Five Weird Writing Hacks That Actually Work

Five Weird Writing Hacks That Actually Work

Whether you write for fun, for school, or for work, anyone who’s ever picked up a pencil has faced writer’s block at some time in their life, and over the course of my time as a writer I’ve definitely had my fair share of one-paragraph days. But over the course of these years I’ve picked up a few fun hacks that help me get out of writing slumps. Be aware: most of these hacks are centered towards creative writing, not nonfiction or essay writing. Though I’m sure some of these hacks could help nonfiction writers, this little article is mostly for fiction writers. (sorry everybody else)

1. Dress like your character

Everyone has that problem character that’s nearly impossible to write, whether it's the dark academia morally gray love interest or your protagonist's quirky best friend (cough cough Ron Weasley cough cough). Sometimes it can be pretty difficult to get into your character's head. 

When I get stuck like this I find it helpful to try to dress like the character you're having difficulties with. Obviously your closet cosplay of your character doesn’t have to be a perfect replica of whatever you envision them wearing, but even just sticking to the character’s general aesthetic I find can help get you into your character’s mindset.

When you make the conscious decision to dress like your character, it helps keep your character at the forefront of your mind—especially if your character’s style of dressing is noticeably different then your own. 

2. Call a Friend

For many of us there can come a point where we are just stuck in a section of our stories and have absolutely no idea what to write next. These moments are frustrating, stressful, and can have us wanting to abandon yet another WIP. This hack, though it helps with these moments, requires quite a bit of faith in our friends. 

Here's how to do this. First, text your most creative friend about your problem and ask for their help. Make sure to only tell them about the things you have already written in your story and the scene you’re stuck on. Once they have all of that, have them guess the next thing you're going to have your characters do to progress your story. 

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For example:  Your characters are in the middle of robbing a bank vault, and as they’re picking the lock they hear a knocking from the other side.

Your friend guesses that on the other side of the vault is the main character's long lost sister…WHO’S BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A ZOMBIE!!!

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This almost improvisational method of getting fresh ideas for your story can be frightening, but it almost always results in a multitude of fresh ideas being brought into your story; even if you don’t use them, it always helps to have new ideas on where your story should go.

3. Make a Soundtrack For Your Story

Sometimes all you need to get into your writing groove is a good playlist. Whether you're a freak who only listens to Spotify curated playlists or someone who hand picks each song on their playlist most of us can agree that good music always helps get the creative juices flowing.

What I've found that really helps me get into a writing mood is making a playlist based on whatever I'm working on, because in all honesty there’s nothing better than listening to wacky techno music while working on a sci-fi story.

If you’re a playlist-making master, you might enjoy making a new playlist for every arc in your story, with the tone of your playlist gradually shifting as your story’s tone changes. Going even further than this, you could even make a playlist for each of your characters, whether it’s music you think they would like or music you think suits them.

  4. Make a Journal For Your Characters

Throughout a story, your character’s emotions, beliefs, and motivations will change, and when you’re dealing with multiple dynamic characters, or even just one character, it can be difficult to put yourself into your characters’ minds and understand what they’re feeling. 

This is why I suggest making a simple journal for each of your characters, especially if your story is something of an adventure. These journals should include entries in the POV of your character after every chapter of how they are feeling, what just happened in their perspective, and even worries they may have after the events of a chapter.

These entries can help you develop complex and well-written characters that evolve realistically throughout your story, and can even help you develop dialogue that actually fits your characters.

  5. Light a Candle

I find that lighting a scented candle at the start of every writing session helps me be more focused on writing, and the more often you do this, the more your brain associates the smell of the scented candle with the act of writing. I actually use this technique while studying as well, and it’s given me better and better results over time. Though buying a scented candle is a monetary investment, there are quite a few scented candles available at stores like Marshalls and TJ Maxx that sell some scented candles for as little as five dollars. (My personal candle is a pumpkin spice candle from Marshalls that only cost me around six bucks.)

I hope these writing tips are able to help out everybody reading this!

(10/5/24)