Have you ever just sat down and said to yourself: “Self, immediately produce a unique and creative work”?
I do that sometimes. Today, a phrase popped into my mind. This happens to me all the time. A phrase will grab me – it doesn’t have to be a profound phrase or even an original phrase – and I’ll want to do something with it. Today’s phrase was rather innocuous: “Light a candle.” I immediately thought how I could craft a piece of writing around it.
This evening, I took ten minutes and mapped out a very preliminary and brief sketch for a short, 10-minute play called “Light a Candle.” It will probably end up being material for my drama group The RLT Players.
It’s funny how a simple phrase like that can have a life of its own in my mind. I’m not going to spoil the fun and tell you what “Light a Candle” is about, but I will encourage you to try forced writing on a theme, word or phrase and see where it takes you and what you can do with it.
OK, I’ll tell you a little. Mine will be a touching tribute of a daughter who wants to remember her father who has passed away, and she lights a candle in many different circumstances to help honor him. It will be quite touching once I’m finished with it.
So, practice being creative. Remember, there is no such thing as writer’s block. There are only writers who refuse to write (but I’ll save that for another post.)
Author Mark W Sasse 
2 responses to “Force Yourself to be Creative”
I beg to differ. Writer’s block is very real, it just typically only happens when there’s something you want to write about and can’t figure out how to get from A to C, as opposed to when something just strikes you the write way (like this particular phrase, in your circumstance).
Nicholas, thanks for the reply. I figured not everyone would agree with me about writer’s block. Maybe I’ll even change my tune someday. I do agree that there is needed time for pondering of how to get from A to C. From my own experience, I find that just writing – even if I don’t like it – usually pushes the discovery button in me which leads to open avenues that weren’t there before. I shall definitely explore this topic some more.