on Jane Friedman site:

I’m ready—desk set, lemon water in hand, the morning light is perfect. And yet the empty Google doc sits there mocking me, and the words won’t come.

It reminds me of playing Zelda with my dad in the 1980s. We played the game so often that it refused to start half the time. The screen would flicker with static and settle into a chaotic jumble of glitchy colors.

So, like anyone who has ever owned a Nintendo, we would blow on the cartridge. A few quick bursts of air, a hopeful restart, and we crossed our fingers. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn’t.

Creativity can feel a lot like those unreliable game cartridges. You’ve got all the tools, the experience, and the energy, but some unknowable dust from the universe blocks the brilliant ideas.

Every successful writer develops creative habits to help them get their version of Zelda back on the screen. I’ve been helping people improve their creativity skills for over 15 years, and when I run into a writing block, I turn to bad ideas. Specifically, three main shortcuts help me start new projects or quickly break out of a creative slump.

Let’s look at each of these methods. The goal is to help you generate a wider variety of ideas more quickly. Test them out and choose the one that best fits your process.