A couple of tokes and you can start writing the most profound thoughts you ever had, the only problem is the next morning they don't sound so profound. Seriously, to boost your creative processes I would suggest a good diet, exercise, early to bed, keep company with people who inspire you, visit places you might write about and write early in the morning when you are the most energetic. You may also want to read authors who write in a style you admire. I know when I read Henry Mitchell I want to write about my experiences just as he did, the problem is, the pro's make it look easy.

Eddie have you been smoking your pineapple guava leaves again? We need to have a serious talk about that. LOL. Thanks for the suggestions. I wasn't asking for help though. Instead, I was hoping that others would share some unique, silly, or whimsical little things they do to keep those brain cells moving. I only have two cells left and your first suggestion would no doubt cause some very profound thoughts that I must keep locked away from all three of me. Oh Boy!!!!!! I need a vacation from myself!!! I have just spent 12 months writing and researching and doing a little street fighter marketing and........I'm ready to start my next venture. You stated that I should write in the morning when I am the most energetic. I am one who's energy kicks in at midnight so that wouldn't work for me. Is there anything you do out of the norm to boost your thinking? (And I don't mean hanging out in the fruit orchard singing Jimmy Buffet songs :) ).

I am not sure I follow. Is it that you want to stimulate your creativity or subdue it, because these are two completely different drugs you know.
I don't usually have a problem with creativity, bringing it into focus is a different matter however. Meditation is good. If I am feeling a bit flat I rarely find sitting at the desk helps, if there are kids around I find them inspiring and walking the dog is a good antidote too.
I never read others when I am writing. I once wrote a series of short stories in a flip meant to be humorous fashion and took a break afterwards. On the 'plane I read a light detective novel by Elmore Leonard, I was humbled, if I had read this while writing I would have given up.

A glass of wine in pleasant company always has a beneficial effect on my mind; so does a walk in the woods or along the shore, especially at this time of year, when the ferny slopes and rocky shores are mossy green.

Sometimes -- though not always -- taking a trip helps, and it doesn't even have to be to a scenic place. (Accidentally ending up in a sleazy motel in a bad part of town can be very stimulating.)

Tony and John:

Thank you. Your input was exactly what I was hoping for. I certainly was not headed in the direction of mind-altering substances. Spirit-lifting, thought-provoking activities are more to my taste.

"I never read others while I'm writing" Good point! I too refrain from reading while writing. I've always had the attitude that it would only put me in danger of losing my indentity.

I love walking in the woods at night and am inspired by the preditors on the hunt. The fluttering, the schreech, the scattering and then......total silence.

John, funny you would mention ending up "in a bad part of town", as I often find myself headed in that direction. I live on the edge. It keeps me sharp. I am known to approach the homeless and talk with them. Listening to their hopes and dreams of a better day. Some I help and others.......well, I know better.

Once I jumped a train just to see if I could. What a rush of feeling so alive! Jumping back off again was a little rough going, but I'm still here and can laugh about the crazy things I sometimes do.

I aslo agree that kids are great to watch and interact with. I mostly talk with teens, asking them their opinions on life to see where their heads are at.

Enough about me. I'd really love to hear more about what others do for a boost.

Again, thank you for your responses as this is what I was hoping this forum to be. Positive sharing.

I put on an old fedora like all of the reporters from The Daily Planet used to wear on the old Superman TV show (sans the press pass tucked into the hat band). I know it sounds corny but it seems to work for me. Whenever I come out of the bedroom wearing that hat, my lovely wife knows I am going to be writing for a while.

In a seasonal state of mind ... Maybe it displays deeply buried childhood memories of song.

There must have been some magic in that old felt hat he found.
For when he put it on his head, he began to write things down.

Maybe I should quit now...

IronBelly

Nothing like a deadline to push the creative process.

OK - beyond that: While experiencing the natural world in simple or grand ways provides me with aesthetic, calming, or other exalted responses (such as gratitude), such breaks rarely rev up my creative energy. Instead, I'm much more likely to be ignited by human works of music, art, or literature that bring some intellectual stimulus as well.

johnp:
You're right. Nothing like a deadline to get those creative juices flowing.

"deadline

n, the point in time at which something must be completed; one of the most efficient tools ever invented for getting writers off their lazy butts."

infullbloom -
Get out and do stuff. Anything.

I don't have "writer's block" because I have low standards. My first drafts are crap, I know they will be crap, but it's a starting point.

>>>My first drafts are crap, I know they will be crap, but it's a starting point.Lazygardens ~

I know what you mean. The hardest thing for me is to actually sit down and start. I was once told to just write/type *anything* -- to keep on going, not to worry about typos, spelling, punctuation, sequence, etc., in the first draft(s). One writer jokingly said that she ties herself to her chair (at least I think it was a joke). Do you remember who told us that, Eddie?

The thing I like about computers is that you can type over that original draft -- over an over again. In the old days, I piled up typewritten draft upon typewritten draft until the piles of paper got so thick I sometimes lost track of what I had written.

I once accidentally typed a book chapter single space -- all 64 pages, and my editor made me retype it doubled spaced. Today, that can be fixed with a few key strokes. At the time, it almost became the straw that broke the camel's back.

In the bad days before spellcheckers, typos had to be fixed with white-out and overtyping, or the entire page had to be retyped. That did marvels for my power of concentration but often interfered with inspiration.

Allen Ginsberg once told me to write hot and edit cold, not that he followed his own advice but i think it was good advice. He gave a good workshop did Ginsberg.

I feel very inspired tonight. I just squeezed some juice from lemons I picked off my [potted] lemon tree this afternoon, while it sat outside, in the wan winter sun. I arranged the squeezed lemons on a platter which I set next to my computer. Their color and fragrance brings back all sorts of almost forgotten memories of my youth and is inspiring me to write.

I can't help but wonder how inspired I would feel if I had plucked the oyster mushrooms I saw on my afternoon walk along the creek. Very inspiring. As it turns out, this short-term reminiscence just triggered the memory of the first oyster mushrooms I ever found -- on a cottonwood log on the high bank of a California creek many decades ago -- and of making love among the wildflowers, and of riding my favorite horse back to the mushroom log, of plucking the 'shrooms and preparing them that evening for the women I loved. Oh yes, and the squeaky trill of a wood duck, and the penetrating screams of semi-wild peacocks. . . .

Thanks Tony! I guess I'll be up all night now, writing.

Hilda, I don't remember who told us they tied themselves to their chair but I wish I could catch them in that position. Go ahead, make my day.