Chasing the muse...literally

Or tempting her (him?) or...something.

So...the big writing puzzle for me at the moment is how to speed up the generation of 'ah ha!' moments.

My writing tends to go through fits and starts: weeks or months where I already know what comes next, interspersed with periods of 'I've no idea where this is going.'

So I back away and do other things (sometimes for weeks) and eventually, while I'm doing something completely unrelated to writing, I suddenly have it -- the perfect thing to happen next or shake things up. I love those moments. I had one back in December concerning a villain and it was awesome.

The thing is, that method of writing (literally sitting and waiting for the muse to wake up and give me ideas) works well for fanfic or anytime you're not on deadline. But if my eventual goal is to be published, I need to figure out how to goose the muse into working on my time schedule, not hers.

Brainstorming, where I sit and think, 'what if this happens' or 'what if she does that' can work sometimes. Other times, it just causes me to panic: "Oh, no. There's nothing there. I've written myself into a corner. Ack!'

Part of the problem, too, are the distractions of life. I have no problem scheduling time to write. But sitting down and staring off into space, waiting for the muse to show makes me itchy. "I should be paying the bills. Or reading that new book I checked out from the library. Or updating my blog. I can't just sit here and not do anything."

It's particularly a problem given that those cherished 'ah-ha' moments have most frequently come when I'm doing something else. That seems to reinforce the idea that sitting and staring off into space is a waste of time.

So I've been experimenting with ways of encouraging the creative center of my brain. I've noticed that doing something else (driving, for example) can free that part of me to come up with ideas. I've also realized that doodling during work meetings seems to have the same result. So yesterday, I spent some time listening to music and doodling while asking myself 'what comes next?' No 'ah ha' moments were forthcoming, but I'm going to continue with it.

What do you do to generate ideas when you're stuck?