6 Ways to Have Fun With Fiction

What’s your earliest memory related to fiction?

If you’re like most readers, it’s probably one of fun and delight.

The feeling of getting engrossed in a story as a kid.

That trip to the library with seemingly endless books to choose from.

Let’s face it. 

Fiction should be fun.

Sadly, as an author, that’s not always the case. We can get weighed down by the pressure of our projects to the point where the sense of fun is all but lost.

So how do you get it back?

The first thing to do is take a step back and chill. You can’t force fun!

Once you’re relaxed and not stressing out about your fiction work in progress, give some of these ideas a try.

Try writing a new type of fiction

If your time spent writing no longer feels like fun, it might be because you’ve got stuck in a rut.

How can that happen?

If you always write in the same style, what should be a carefree creative pursuit becomes a tedious and monotonous waste of time. 

There’s no point trying to keep going with the same old style, hoping it eventually becomes fun again.

Instead, switch things up!

Maybe you’ve always wanted to try a certain genre or style. If so, great. Time to get started.

If you’re not sure exactly what you want to write, but know you need to try something new, why not check out some story prompts?

Pick a prompt at random and give it a go. It might just make fiction fun again. 

Get inspiration from unusual sources

Sometimes our writing needs to draw energy from different sources in order to become fun again. 

What do you usually do to get inspired?

I’m almost willing to bet it doesn’t involve looking at pictures! 

If you want to force your creative juices to flow, check out this prompt based around pictures to write about. 

Switching up your sensory inputs can trigger different parts of your creativity to burst to life and begin their magic. You can also try something similar with music if you’re more of an auditory person. 

Remove yourself from your stylistic comfort zone

So what else can you do to make your fiction writing a little less dour and a lot more enjoyable?

Just as we often get stuck in the rhythm of writing in certain genres, we also get tied into writing in the same tone.

Take the time to look back over the last ten pieces of writing you’ve produced. 

Are they tonally different?

If not, it’s time to mix things up!

Check out this guide to the different tone types.

Pick at least 3. Dabble in applying them to your writing.

See, wasn’t that fun?

Hone in on a small element of your fiction craft 

When you look at fiction as a concept, it can be a bit overwhelming.

There are so many different aspects and elements that make up fiction writing. 

Remember, our goal here is to have fun rather than feeling overwhelmed. So how can we make that happen?

One approach is to stop looking at the fiction forest and start seeing the trees.

Make it smaller. More manageable. Focus on one thing and one thing only to play around and haver fun with. 

So what could you focus on?

1. Dialogue. Bad dialogue makes fiction fall flat. Don’t let that happen!
2. Literary elements. You can enhance the depth of your fiction by learning to deploy literary elements with skill. 
3. Setting. In some works of fiction the setting is almost as memorable as a character. Why not have fun with this aspect of fiction?

Trying to do everything at once is no fun at all. Slow down, pick something that interests you, and work on that aspect of the craft and that aspect alone. 

Limit the pressure you put on yourself 

This is kind of similar to the idea above of breaking down fiction as a whole into something more manageable. 

Perhaps you’ve set yourself a fiction writing goal so big that it is making your life a misery. Like writing a novel series this year for example. 

Sometimes, the best thing you can do is make life as easy for yourself as possible. The writing equivalent of committing to 20 minutes in the gym rather than a marathon. 

So what exactly is that equivalent?

Flash fiction!

This is really bitesized. If a novel or even a short story feels too much, flash fiction could be the injection of fun your writing life desperately needs. Check out some examples of flash fiction to get inspired. 

Allow yourself to dream

We’ve reached the final stop on our tour of fiction fun.

If nothing you’ve read so far has done it for you, it’s time to really push the boat out. 

Now is the time for you to let your imagination run riot to put the fun back into fiction.

Here are three small exercises:

1. Brainstorm a list of pen names. Write down some nom de plume pen names. Try and go for at least 10 but the more the merrier. Then look at each name. What kind of book would that author write? Once you have a long list, choose your favorite and start crafting something under that pen name.
2. Design a dream book. Play around with either software or even goold old paper. Sketch out some book designs without judgement or fear. Get crazy with imaginary titles and book covers. Are any interesting enough to consider writing for real?
3. Manifest your future book. Create a graphic image of your imagined future fiction book using a 3D book mockup generator. Does seeing it in 3D make you want to see it for real?

Hopefully at least one of these tips has turned your fiction frown upside down.

But if not, try and be OK with that. 

Fiction won’t always be fun. Nothing is. 

The important thing is you never give up entirely. 

The world needs new fiction books. 

Because let’s face it. Without them, life would be a lot less fun!