How Games, Affirmations, and Playful Rituals Can Bring Your Writing Back to Life

By Sarah (Sally) Hamer

Writers often talk about creativity as if it’s a fickle creature — something that wanders off without warning, returns on its own schedule, and refuses to be summoned. But what if creativity isn’t fickle at all? What if it’s simply asleep, waiting for you to tap it gently on the shoulder?

Over the past few years, I’ve watched writers of every genre — novelists, memoirists, poets, fanfiction writers, beginners, veterans — struggle with the same quiet ache: I want to write, but I can’t seem to access the part of me that used to feel alive.

The truth is, creativity doesn’t disappear.
It gets buried under pressure, perfectionism, exhaustion, and the thousand tiny responsibilities that nibble at a writer’s day.

But it can be awakened.

And one of the most powerful ways to do that is through play.

Not childish play.
Not frivolous play.
But psychologically smart, writer‑centered play — the kind that bypasses the inner critic, lowers the stakes, and reintroduces joy into the writing process.

In my work with writers, especially through my Creating Creativity seminar, I’ve seen how games, affirmations, and small creative rituals can reignite imagination faster than any lecture on craft. Today, I want to share some of those tools with you — tools you can use right now, at your desk, without needing a full day or a fantasy world (though I won’t lie… a fantasy world helps). For the upcoming seminar, we've chosen dragons as our thematic partners. We may use pirates, or unicorns, or even angels in the next ones.

1. Use Games to Disrupt Your Creative Patterns

Writers tend to fall into familiar grooves — the same story beats, the same character arcs, the same emotional rhythms. These grooves aren’t bad; they’re signs of mastery. But when you’re stuck, those grooves can become ruts.

Games shake the snow globe.

Here are four disruption games you can try today:

• Reverse the hero/villain — Give your “bad guy” a heroic trait. Switch up the hero(ine) and find a trait that, even if it’s not horrible, that will shake up the story. Doesn’t mean those characters don’t still play the same role in the story, it just means that they have more depth to pull from.
• Reverse the Emotional Tone — Take a scene you’ve written and flip its emotional temperature. Make the sad scene funny. Make the romantic scene tense. Make the quiet scene chaotic. You’ll discover new layers you didn’t know were there.
• The Curiosity Auction — Set a timer for two minutes and list as many questions as you can about your story. Don’t answer them. Just auction them off to yourself and see which one sparks the most energy.
• The Object Drop — Grab a random object from your desk (a pen, a receipt, a paperclip) and force it into your story world. How does it change the scene? What does it reveal about your characters?

These games work because they interrupt the brain’s autopilot mode.

They remind your imagination that it has options.

And when writers feel like they have options, they feel free again.

2. Create a Physical Affirmation Deck for Your Writing Life

Writers are often told to “believe in themselves,” but belief is a muscle — and muscles need repetition.

Affirmations aren’t magic spells.

They’re interruptions — gentle, consistent reminders that counteract the stories your inner critic tells you.

A physical card deck makes those reminders tangible.

Here’s how to make your own:

1. Grab 10–20 index cards or small pieces of cardstock.
2. Choose affirmations that feel like invitations, not demands.
3. Add a symbol, color, or small doodle that feels meaningful.
4. Keep the deck on your desk and pull a card before each writing session.

If you want affirmations that are writer‑friendly, emotionally intelligent, and not saccharine, here are a few from the deck we create in the seminar:

• My creativity is a living system. I don’t have to force it — I can feed it.
• I am allowed to write badly on the way to writing well.
• Curiosity is enough.
• I don’t need permission to take up creative space.
• My stories are allowed to grow at the pace of my nervous system.
• I can return to my writing without apology.
• I am not behind. I am beginning again.

The goal isn’t to “fix” your mindset.

The goal is to support it — the way a trellis supports a growing vine.

3. Build Micro‑Rituals That Signal Safety to Your Creative Brain

Creativity thrives in safety, not pressure.

Small rituals — tiny, repeatable actions — tell your nervous system, You’re safe. You can open up now.

Some of my favorites:

• The 60‑Second Sensory Reset — Close your eyes and name one thing you can hear, one thing you can smell, one thing you can feel. This grounds you instantly.
• The Threshold Ritual — Before writing, place your hand on your notebook or keyboard and say (silently or aloud): I’m entering my creative space now. It sounds simple, but it works.
• The Dragon Breath — Inhale for four counts, exhale for six. Imagine you’re exhaling smoke or even fire, if there’s something you’d like to burn. It’s playful, grounding, and surprisingly effective.

These rituals aren’t about productivity.

They’re about permission — giving yourself a moment to transition from the world’s demands to your own imagination.

4. Map Your Creative Journey Like a Story

Writers understand story structure better than anyone.

So why not use it on yourself?

One of the most transformative exercises we’ll discuss in the seminar is the Flight Path Map — a visual map of your creative life that includes:

• your storms (blocks)
• your thermals (inspiration)
• your mountains (challenges)
• your hidden valleys (secret ideas)
• your destination (creative calling)

When writers map their journey, something shifts.

They stop seeing themselves as “behind” and start seeing themselves as in progress.

And progress is a much kinder place to stand.

5. Externalize Your Inner Critic Through Play

Every writer has an inner critic.

Most writers try to silence it.

But what if, instead, you gave it a role?

In the Creating Creativity seminar, we use a full Dragon Courtroom — complete with Judge Curiosity, Prosecutor Perfectionism, Defense Counsel Imagination, and a jury of dragons — to help writers externalize their internal conflicts.

You don’t need a full courtroom to try this.

You just need a pen.

Write a short dialogue between:

• your Inner Critic
• your Inner Imagination

Let them argue.
Let them call witnesses.
Let them make their case.

You’ll be surprised by how quickly the tension dissolves when the conflict is moved out of your head and onto the page.

6. Let Play Be the Doorway Back to Yourself

Writers often think they need discipline to return to the page.

But discipline without joy becomes punishment.

Play is the doorway back to yourself.

Play is what reminds you:

• why you started writing
• what you love about story
• what your imagination feels like when it’s awake
• that creativity is not a test — it’s a relationship

When you treat creativity as a living system instead of a performance metric, everything softens.

Everything opens.

And writing becomes possible again.

I will choose two writers who comment and give a "golden ticket" to my upcoming Creating Creativity seminar on May 15^th and 16^th, if you comment with, “I want a golden ticket!”

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About Sarah “Sally” Hamer

Sarah Sally Hamer has a B.S. in Psychology (which only makes her dangerous) and an MLA in history and philosophy. She is a multi‑award‑winning author who has taught creative and nonfiction writing at LSUS for over twenty years. She writes for two of the top one‑hundred writing blogs in the world, teaches online for three academies, and has been a long‑time columnist for The Best of Times senior magazine. She speaks nationally on writing, history, and philosophy, and believes wholeheartedly that every human being is an amazing story waiting to be told. She can be reached at sa***@***********al.org.

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