Survival Tips for the Waiting Part of Writing Tip #10 – Keep your creative juices flowing

During this busy season it can be difficult to find time for creativity. The left side of our brains are on overdrive—making lists and checking them twice, decking the halls, roasting chestnuts, and ensuring a holly jolly Christmas for every boy and girl, way into the silent night. Here are some fun ideas to keep the right side of your brain jingling all the way, during the most wonderful time of the year.

1. If you’re scheduled to attend a particularly boring or stressful holiday event, party, or gathering (come on, admit it, no one is immune) spice up the drudgery by mentally hijacking the event and making it your own creative playground. Designate yourself the secret narrator of the meeting. First, choose a genre. If you want to really exercise your storytelling muscles, choose one that is outside your comfort zone. Then, from the time you enter the venue, mentally compose a literary masterpiece based on your observations. (Note: don’t verbally act as narrator. People will think you’re nuts!) As you meet new people, plot them into your story. As narrator you have the power to transform the mundane into mystery, chaos into comedic, and an obligatory gathering into an opportunity for creative genius.
2. This is the season of giving, so we might as well give creatively. Some of the best gifts I’ve ever received are ones that didn’t cost much monetarily but were worth their weight in gold when measured in thoughtfulness. For those most important people in your life, why not give them the best of your God given talents. Use your way with words to create a personalized scavenger hunt with clever clues that lead to a gift. Write a poem and use a program like Canva to set it attractively, then frame the treasured keepsake for your loved-one to enjoy. Compose a song, hire someone to set it to music, and record it for family or friends. The gifts that are cherished the most are ones that are given from the deepest part of us.
3. Use your literary skills to spin a yarn about the origin of an obscure holiday tradition. My first writing award was presented to me in the seventh grade. The challenge was to write a creative story, 500 words or less, that explained how zebras got their stripes. A zany tale that featured the Keebler Elves won me second place, and I’ve been hooked on writing ever since. This is a great time to prepare publishable pieces for next Christmas, so don’t hold back. Let your creative juices flow.
4. I’ve saved the best for last. During this holiday season press in to the One who gave you your creative gifts. From a very young age I’ve felt the gentle and gracious pull of the Father calling me to worship. I was eight years old, sitting on the shag carpet in front of our console television watching a Christmas special. A carol I’d heard many times before came to life for me during that program. As the choir sang, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” I dropped my face to the floor and began to weep. My mother was alarmed and tried to comfort me. But I had no words to explain to her what was happening. God was drawing me to Him—to adore him. And I had to. He deserved my adoration, my worship, my whole heart. When I consider how often I’ve failed Him and others since that sacred moment, and that He, already knowing every future fault, still called me to that privilege and honor of His presence, I’m humbled and long for the heart of that eight-year-old worshiper again. When we abide in Him and He in us—there’s no stopping Him from creating in and through us the fruit that will last.  

Scripture: John 15:4

Fun Fact: One of the easiest ways to get back into the creative flow is by using writing prompts. According to Writer’s Digest writing prompts, “force us to take a premise and find creative avenues to turn it into a story. They allow you to break out of funk you’ve been trapped in and enter an entirely different arena—likely one that you hadn’t considered before.” I’ve used them before, and it works! Here’s a link to some that might help:

Annette Marie Griffin is a award-winning writer who speaks at local women’s group meetings and women’s retreats on the topic of biblical womanhood and finding our identity in Christ. She is the Operations and Events Coordinator at a private school for special needs students and is the editor of their quarterly newsletter. She has written custom curriculum for women’s retreats and children’s church curriculum for Gateway Church in San Antonio, Texas where she served as Children’s Ministry Director and Family Program Director for over twenty years. She and her husband John have five amazing children and two adorable grands. She’s a member of Word Weavers International, ACFW, SCBWI, and serves on the Board of Directors for The Creative Writing Institute.