Today I did something for the first time. I drove a particular back mountain road from start to finish. I’ve driven past the entrance to this road hundreds of times in my dozen years in Colorado. Today I took the family and we drove it.
We saw views we’d never seen, stopped at a historic marker commemorating those from the Civilian Conservation Corps who built the road back in 1938, and gained a new perspective on the natural beauty surrounding us.
Doing something for the first time can be scary, exciting, rewarding, or possibly disappointing. However, doing those first time things stretches me. They broaden my perspective and enrich my life. I also get bragging rights to say, “I did that.”
As a writer it is important to try new things so that I can bring more authenticity to my characters and stories. Particularly in this age of “only write what you know” it is vital to keep the creative pump primed with new experience.
Routines can be deadly
Some writers swear by their routines. Experts will tell you routines are essential to success. But routines get comfortable. They grow rigid and unyielding and foster a sense of dependency. Routines make you fear violating them. In the Army Operational Security (OPSEC) teaches that routines equal death. The enemy knows your movements and can anticipate what you do. In a less literal way, routines can be the death of creativity.
I still look at my routines the way I did in the Army. Changing things up, doing the unexpected, doing something for the first time on a regular basis, keeps me and my creativity alive.
When was the last time you did something for the first time? What is stopping you? It doesn’t have to be big, it just has to be new. Heck, try sleeping on the other side of the bed tonight. Might just blow your mind.
