What Gets Your Creative Juices Flowing?
Related: 2.5 weeks until my book deadline, omg!
Today I’m heading to Stone Ridge, New York, a small hamlet in Ulster County not too far from New Paltz and Woodstock. I’m renting a quaint cottage nestled in the woods, alone, where I plan to revise (at least some of! I hope a lot of!) my 80,000-word book manuscript. Some of you may remember that was there in January, too, also for book writing — I loved it so much and got tons done, so I decided to go back.
In light of my plans, I want to know about the things you do when you want to feel inspired. Do certain activities, foods, or drinks get your juices flowing? I don’t have a specific process for getting into a creative mindset, other than that I require coffee and peace and quiet. I also love exercising in the morning, before I sit down to work. Crumb coffee cake is a bonus. I have special strategies I lean on whenever I hit roadblocks, too — I either take a walk or take a shower. I’ve had a heck of a lot of Eureka moments in the shower.
What about you? Are there specific foods, activities, etc that you rely on before you create or brainstorm? Share in the comments! And if you have any questions about the book-writing or publishing process, fire away.
Also, last call to take my book reporting survey! I’m still adding anecdotes to my book so I’d still be thrilled to hear your stories! if you haven’t filled it out yet: It’s not even ten questions long, and most people have only answered two or three. That’s totally fine! My questions are pretty specific, so just address what you want to and can. I love hearing from you.
Walking always frees up my mind… it’s like I’ve thrown the windows open of a dusty attic and cleared it all of dust and cobwebs. But the biggest is hands down not feeling stressed or overburdened by life’s chores.
Good luck with your work retreat!
Love the idea of retreating to a cottage or cabin to get creative work done - I'll have to try it sometime! Some things that I've found helpful for my writing practice: having a clean and beautiful (to me) workspace, lighting a candle and using a battery-operated timer and working in 25-30 minute segments, with my phone out of sight. I need to build a playlist for writing too, since music always inspires me.