Switching Things Up



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Last Saturday, my husband and I went bowling with our good friends. We played two games. The first we played normally, and it was fun. We enjoyed it. 



But the second . . . the second one we switched things up. We bowled left-handed (we were all right-handed normally). It was hilarious! Infinitely more fun, even though our scores were a lot lower (okay, two of us might have done a little better than expected), but the gaffes were great. The flying-arc ball. The flip-out-of-the-gutter ball (twice!). The directly-into-the-gutter ball. The slow-rolling strike. 



Anyway, So while I'm sure you're all wildly interested in our bowling night, I really wanted to compare this to writing (surprise, surprise).

As humans, I think we tend to do things the way we've always done them. And that includes writing. Of course, there's nothing WRONG with that. But sometimes changing things up just a little can have a big impact.

I mean, on Saturday, we didn't change the activity. We still went bowling. We didn't even change any of the rules of the game. We simply changed one thing, and that made all the difference.

So if your writing feels a little stale to you . . . or it's just not as fun as it used to be, why not change something up? Here are some ideas:

• Change where you write.
• Change your ink color.
• Switch to writing by hand (or vice versa if needed) 
• If you outline, write without one.
• If you don't outline, try making one.
• Change the setting of your story. 
• Write with a partner.
• Tell the story from a different POV (1st vs. 3rd, or from a minor character's POV).
• Work on a different story altogether.
• Work on that story you're dying to write . . . but are afraid of.
• Try a different form of writing (Picture book, poetry, short story, novel in verse, vignette, flash fiction, SO MANY OPTIONS!)

What small changes have you made that really helped your writing?