Creativity is crucial to our writing process. But there is more than one kind of creativity–and more than one kind of creative writer. Take the quiz for clues to your own creative imagination.
1. The library is my best friend.
2. I hit the road.
3. I talk to as many experts as I can.
4. I do what research I really need to do as I write the story.
5. I do a deep dive into the time and place of the story and see where that takes me.
6. I stock my bookcase with reference books so they’re close at hand
1. Produce a spreadsheet outlining the story beat by beat.
2. Fire up Scrivener.
3. Make a quick list of the big scenes and dive in.
4. Write.
5. Create a vision board filled with images of settings, characters, plot points, etc.
6. Jot scene ideas on post-its and post them around your home office.
1. I prefer silence.
2. Rock and roll
3. Classical
4. Country
5. I create a unique playlist for each book.
6. The familiar sounds of home and hearth
1. The library
2. A good hotel room in a strange city
3. An artist colony, equal parts solitude and camaraderie
4. A cabin in the woods—no people, no WIFI, no interruptions
5. A coffee shop in the locale where my story takes place
6. My home office, door closed and phone off
1. My books
2. Room service
3. My fellow writers
4. My dog
5. My characters
6. My cat
1. Write through it, even if it’s crap
2. Hit the gym.
3. Brainstorm with my fave beta reader.
4. Take a walk.
5. Do more research.
6. Binge watch Netflix.
1. Start revising immediately.
2. Pop a bottle of champagne.
3. Buy my writing pals the first round at the nearest bar.
4. Put it away for at least a week and go hiking/fishing/kayaking.
5. Line up a developmental editor.
6. Clean my study.
1. Charity event at the library
2. Wine and cheese reception at my club
3. Big book birthday party—with a band!—at my richest friend’s house
4. Signing at my local independent bookstore
5. “An Evening with Moi” at my local arts center
6. A blog tour will do just fine, thanks
1. Rewrite everything as instructed, no questions asked.
2. Call my agent.
3. Get drunk with all my writer friends.
4. Write a point-by-point rebuttal and send it off.
5. Brainstorm better ways to fix the problems my editor has identified.
6. Read all the one-star Amazon reviews of my favorite writer’s books.
1. Literature
2. Pop Culture
3. Community
4. Nature
5. Spirituality
6. Family