So, a little while ago I found myself sitting in front of the screen, trying to find a moment of inspiration... but all I ended up with was a blank look on my face and an inclination to go look at kitten videos on YouTube.
Rather than succumb to feline temptation, I got up and went to the kitchen.
Chicken Fajita Creativity!
A very red maple leaf
Of course, I will be the first to admit that I am ADHD as fuck-- my ability to hold a thought beyond approximately three inches is pretty limited... and although I am not "hyperactive" by any figment of the imagination, my brain does bounce around a lot.
But getting back to getting over getting stuck on what to write... I have always found that preparing food is one of the best ways to trigger creativity.
I'm guessing it's because cooking is-- in many ways-- a creative pastime; when we start cooking something, we jump start the same creative part of our brains that comes up with ideas for what to write on Steemit (for example) or in our journals, or whatever.
It doesn't have to be anything elaborate. In this case, all I ended up doing was taking out some leftover chicken fajita fixings from the fridge and as soon as I started heating them up in the skillet... my previously sleeping brain jumped into action.
When the Ideas Come... KEEP COOKING!
For me, the most important secret to keep in mind when using cooking to jump start your writing ideas is... to keep cooking.
Sailboat on Port Townsend Bay
Sure, it's very tempting to turn everything off and run to the computer to start typing, but that's actually a bad idea.
Why?
Well, the actual brain "mechanics" of what you're doing is actually a variation on "lateral thinking" which is a creative problem solving approach. You might think of it as an almost instinctive version of working "outside the box." The bottom line is that you're actually solving your "problem" (a lack of ideas) by not looking directly at the issue of "not having ideas" while actively engaging the creative part of your brain that generates ideas with something unrelated (cooking).
That's the "elevator speech" version of something quite complex.
But anyway... don't stop cooking! But DO keep pens and small pieces of paper handy to jot down ideas on as they arise... then enjoy your food, and then head for the computer with your notes!
How well did it work? Well, after 5-6 minutes at the stove and a delicious snack, I actually came away with four viable ideas!
How about YOU? Do you have any cool tips and tricks for getting past the dreaded "Writer's Block?" For that matter, DO you ever get stuck for what to write? Have you ever gotten really good ideas for a blog post while doing something completely different? Do you think "cooking creativity" would work for you? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 171026 22:19 PDT
I never tried cooking, but it is true that simply going away from your panicked trying is a fine way of getting the thing done without trying.
I go for a walk, talk a bath, a vacation if needed (if the stress factor has gotten to high) or I simply do something similar but undemanding like making a drawing instead of making the damned comic-page.
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Perfect! Same basic idea... "break state" from where you are stuck by engaging in something else that is still an "activity."
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Great tips, and we could all use some!
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Thanks... it's been really effective in kickstarting my creativity.
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If it works for you I am happy
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I totally read that as "its been really effective in kickstarting my company"
And I was just about to ask a whoel question about what company you have and about how great steemit is for networkig and business and wow you said creativity!
Well let me just ask this then... do you have extra confidence as a steem investor? Also do you think we could ask @inertia how we could get a steemit poll going that ius embeddd in the post and allows users to click maybe comments to vote? like 3 comments and then the one with most total votes wins? that could work right? Use steemits built in voting and commenting to hold Polls? I believe Polls would berealy important if we could build them in somehow to the front end and sort certain posts in ceryain areas not with the rest of the posts... kinda like how chainBB can sort only certain posts in certain areas, thats whati wanna see, i anna see diferent communitiues like subreddits with customiable backrounds headers fonts just like different subreddits and this is realy iumportant andwill let steemit REALLy griow teh way reddit is curentluy growing....
our creativty is gonna go CRAZY when we have subreddit style experience here on steemit!
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What you're describing there sounds a lot like the "communities" feature that was previously announced in the 2017 Steemit roadmap... which I understand the developers are working on, but I am not sure there's a planned launch date. But the intent was that "communities" would be somewhat similar to subreddits.
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I totally read that as "its been really effective in kickstarting my company"
And I was just about to ask a whoel question about what company you have and about how great steemit is for networkig and business and wow you said creativity!
Well let me just ask this then... do you have extra confidence as a steem investor? Also do you think we could ask @inertia how we could get a steemit poll going that ius embeddd in the post and allows users to click maybe comments to vote? like 3 comments and then the one with most total votes wins? that could work right? Use steemits built in voting and commenting to hold Polls? I believe Polls would berealy important if we could build them in somehow to the front end and sort certain posts in ceryain areas not with the rest of the posts... kinda like how chainBB can sort only certain posts in certain areas, thats whati wanna see, i anna see diferent communitiues like subreddits with customiable backrounds headers fonts just like different subreddits and this is realy iumportant andwill let steemit REALLy griow teh way reddit is curentluy growing....
our creativty is gonna go CRAZY when we have subreddit style experience here on steemit!
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Whenever I am out of writing ideas, I read motivational books and draw something on paper, it gives me good ideas for writing.
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Excellent-- the basic idea is just to "do something else" for a bit, instead of worrying about writing.
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Hey @denmarkguy
Wel done and perfect work my dear friend...100% like your ideas...
Happy steeming...happy posting...
Upvoted...
Cheers~~//
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I like cooking but it bothers me to cook... When I need to make a change in my day to day to release the stress, I go jogging to the park, I start to write and to listen to music, ballads, pops is my style, or I simply invent something; because basic idea is a "break ...".
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This just happened to me. I was sitting at my computer with three post needing to be publish but without any ideas. So, I decided to get up and eat lunch and not eat at my computer or the tv. After the small break, boom! The idea came to me!
I think you should tag your post as #disccusion. Timcliff made a post trying to promote that tag so that other people will discuss various topics and you always do a great job of pitching an idea and asking others to join the conversation.
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