Every fall, Hallmark’s writing and editorial community hosts Word Week, which—as its title suggests—is a weeklong celebration of all things words. It’s also a chance for us to procrastinate writing get inspired and avoid writing reboost our creative juices and not write not write for a little bit.
If you’re looking for some new ways to think about writing, get a little inspiration, or just do some semi-productive procrastination, here are six Word Week-inspired tips for getting in a writing mood.
- Read Something Visual
We had the pleasure of hearing graphic novelist Scott McCloud speak about comics as a viable form of storytelling. Experiencing a story told primarily through visuals can be especially mentally refreshing for someone who is more word-minded. Scott’s TED talk does a fantastic job of describing how stories can be a multi-sensory experience:
- Look at Old Photos
Award-winning novelist Jayne Anne Phillips came to Word Week to talk about her most recent work, Quiet Dell, which is based on a true crime from the ’30s. Photographs from the time of the original case were a big inspiration for her novel.
Check out more of the photos behind Jayne’s words here.
- Write by Erasing
Blackout poetry is the art of writing by deletion. It’s also a great use of weird old books and boring business documents. This process video by Austin Kleon is a fantastic 15-second tutorial on how to make your own blackout poem.
Here’s the result of the blackout poetry workshop we held. The pieces ranged from reflective to romantic to spaghetti.
- Watch Good Writing
Some writing is best watched, not read. Here are a few of our favorite examples of poetry on video.
- Make Your Space Feel Ready to Write In
Coffeehouse is our perennial closer for Word Week. It’s essentially an open mic event for Hallmarkers to share writing they do outside of work. There are also coffee and snacks. It’s crowd favorite for obvious reasons.
A space that is typically used for formal, business-y presentations is transformed for an afternoon into a more intimate, coffeehouse-inspired setting.
Decorating for this event is a fantastic excuse for some Pinterest inspiration, if the tea lights and Mod Podged Mason jars didn’t give that away.
- Listen to Writing Music
Songs are a guaranteed source of writing inspiration. Songs like these.
And if music isn’t your thing, may we suggest the ambient sounds of Coffitivity? It’s like being at Starbucks without having to put on pants and have people spell your name wrong.
HOW DO YOU PROCRASTINATE WRITING GET INSPIRED TO WRITE?
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