8 Ways to Kick Out of Your Creative Comfort Zone

Comfort zones are cozy, but they hardly ever lead to success or self-improvement. This is particularly true with creative jobs such as writing.

Getting out of your comfort zone increases your chances of achieving positive results. The experience of altering your habitual pace of life multiplies points of view in your writing and brings novel ideas, forms and styles. Stuck with a lack of fresh approaches? Become that risk-taker! Bring new blood into your art! Break your routine with the following steps on the way to the perfect text.

Don’t write alone

It’s vital to collaborate with others as they may not only mentor you and teach you the latest writing techniques but also motivate you to try harder. When you share your thoughts, you start seeing an issue from a different angle. Creativity is something which can only happen in cooperation, so make teamwork your everyday practice.

Read something new

Of course, active reading is a must for every writer. It stretches the brain. However, reading only one type of literature isn’t always a smart choice. Try your hand at an uncommon book type for you. The genre you don’t usually read might actually be exciting or mind-boggling or even provocative. It can make you think outside the box, forgetting the labels and patterns which are easy to understand for you. Join a book club that will push you deep into new lands and give you inspiration.

Change your writing style

Drastically alter your usual writing manner. Try noting down something odd for you just for 15 minutes a day. Keep in mind that form often tailors the function, so after such an activity, you may find yourself creating completely new works. Since these situations are challenging, they can put a fresh thoughts into your mind. Are you a horror writer? Try romance! Do you normally write sci-fi? Slip into the shoes of a memoirist and see where it goes!

Find out and try other authors’ tips

Examine other authors’ interviews through magazines, video websites or TV channels. They’ll probably speak of some exciting and advantageous tricks of their writing. Following their tips can help you see things through and work some useful traits into your professional life.

Take part in NaNoWriMo

Try pushing yourself into the creative writing situation when you have to meet strict deadlines. If you’re new to this, have a go at National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), in which you push yourself to write a novel in just a single month. Don’t freak out, you don’t have to show your work to anybody if you don’t like the result! But it’s a great writing exercise, helping you focus and giving you a taste of what it is like to write to publishing deadlines as a professional author.

Travel to write better

Travelling is said to be an eye-opening experience. It can alter your world view, shape your preferences and enrich your inner self. Everything you discover in the process of seeing the world influences both you and your craft. So why not start your journey now? There’ll be a lot of information to digest, which is advantageous not only for your work but also for your personal experience. Become a globetrotter and you’ll be amazed how much insight it brings!

Become your own hero

Note down three writers you admire and imagine their actions. Emulate their style and way of thinking. What would your role models do in the place where you are? How would they react to the situation you’re in? What would their aims look like? What about their plans and ways to achieve them? Choose one thing your writing heroes have done and implement it, then move on to the next thing. This will help you develop new habits and obtain a different vision of your art.

Fail like a super star

Even if it’s something cringeworthily shameful, the effect of having done something scary is massive. It makes you more confident and forces you to start finally living free from fear. Failure is the greatest teacher: it provokes analysis of the reasons and effects of the incident, so it’s a complete learning curve. It can be an integral part of your writing and essential source of creativity. Scared of heights? Go hiking! Afraid of real life talk? Make a friend! Let yourself grow to the next level and start afresh, without anything stopping your progress.

Remember that real life begins outside your comfort zones, so it’s time to kick out and start exploring. There will be no better time to leave your comfort zone than this very moment. Do not postpone your success!