Innovative Writing: Techniques for Clever and Original Writing
So, you want to write something clever. Original. Maybe even gasp... interesting? Welcome to the elusive world of innovative writing, where clichés go to die and your weirdest ideas finally get the spotlight they deserve.
Let’s be real—most writing advice sounds like it was generated by a toaster. “Show, don’t tell.” “Write what you know.” “Kill your darlings.” (Okay, that one’s fun.) But if you’re here, it’s because you’re looking for something else. Something a little sharper. A little weirder. A little you-er.
Good. Let’s begin.
1. What Actually Is Innovative Writing?
Innovative writing is that thing you read and go, Wait—how did they come up with that? It’s not just about having a “voice” (though voice matters). It’s about breaking patterns...yours, the reader’s, and sometimes, the whole genre’s.
- Playing with structure like it’s Lego.
- Using language in unexpected ways.
- Mashing two unrelated ideas together and watching the sparks fly.
- Surprising the reader—not just with plot twists but with your mind.
If regular writing is a chair, innovative writing is a beanbag that turns into a spaceship when you sit in it.
2. Techniques for Getting Clever (Without Trying Too Hard)
Innovative writing doesn’t require a magic gene—just a few useful habits. Let’s look at some ways to shake the dust off your brain.
✍️ Brainstorm Like a Mad Scientist
Instead of listing good ideas, list wrong ones. Absurd ones. Make a list titled “The Worst Possible Ideas for a Chapter,” then see what you secretly love. Innovation often comes from flipping something backwards.
Try This:
List 10 terrible metaphors. (“Her eyes were like moist marbles.”) Then rewrite them until they’re actually… not terrible.
🌀 Free Write Like a Sleep-Deprived Poet
Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write without stopping. No editing. No thinking. Just verbal vomit. Most of it will be garbage. Some of it will be gold. The trick is: don’t judge too soon.
Think of it as cleaning out the mental attic. The weird stuff is in the back.
🎲 Use Prompts That Mess With You
Normal prompts: “Write a scene where a character finds a letter.”
Innovative prompts: “Write a breakup scene using only metaphors about dentistry.” Or, “Write a conversation between a plant and a printer.”
Bookmark this: Writing Prompts That Don't Suck or invent your own by combining random nouns with emotional stakes.
3. Examples of Clever Writing (aka: Steal Like a Magpie)
Let’s dissect a few techniques from writers who are doing weird, clever, wonderful things:
✦ Ali Smith (Time-Twisting Narrative)
How to Be Both literally splits the novel in two, readers either get the past-first or present-first version. Two timelines. Two styles. One story. It’s disorienting in the best way.
✦ George Saunders (Formal Chaos Meets Heart)
In Tenth of December, Saunders uses corporate memos, inner monologues, and barely coherent stream-of-consciousness to tell deeply human stories. It's bureaucratic absurdity meets gut-punch emotion.
✦ Carmen Maria Machado (Genre-Bending with Style)
She’ll use a haunted house as a metaphor for queer trauma (In the Dream House), or rewrite horror tropes through a feminist lens. Bold structure. Intimate content. She’s one of one.
Tip: When you find writing that makes you go what the hell was that?—read it twice. The second time, underline what broke the rules and worked anyway.
4. Exercises to Kickstart Your Weird Brain
You’re here because you want to be clever. Good. But cleverness isn’t a lightning strike—it’s a muscle. So here’s your writer’s gym session for the week:
🧠 Exercise 1: “Wrong Genre” Rewrite
Take a scene you wrote and rewrite it in a completely different genre. Romance becomes horror. Memoir becomes space opera. What changes? What becomes clearer?
🧠 Exercise 2: “Unlikely Expert” POV
Write 500 words from the POV of an inanimate object in your story. The faucet. The coffee machine. The expired passport. Make it poetic or unhinged. Just commit.
🧠 Exercise 3: 3x Structure Flip
Write a scene normally. Now cut it up and rearrange it. Can it still work if it starts at the end? What if it loops? What if it never ends?
Final Thoughts (You Made It, You Innovator You)
Writing something clever doesn’t mean sounding smart. It means making the reader feel like they’re reading something different. Fresh. Alive.
So go break something. Then write about it.
And hey—if this blog sparked a few ideas (or made you laugh through your nose), share it with a fellow writer. Or just copy the link and paste it into your writing group chat with the caption: “Weirdly useful.”
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