Don’t Know What To Write Next? This Brain Exercise Can Help!
It’s thinking that gets creative juice flowing like crazy.
Here is a puzzle for you called “The man and his car”.
A man is pushing his car and stops when he arrives at a hotel. It is in this precise moment when he realizes in despair that he is bankrupt. Why? (leave your guesses in the comments)
Wheels, electricity, iPhone, internet, Tesla coil, your favorite commercial, and an article you actually remember reading…They all have one special thing in common.
Creating any of those involved lateral thinking.
It’s thinking that gets creative juices flowing like crazy.
Some people are blessed to have it in abundance and don’t even understand it exists. Others need to fingerpick their mental wires to call upon it.
Whatever the case is, anyone can do it. You just need to know what it is for starters, and how to engage in it.
What is lateral thinking?
Lateral thinking is the ability to think creatively to solve problems. When you see someone “approaching things from a different perspective”, it means they are thinking laterally.
To release your brainwaves sideways means to relate the problem to something that has nothing to do with the problem.
Writing an article about the flying saucers by connecting it to the hullaballoos is one example. The answer to the riddle above would also be the byproduct of lateral nerve stretching.
To think laterally, you have to break the patterns of logical thinking. It’s done best by referencing known terms to something utterly absurd for example.
Putting on a lateral thinking cap calls for creativity, ingenuity, inovation, imagination, and a few failed attempts to make any sense of the thing.
It’s a zone that writers, marketers, and artists often visit to make breakthrough concepts.
Write your next piece using lateral thinking!
I know certain Medium writers that are flexing those brain muscles DaVinci-level. Links at the bottom…
I unconsciously did it with one of my first articles on Medium. Not a DaVinci level though... though it’s great if you like bananas.
If you are looking for some fun, first engage in lateral thinking exercises. There are plenty online.
Just type in “lateral thinking puzzles” on Google and enjoy. There is a great reddit community where they used to post these puzzles daily before they went extinct.
Furthermore, to give your creativity a boost, you could try writing your next piece on Medium with this power.
To keep it simple, go ahead and find yourself a dictionary. Open page 435 and pick a third word you see on the page. Take it and blend it with one of the topics you are interested in.
Feel free to use that word as a reference point. Give yourself a rule to use it at least 10 times in the text. Or, to make it more challenging, use it as a main comparison for a concept you are trying to explain.
It will be the most fun you had in a while. Or very frustrating.
Frankly, it depends on how good-humored your creative muze is that day.
Go ahead, try it out!
You don’t have anything to loose except your nerves and time. And that’s nothing after surviving the pandemic…
I really believe it has a potential to refresh your writing.
This exercise might bring benefits in a long run. It will spark your creativity and imagination. The more you stretch laterally the more capable you’ll become of creating outstanding work.
You will be surprised to see what your brain comes up with.
Be warned — don’t overdo it. Some people discovered there’s an autonomus creative entity living inside their brains.
Oh, yes…the riddle from the beginning…comment, I’ll respond. Ask for the clues, I’m happy to help :)
Here are some examples of great lateral pieces:
