Saturday, July 7, 2018

Creative Things To Do With Your WIP

Instead of a bunch of writing tips, these are some fun things to do with your work-in-progress that are not about writing. Things to help you stay inspired or just make the somewhat tedious (but exciting) process a little more fun.



Do you get stuck when writing your WIP? Ever get the sudden urge to make an aesthetic? I don't consider myself a very creative person except for when it comes to writing. And yet even I get tired of staring at black words on a white screen.

Here are a bunch of fun things to try as they strike you. (Notice a lot of them have to do with enjoying your workspace which happens to be my bedroom.) Most of these I've tried myself although I can't claim credit for coming up with all the ideas. ;)
  • reorganized my bookshelves (gotta make room for that manuscript and new notebook)
  • made aesthetics on Canva and printed them off
  • hung fairy lights on my wall ... and bookshelf 
  • hung original cover artwork on my wall (because I have a watercolor cover!)
  • started a public Pinterest board with sneak peeks or a private one for ideas
  • collected WIP-like items in a box ... feathers, buttons, pictures, Altoid tins, movie tickets ... whatever fits!
  • made myself fan art (or even just something cute for the writing space)
  • hunted for favorite quotes in the manuscript
  • reread positive reviews of my published books
  • start a bookstagram account
  • annotated book one in the series I'm writing (helps for the future books too!)
  • fill out character charts (at least, I think that's fun)
  • take a basic personality quiz for your characters
  • create an inspirational desktop wallpaper: [book title] won't write itself
  • create a Hangouts chat with a close friend you can ping ideas/story snippets off of
  • create an idea bank in a cute jar or piggy bank
  • buy laptop skins just to make the writing process more fun
  • take a walk
  • wear a fun bookish t-shirt, use a bookish mug, wear bookish jewelry
  • read fiction books similar to the one you're writing
  • watch a movie with something in common with your book (for Martin Hospitality it's The Magic of Ordinary Days)
  • name your laptop *cough*
  • buy a new notebook (not to use, are you crazy?)
  • have a good bookish discussion with a friend
  • buy yourself a cactus or succulent to tend
I'm sure there are others, but that's what I've come up with!
What things have you tried that were actually enjoyable or profitable? Have you ever done something creative like this to renew interest in your story? I'd love to hear how it goes if you try one of these!

10 comments:

  1. What a fun post! Sometimes you need a break from the screen (or the pen!) and there are so many fun ideas here for those moments you aren't spending plotting or writing. I appreciate how many of these include books and notebooks. :)

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    1. Absolutely! I'm learning that breaks (even accidental ones) are not all bad. ;) Yes!! Alllll the books and notebooks hehe :D

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  2. This is super awesome and helpful! Thank you for this Abi <3

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    1. Great! It turned into a quick and easy post to write, so I'm glad it was helpful!

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  3. The "buy yourself a cactus" one cracked me up! :P These are great tips! I go to the pinterest one often, but the hunting for a favorite quote one is a good idea that I haven't tried much before! Thanks for sharing :D

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    1. Hahaha xD Well I've done it before in the name of writing sooo I figure it needed to be on the list. Sure thing! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who does these sort of things ;)

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  4. Awesome post!!! I loved reading your list!
    -Brooklyne

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    1. Thanks, Brooklyne! You'll have to let me know if you try any of these :D

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  5. Ooh, I love this list. I've definitely done the looking through my ms for cool quotes, and of course bookish discussions. I'm sure my sisters dread driving anywhere with me because you can be sure I'lk going way too deep on a book or movie discussion. Another fun thing I like is creating mock covers, and definitely Pinterest boards for my books. I have so many, they're out of control!

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    1. Thanks! Haha ... yeah I tend to like deeper discussions too. And then there are times I know something's flawed and basic, but I loved it anyway so I'm like "don't ruin it." xD Ohhh yes!! I create mock covers too every now and then. YES Pinterest boards <3 I mean, are you really a writer if you don't have at least ooonnnee Pinterest board for your writing?? ;)

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