Productive Fun Vs. Spontaneous Fun
When was the last time you did something just for fun? Spontaneous fun?
When asked what I do for fun, I usually say things like go to the gym, run, read, write.
All of which are fun in different ways. But they all serve a specific purpose. Productive fun. Scheduled fun. (And is going to the gym truly fun?! It’s often something I have to force myself to do, though I’m always happy I did it. Does that count as fun?)
We live in a society that values productivity. Doing something. For a reason.
Yesterday I went looking for a photo I’d taken while in Brno, Czech Republic, in 2018. I found the photo, but I also found a series of selfies I’d taken the week before (while still in the US). I have no idea why I took these photos (there were more of them—this is just a sampling!); my best guess is that I simply liked the way my hair looked that day (?). I never posted the photos anywhere or sent them to anyone.
But they reminded me of those mall photo booths from when I was a kid, where you’d squeeze as many people in as you could and make funny faces and get a strip of photos. Just for fun.



Incidentally, this is the photo I was looking for.
A month or so ago, a friend sent me this link to a video of baby elephants playing. (It’s fun! I hope you’ll watch it!) The thing about the baby elephants playing, as my friend noted, is that they aren’t doing any of it for any particular reason. It’s just for fun. Spontaneous fun. The adult elephants (presumably) haven’t told their calves, “It’s 3 p.m., time to go play soccer.” They just decide to do it.
My friend, also a writer (and likely reading this post!), sent me the baby elephant video within the context of a discussion about having fun with writing, prompting me to consider the reasons writers write and how we write.
Are you writing from a place of fun?
The Business of Creative Writing
Although it may not necessarily seem so to non-writers, creative writing is a lot of work! It’s a business of sorts (from which one generates very little, if any, income!).
There’s (often self-imposed) pressure to generate new work, revise, and submit. Submitting, as most writers know, can be intense, exhausting, and occasionally demoralizing.
When it all gets too much, I’ll hear writers saying things like “I’m taking a break from submitting for a while” or “I just want to have fun with my writing.”
I just want to play.
Like baby elephants.
Spontaneously. See what happens.
Just for fun (ha!), I looked up play at merriam-webster.com.
I particularly enjoyed these synonyms that came up in the various definitions for play: frolic, jest, trifle. The words themselves even sound fun!
Are We Having Fun Yet?
If you’ve chosen to be a creative writer—or if creative writing has chosen you—don’t forget to have fun with it!
Be a baby elephant.
Not everything you write needs to get published. Not everything you write needs to be submitted anywhere.
Part of the practice of writing is trying things. Trying a different genre, a different style, a different approach.
If writing becomes a task or something you find yourself dreading, take a step back for a moment.
Because maybe it means you need to ease up on yourself and allow yourself some spontaneous fun.
To just play.
Upcoming Workshop
I’m offering an encore presentation of my Go Fish! Jumpstart Your Literary Journal Submissions Game workshop, so if you missed it before, you have another chance!
The workshop will be held live on Zoom on Thursday, April 17, 6-8 pm (EDT).
Learn more or register here.
I’m Available for Writing Coaching
Find out more about my services on my website.
Recent Publications
“For Fun, Your Boyfriend Dissects Furbies,” published in Milk Candy Review
Read “Two Questions for Jessica Klimesh” about the above story here.
“Everything in the World Is Going Missing,” published in Flash Fiction Magazine
And for those of you keeping track, I’m up to six rejections for March and 27 total for 2025 (thus far).
Spontaneous play can come in forms other than writing. Here are two of mine. Heading to my favorite coffee shop is a 1.5 mile walk from home. Walking along, I let my eyes roam freely (spontaneously) at what's passing by. The steepness of a house's roof, the lacy curtains in the second floor windows of another. That bed of hostas that wasn't there last week. Lingering on a tragic event: a college kid with no concept of how to parallel park. Potholes, fallen branches, peeling paint, garbage cans tipped over and raided by raccoon for scraps of food that should have been composted. Does this count? Well, it's spontaneous but is it play? Darn tootin' it is! I'm letting my eyes play at random while my mind creatively interacts with them.
I'm also a rather compulsive people-watcher and eavesdropper, who often are doing things that strike me as admirable or courageous so much so I feel compelled to pay them a complement. The creative part of this is the strategic thinking it requires. Yes, many kinds of play require strategic planning --- football, for example. My favorite is this -- an elderly person using a walker, progressing by inches while others, unencumbered breeze past. Lord, how awful it must be, getting so old you've become an encumbrance. As I pass by, I pause a moment to say, "You know, it's not that you're going to slow, it's that the rest of us are going to fast." Spontaneous playfulness that somehow I'm able to get away with, the kind of complement I'm often receive when a wonderful sentence appears in my head while slogging through the bog of this dang story I'm working on.
Recently I stepped outside my normal genres to try something different, and it was so fun!! From the research to writing the piece, I thoroughly enjoyed it! It makes me want to try other things, just for fun!