I’m doing the A to Z Challenge in April using the theme “What to Pack on Your Creative Journey.” Add a theme or two to your suitcase to jazz up your creative journey.

I spent a whole day in Paris shopping for a silk scarf. Of course, it was fun to visit the flagship stores of Hermès and other great Paris fashion houses. But, I actually purchased my scarf in a little boutique on the Left Bank where the shopkeeper only spoke French. In fact, I bought two scarves at a tenth the cost of anything I saw on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Those two scarves are the best souvenirs ever. I look back on that day as the most French day of my whole trip and it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t made “buy a silk scarf” a theme for a day.

You can’t tell any kind of a story without having some kind of a theme, something to say between the lines. ~Robert Wise

What is the theme for your creative journey? Surround yourself with elements of your theme for inspiration and motivation.

Dress fabric of printed cotton. Nautical theme. 1940.
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

If your creative project were a color, what would it be?

I love office supplies and have a closet full of them. If I assign the color green to my project, I’ll put my notes in a green notebook, post notes on the wall from a green sticky pad, and organize thoughts on green index cards. Green pens and highlighters can be fun, too.

Once I’ve done that, seeing the color green, anywhere in my life, will promote new ideas for my project. Simply picking up the green notebook will put me in the mood to work on my project.

If your creative project were a playlist, what songs would be on it?

Songs from the 1970s would bring back memories for a scrapbook of my adolescent years. Love songs set the mood for romance novels. Steel drum pieces invoke Caribbean settings.

Expand this question to other media. Read novels or watch movies and shows that carry similar themes as your creative project. Print copies of relevant art work and tape them around your work space. Memorize a poem that contains the spirit of your creative work.

If your creative project were an area of a theme park, what would it be called and what attractions would it hold?

Fantasyland at Disney World can be re-purposed for your fantasy novel with a fly-over ride for the setting, a story-telling nook for your heroes to describe their adventures, and a scary ride to invoke the villain.

Make your own pavilion like those in EPCOT’s World Showcase to represent your setting. Design decorations with appropriate symbols and flowers. Write the menu for the restaurant. Choose objects to be sold in the shops.

How can you use theme to inspire and motivate your creative journey?