. I find that doing so does help me to write better. I try to break up my routine with little things. Today, for instance, I had a wonderful coffee/and/chat session with a friend I’ve not seen lately. We spent lots more time catching up than I thought we would, but I was so pleased at the “recharge” factor. And I came out of it with the whole skeleton of a book plot!
Since I write 2-3 books at a time I usually don’t have a problem with this. But when I do I watch a few movies on cable. I saw one on Sundance with Kevin Spacey in his early years. I saw another with Rene Zingweiner. Two movies I’ve never seen or heard of.
Not a lot of money was spent on making these movies, but they were quirky creative and and stimulated something in my brain that helped me to get my groove back on.
Stephen Tremp
Sounds like a great cleansing trip for sure!!!
I find that when I have “writer’s block” it’s normally due to a new scene that needs to be implemented and a good run, a hot bath and talking with family and my husband helps me clear my head. I would say that a road trip would definitely help as well! That should be next on my list!
I think you’re right, it’s so important to shake up our routines sometimes, even in small ways. Thanks for the reminder!
Actually I think blogging makes me more tangential – in a good way. I can’t spend a lot of time yet I try to blog five or six times weekly. Something about the deadline pressure makes new ideas pop out. Hmm. Thanks for this, Elizabeth.
Gorgeous photo! I’m so glad you and your dad had a great trip – sounds like a little piece of heaven :)
I can get into ruts as well. I like the little changes. They do help me a lot. Reading a new author is great. I’m pretty eclectic in my music tastes, but listening to my son’s might shake things up a bit too :)
Shaking up my routine from time to time helps me, too. I wonder why that is?
Blowing Rock is pretty. I went there years ago.
Love the photo. Change in routine is good. I change the music I listen too from time to time and that helps me. I definitely change the genre of books I’m reading and that keeps me from getting in a rut. You mentioned gardening, I first started listening to audio books working in my roses my summer. This was before MP3s so I had a cassette recorder sitting in the middle of the roses with a Stuart Woods book playing. It was fun. Now I just hook the MP3 on my jeans and only I can hear the wonderful story being told.
Getting out of the house can be nice, but going on vacation really throws me off. (I’m such a homebody.)
Reading different genres, watching different movies, or listening to different music are useful. But I usually do two things:
One is to kidnap my characters and put _them_ in an alien landscape. (Hey, if leaving town throws me for a loop, why not my characters?) Sometimes it’s just a stock location (generic fantasy castle, or WWII canteen) or into the situation of a contrasting TV show or movie. Or even some real life situations. Like the one year in grad school that I had the most insufferable snob teaching a creative writing class – which is interesting not only on an interpersonal level, but deciding what the characters would write.
The other thing I do is simple idea generation. Sit and pick some object or words at random and come up with ten or more ideas based on it.
I need to try things like that to recharge me to start writing again.
Travel has always been my impetous and inspiration for writing. I write in my notebooks and then mine them later for my books. My routine isn’t one. I work sporadically on one project or another both in my paid work(s) as a therapist, govt. project writer, murder-mystery writer and facilitator AND I tend to work on my wips the same way – flitting from one to another. I think I need the opposite of a shake-up – I need to SETTLE DOWN a bit. Going to do that this weekend by not even going to the market but working on have-to’s like tax stuff and want-to’s like my most pressing wip!
I’ve done so many “different” things that lots of people would think I’m crazy in my life, I have lots of unusual stuff to fuel my muse at my age, but … I still, if I find myself in too much of a “routine rut” will do spontaneous things to jazz the day up and get some serendipity. Like just drive to a different city and sit downtown and people watch, maybe talk to a stranger or two or strike up a conversation with an interesting looking homeless person over a meal I buy for him or her.
I also do that one you like – see a road I’ve never driven down and figure “what the heck – let’s see what’s down there.”
I agree, that sort of thing is vital to writers if you want to stay interesting and fresh, hmm?
Marvin D Wilson
Absolutely! Every little change (even going for a drive and finding a new frozen yogurt store like I did last week) has helped me escape my sluggish ways and regain a bit of my energy. Gardening is next on my list (as soon as this most recent snow melts).
I find that it really does help to break your routine. I’m a big routine person. I sit my rear at my desk and there I stay all day, every day.
Lately, I’ve been trying to get up and read some each day. It’s relaxing, plus I’m seeing things I need to go back and do in my own manuscript, like slow down, put in more visual and descriptive pieces. Fill out the skeleton.
Helen
Straight From Hel
I am still so new to writing that the writing tasks we arrange at my writers´ blog are very inspiring. We are 20-30 Danish writers (mostly unpublished) who use the blog as a kind of platform, and once a month there is a small exercise, e.g. “write a poem with a giraffe and two colours” or “write a story where all the characters have product names”. Even in very dry spells, I seem to be able to write these tasks.
Yes. One simple one is taking a different road/route home. It changes perspective. Instead of daydreaming and just going through the motions of turning and stepping on the gas, I look out and see things.
I write in a different coffee shop now and then, plan to do that more, now.
I tried a new exercise class and yoga. All good. But, it does stretch you out of your comfort zone just a bit.
For me, just doing ANYTHING that’s not book or speaker related is a deviation!
I like movies, so that often is a good diversion for me.
Stephen–Oh, I love independent, quirky films! Anytime I see someone else’s creative effort (movies, books, etc.) it usually helps me out.
Jen–Exercise–good point! That’s another thing to help get me recharged. I’m not a fan of it, but when I do it, I always feel so much better!
Margot–And that’s an extra-added bonus to coffee with a friend!
Ingrid–Hope it helps for you. :)
Alex–It really does help. I’ve just been kind of *tired* and doing something different really does help to recharge me.
Jan–I think you have a fun, wayward life ALL the time! So, you’re right…something different for you might be the boring stuff that I’m always doing!
Glen–Deadlines are great for making new ideas–in a panicky sort of way!
Jemi–It’s eye-opening…in many ways! :)
Marvin–THAT is interesting! Go to a whole different town and look at the people? Wow. I think that sounds like a wonderful day…
Carol–I wonder, too. Because I would ordinarily say that a routine really helps me out.
Mason–Gardening WITH a book on the Ipod…now *that* is genius. I think I’ll be giving that a go soon.
The Daring Novelist–I like your ideas. Writing exercises can be a lot of fun and I haven’t tried any lately. Hmm. Food for thought.
Helen–I think I need to take a break from writing for a short while and read. Not going to happen now, though! But maybe in a couple of weeks I can swing it…maybe.
Mary–I try yoga, but I’m not sure I’m doing it right! But when I try it, I really do feel like I’m stretching myself (in more ways than one!)
Patricia–Well, I think snow provides a bit of an excuse for you… :)
Dorte–That’s a great idea! I think that, in April, I might have a bit more time to breathe and maybe try short stories (which I love, but don’t think I’m great at.)
Diane–You’re going to need a break sometime soon, yourself! It’s always crazy after a book release. :)
Usually if I find I’ve gotten into a rut, I try to read a new book in a different genre that I’ve been reading. I also try to see a new movie. That almost always gets the creative juices flowing again. :)
I’m with you on the music…it’s a powerful way to change mood and get me out of my funk. I also like to try different genres of books and edit different genres also.
ann