My Creative Mojo

Here we go again. I posted a comment on another blog and it seemed suitable to post on MyCreativeMojo.

This time it was inspired by Blake Snyder’s “Save the Cat” blog (which, by the way, I often refer to as “Shave the Cat”, but that’s just me).

This post is about Brainstorming & not believing in writer’s block. You can check out the Shave The Cat post here. (Yes, I said “shave” again.)

When I brainstorm, it works well with pen and paper because I tend to mind map the ideas.

But as soon as I get into free writing, scene snippets, character descriptions, my process tends to work better directly on the keyboard. I’ll get “dialed in” and ideas come directly from the subconscious (inner critic/editor disabled). Words are flying at me way faster than I could possibly handle with a pen. Longhand cramps are a bitch when I’m at 100 MPH and I’ve got a limited buffer!

I’ve discovered that my creative mojo flows directly out through my hands and into the computer, and with the critic effectively locked out of the house (no hide-a-key in a fake rock outside), I can keep pressing forward without getting hung up on typos. This is the only way I could survive NaNoWriMo (twice) and win both times.

My best advice: Everyone’s process is different. If something isn’t working for you — don’t do it that way. Try something different. Anything. And if that doesn’t work, try something else entirely different. But whatever you do, somehow keep writing.