Unusual Writing Tips

From Writerslife.org:

Getting tired of reading about the same old tried and testing writing tips? Looking to try something more unusual to boost your creativity and writing skills? Try these fantastic, unusual writing tips and see if they work for you!

Go bungee jumping

OK so it doesn’t have to be bungee jumping, but doing something that gets your heart racing and adrenaline pumping can be an ideal way to get those creative juices flowing.

Write a script

Try something different and write a script or a play. Doing so will really force you to focus on the power of dialogue to tell a story and can be a great way to learn how to make dialogue more effective in our work.

Use a dictaphone

Get old school and take a dictaphone with you wherever you go, it means you can easily record anything interesting you observe as well as general musings, or those bolt of lightening ideas that may strike at any time - without worrying your pen is going to run out of ink.

Write in weird places

Don’t just sit at your desk in your home office to write, get out and about and find some weird and wonderful locations to write in. You’ll feel inspired, and no doubt discover some exciting people and places while you are at it - all excellent material for your book.

Write in the middle of the night

Set your alarm for midnight and wake up to write in the dead of night. You might find your sleepy state unlocks new ideas and allows your writing to flow, or just writing when everyone else is asleep could give you more focus and will enable you to be more productive too.

Get relaxed

OK while we shouldn’t advocate heavy drinking, lots of writers do find they are more creative if they settle down to write after a nice glass of wine! Of course, it doesn’t have to be alcohol that does it for you, anything that gets you into that relaxed and carefree state of mind will help your creativity flow.

Work backwards

It might seem unnatural to start a story at the end, but doing so can give writers a fresh perspective and a new insight into the way they write. Why not give it a try?

Read before you write

Every writer knows that reading can help inspire you and give you great ideas too. But have you tried setting some time aside to read before each of your writing sessions? Doing so could help you to get focused, get into the creative mindset and be inspired to write your very best.

These unusual writing tips are well worth trying out; they’ll help you to gain a new perspective, experiment with different techniques and have fun with your writing too!

Do any of these ideas seem unusual to you? Reading before you write certainly isn't an unusual one. I must admit I want to gt out somewhere to try writing, though I tend to forget about this idea whenever I go on a walk. It's so easy just to step outside to begin walking. An using a dictaphone, or a tape recorder--how I would love to do that if I could find one and some tapes, of course. I remember just recording nonsense onto a tape recorder. Perhaps I could dictate a whole story onto tape and then transcribe it. This might be easier than trying to write my ideas on paper, though I definitely would not make a habit out of tape-recording stories, as I can see myself getting annoyed from doing this many times. 

I'm definitely not brave enough to even think of trying to bungee jump, and wine is out for me. But if I wanted to, maybe I could try writing plays or scripts. I can easily wake up in the middle of the night without setting my alarm, though I have yet to try writing then. I now want to do it this way! Working backwards--I would never have thought of that one. Start with an ending and then work backwards as to how you came to that ending.

How many of these ideas have any of you tried or now want to try?