If you are a creative writer, writing is never a given. Some days I can write non-stop, and others I struggle with every word I put on the screen or the page. I know people resort to many different strategies to get their creative juices flowing. One that I particularly love is art. I realized it only after I started writing consistently these last few months. It sounds crazy but I find that coloring or painting stones really sets my mind to the right wave length to write creatively. I am no artist, don’t get me wrong, and I won’t be featured at an art show anytime soon. What I find inspiring is to think about colors and combining them, or how to make the design pretty or symetrical. For me, it has to be an activity with colors and I have to put some thinking into what the project will be. That puts me in the place of thinking creatively about something that has no other purpose than to look nice. I think that the lack of expectations is what unblocks my creativity, because I am not creating a work of art but only expressing myself creatively and visually.

I have always liked painting and drawing even if I am not good at it. What really happens in the brain when you start creating something beautiful or nice is that you focus only on making physical movements that will convey your ideas into a visual representation. As writers, we know that it is very hard to put our thoughts and ideas into words, and it takes a lot of work to do it well. However while you create with your body, you see things happen without having to use words. It’s liberating! That is what I think clicks in my mind when I’m painting and the word obssessed part of me can let go and enjoy expressing itself freely with colors or forms. Express yourself in many different ways and see what happens to your writing!