Four Steps To Become More Creative

Creativity is the name of the game. Without it, writing fiction would be very difficult...okay, impossible. So how does one keep the creative juices flowing? Here is my four-step program to help you stay creative:

1. Stay busy - For most people this is not a difficult step to follow. Everyone in this day and age is busy, but I'm not talking about your writing life in this instance. I'm talking about your life outside of writing. Find things that take your mind as far away from writing as you can.
2. Reflect - When you're not busy either writing or living, take the time to sit quietly and reflect on your day. Go over the smallest details. As you reflect, pay attention to your breathing and get to the point where you're actively taking in and letting out breaths slowly. If this sounds like meditation, you're right. Some people don't think they have time to meditate, so I like reframe it as breathing. If you don't have time to breathe, then you're in trouble.
3. Establish a routine - Drive to work the same way every day. Have the same thing for lunch every day. Tie your shoelaces the same way every day. Dress the same way. Write at the same time every day. Be boring. Be predictable.
4. Break your routine - After you establish a routine for a few weeks, obliterate it. Change things up. Take a different route to work. Change your writing schedule. Forget what you worked so hard to establish in step three.

This program is not scientifically proven to work, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the principle behind what I'm suggesting. Keep the mind from getting complacent. Allow it to rest occasionally and lull it into a false sense of security. Let it think it's safe to relax and expect the "same old same old" every day. Once complacency sets in, change things up. Creativity often comes from the strain of change.