Why I Allow Myself to Cheat on My Projects

October 16, 2020

When you have a creative mind, you're always bursting with ideas. Some are inspired by your environment, entertainment, art, and some come from dreams.

Have trouble writing about your dreams? Dreams are nonsense and have no plot, but your brain is free for the fantastical and is using a dream to work out a problem. They're fuel for stories, but not stories. Plots can come from the nonsense, if you use a dream as a spark, not the outline. But, I digress.

No matter what the source, I allow myself to ask the first "what ifs" to start shaping the story. Every writer has a different method, but I start asking questions important to the character. I free write a scene to work out the character's dilemma or I start looking for more inspiration on Pinterest and make a board for the story. I'm a visual thinker and have a bit of synesthesia regarding words, so this helps me get the world firmer in my mind.

I allow myself to do this because if I don't, I'll get bored with my WIP. It no longer has the Shiny element of a new story. Since I allow myself to cheat on whatever I'm working on, my mind gets a break. When I come back to my original WIP, I will have fresh ideas to incorporate, concepts I'd like to explore, improving the project overall.

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