My previous entry was a plea for help disguised as a blog post. Fellow writers, I asked, what do you do when you find yourself uninspired? How do you get your writing mojo back?
It wasn’t that I didn’t have ideas for my blog, it’s just that none of them really spoke to me. Perhaps I needed a break. Perhaps a recent wave of paid writing was sapping me of my energy for personal writing. Perhaps it was my annual bout with seasonal affective disorder – is it a coincidence that as I happily craft this post, it is 55° and sunny outside? I think not.
Whatever the cause, I was starting to feel stressed about my lack of enthusiasm for my own written words.
My call for assistance did not go unheeded. Numerous fellow writers and bloggers chimed in to provide support, once again proving that we are never as alone in this vast universe as we sometimes think we are.
I had promised to share some of the wisdom people generously offered me so that others might benefit, too. I hope you’ll find their tips useful should you ever find yourself in the throes of a writing funk. I’ve also provided links to these writers’ blogs because I bet you’ll enjoy discovering them as much as I have.
Happy prolific writing, my friends!
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- “Write a letter you’ll never send, a poem to a past lover, find prompts online,” tweets Rachel Thompson, the writer behind the popular #MondayBlogs on Twitter.
- “Shake things up….Go someplace you normally wouldn’t. Maybe some quirky museum, maybe a different trail, maybe the laundromat (just because it’s great fun to see what people come in and what they bring). If you can’t get out of the rut, try to focus on the people or the scenery or the sounds of a typical place. Sometimes we take our usual haunts for granted. Going with the soul purpose of observing is refreshing,” writes Diane DeMasi.
- “Create 10 topic areas that fit your blog, then 10 headlines for each topic, and then a rough outline for each of the them. It’s a LOT of work but then you’re set,” says Dr. Jessie Voigts of Wandering Educators.
- “Do something that makes you uncomfortable, beyond your usual M.O. It will shift your paradigm,” tweets Lori Shapiro.
- “Find your comfort space, and occupy it. Allow yourself to stay here as long as you need to. You’ll know when it’s time to leave,” is just one of several tips Jann Alexander provides in a blog post dedicated to confronting creative funks head on.
- “The worst feeling in the world is to be bound by routine which becomes resentment for the very thing we love to do. The best part is being able to fall out with your blog sometimes for a long time (for me anyway) and then return full of gusto without the blog even realising you were missing in the first place. To my mind, the blog is a personal street corner and I’ll only busk when I want to,” writes Tracey Curzon-Manners.
- “I’ve also written through it….freewrite or try something you don’t often (or ever) write like micro fiction or haiku,” says Sarah Brentyn, who also advocates mining your own tweets for ideas.
- “Sometimes I take a break. Other times, I take a drive. Still other times, I end up eating – a lot. Then again, the treadmill is a bad idea that always turns out well….Lately, its been cupcakes, a good book, and House & Home videos on YouTube to get the creative juices jump started!” offers Audrey Michelle.
- “[Other writers’] proliferation doesn’t make me or you any less creative. It doesn’t make me or you any less productive. I write when I’m inspired and when I’m not ’cause life’s taken over, then I pause,” shares Kate Spencer.
Great ideas. I’ll add one:
Give the uninspired one a voice on the page. What does it want to say? Write it quickly, furiously, to break through the logjam.
Great idea – I will definitely keep it in my back pocket! Thanks for stopping by.
Glad you’re back in the saddle! Happy Trails.
Thanks, Jann. I’m glad I’m back, too! And thanks again for sharing your great blog post.
Nice to know we’re all in it together 😉
I love all the variety here. 🙂 It’s wonderful to get feedback, support, encouragement from fellow writers. There’s some great advice here and I hope you are writing again!
Thanks, Sarah! The answers were all really great and thoughtful, yours included.