Dec 28 2008
Just Write
How many times have you been sitting in front of your computer, trying to come up with something to write about, when it dawns on you that you’re not suffering from writer’s block–you just don’t feel like writing? Ok, maybe this is just something I go through, but I doubt I’m the only one out there. There have been many times when I could think of a ton of things to write about, I just didn’t have the ambition to do so.
In fact, I’ve been going through this very thing for the past couple of weeks. I think a lot of it had to do with trying to get things in order for the holiday, but even after Christmas was officially over, I just didn’t feel like writing. So, how am I getting myself over this? I’m just writing. I’m not stopping long enough to really pay attention to what I’m writing, I’m just writing.
A few years back, I wrote my first e-book for writers. It was filled with cool ideas for fiction writers. In the past couple months, I’ve been working on my second e-book, with writing prompts for non-fiction writers. The problem is that there have been a lot of times that I just didn’t feel like writing anything. It makes writing an e-book almost impossible. But, I keep going, even if I only bang out 3 or 4 prompts a day.
When you get to a point where you start to feel stale, just write. Don’t think about what you’re writing, just write. It doesn’t even have to make any sense, just write. I can tell you from experience, you will get past that blah feeling and the writing will start to have real emotion again. You might even find that while you’re free writing, something amazing will pop up that you’ll want to share with the world
I write mostly fiction, and since I can’t sit down and write everyday, I set aside at least three days each week when I can write. Often I feel as you do––I’m just not motivated. At those times I read over what I already wrote and start revising. Most of the time that’s the jump to my battery that I need. However, sometimes I find that the right words just won’t come to me. In that case I take it as my brain telling me it’s not the right time, and I give it up and read instead.
I related to this post so much! My head is usually swimming with ideas of things to write about, from non-fiction articles, to poetry, to one-woman shows. But I admit I sometimes find it very difficult to make myself sit down and just. write. it. down.
My inner critic is loud, particularly about my skills as a writer. Like a lot of creative people, I judge myself far more than anyone else!
I am glad to have found your blog. I’d love it if you stopped by mine (www.wordsmithatplay.blogspot.com), but even if you don’t, I’m going to make your site a frequent stop on my internet tour. It’s always heartening to know people share the same struggles and can be sources of support for one another.