There are times when the wells of creativity seem to have run dry. You seem to have hit the writerly rock’s farthest bottom. However, the counter-actions to combat these fallow periods leave us all the more lethargic, tired, and distressed at worse. Agree? I hope you do.
Dear writers and writers-to-be, let’s get one fact clear and out-there: Such inactive periods are common to everyone in any career and they are absolutely normal. Trust me; I have been there, done that.
My rock-bottom periods occur once in six months or so. And they recur, of course. But I have come to terms with them and learnt to accept such times with open arms.
What You Must Know:
- These periods are OK and recurring.
- They are a time when your need to rejuvenate your senses (not that rejuvenating is limited to these) and re-charge those creative batteries.
- For this, you have to figure out what activities suit best. Swimming, walking the dog, reading, cooking — all and anything will do. I tend to treat myself with extra indulgence with simple ways that delight my inner-being, or at least I try.
- You must let this period to occur and have its own stretch. Don’t combat.
- Whatever you write during this phase is not all rubbish. It is equally brilliant as what you have otherwise.
- This period comes in cycles. So it must end to start the next time. Believe this too shall pass.
The conclusion? Continue to write during dormant periods too. I ask you to not reject your writing when the going gets tough.
These periods are the only way you can stretch your mind outside of your ongoing projects. You may be compelled to think about other aspects of life, including writing of course.
You may tend to day-dream, question the whys of your block, talk to the self, and have pure lone-time doodling with ideas.
Take this dry-well period with gratitude.
You can also survive like a warrior by kick-starting new writing projects. I prefer to start smaller, bite-sized projects which stimulate my senses and let me jog my creativity in other areas.
Think out of the box like a totally new craft, or writing something new like a new blog-post or an article. Avoid starting lengthy projects at this time.
Whatever the case, I urge you to please not stop writing during these times and keep on keeping on.
Photo by nemesis91 at PhotoRee.com
Like this:
Tags: article, beat the writer's block, block writer, blog, creative inspiration, inspiration, surviving the writer's block, writing tips
Great post with really good pieces of advice!
I find that it helps me to have more than one writing project – that way when I lack inspiration for one, I can switch to an other.
Thank You Howalt. Definitely; switching to novel ideas and projects is a great way to beat the block and yet not oppose it too hard
-BrownEyed
Good to have you blazing the dark trail for us. Insightful. Switching to painting or photography sometimes keeps the creative juices flowing, without overtaxing the writing muscle. Sometimes, you’ve got to go into the desert to find the next oasis.
wordbone.wordpress.com
“Whatever you write during this phase is not all rubbish” hit a particular note for me. Sometimes it feels like rubbish, like every word is drawn up with blood, but when I look back, I can’t tell what I wrote on a bad day from what I wrote on a good day.
All great advice!
It sure is! It’s happened with me too, and I can attest it is NOT all rubbish, yes
I am glad we’re on the same page, Tessa.
-BrownEyed
In those moments what is always missing is self care. Take some time to rest, heal, and reload.
Of course, the ever-neglected self-care. Thank you Ollin for putting this in right words
-BrownEyed
Embrace all with Joy . . . anything can be a gift of gold in disguise!
Thanks, Brown Eyed!
Aha…gold in disguise! Such periods are indeed disguised as low, fallow and what not. But look deeper and you’ve a discovery. Thanks for the insight.
-BrownEyed
Inspiring! Thanks for the bits and pieces of advice!
Glad you like them!
-BrownEyed
I never quite know when I hit rock bottom, because I fear it could get worse
It’s hard for me not to read too much into the inactivity, but I can usually find another project to occupy my mind.
It actually does. I understand what you mean. Feeding the low times with attention might make it worse, so better not
-BrownEyed