Fueling Your Creative Juices

by Elijah Shoemaker

It happens to virtually every writer eventually. As you are working on the beautiful creation in front of you, you feel that spring of continuously flowing creativity run dry. Some have the philosophy of taking a break and returning to the writing with a fresh perspective. To this, I would ask: What if that creative fountain still refuses to bubble? What if you walk away for a day, then another day, then a week, but still your muse yields no positive results of any sort? Don’t misunderstand me: the “walk away and come back with a fresh, new mindset” approach is a good one. I’m simply addressing the experience of when that isn’t enough to fix things.

First, you have to remember that to get something out of yourself, you need to put something in. Basic and elementary, I know, but still very true. I am not referring to food (though it is a really good idea to keep yourself in the habit of eating regularly). Rather, I am talking about intellectual and imaginative inputs. I sometimes hit that proverbial and continuous wall, and find my answers in listening to something musical I haven’t heard for a while. I may watch a movie semi-related to what I’m writing that I haven’t seen for quite some time. Or, best of all, I find the easiest way to refill my imaginative and intellectual wells is to, I don’t know, read a book.

Yeah, I said it. When you’re having trouble thinking of how to continue your writing, how to create, how to develop, etc., you might simply need to read a book. Which genre? Whatever happens to be your cup of tea. Your choice of book is, as they say, your prerogative. Writer’s block gotcha? Why not pick up a book, get comfy, and crack it open? It just might take you wherever you want or need to go.

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As a child, Elijah Shoemaker fell in love with comic books. He found he could lose himself in a universe where the underdogs stood a chance at rising above. Constantly pushed around and ridiculed, Elijah found comfort in the graphic novels. Now, his goal is to bring the hope he found in those graphic novels to children in middle and high school. Bullying and a cruel caste system exist even more than they did when Elijah was growing up. He writes superhero fiction to give the youth of today a spark of confidence that they can come through victorious.