No More Winter Creative Blocks: 10 Minutes A Day Promise

Hi all of my lovely readers!

I hope in the interim you have enjoyed my posts on my personal blog about Generosity. I'm sorry I haven't been here in a couple months.

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I should have forced myself to write more.

But it's also winter.

While I always thought that I was less creative in winter, studies show that our brains DO NOT seem to be affected by winter, that it's really our attitudes. I say lack of seeing the sunshine is part of it.

I can't blame winter for 2 reasons. 1, This has been the mildest, weirdest, and un-winter-like winter in a long time for my area. We missed the big February snowfall, the sleet didn't even turn to layers of ice, and the largest accumulation of snow in January was a few inches. And 2, work has been all-consuming. I have been so burnt out from the trials of the day with the addition of paperwork that I came home simply to not think about it.

I should have been 'not thinking about it' by creating new characters, scenes, settings, or doing fun research for my writing projects. I should have worked on some outlines.

It's my attitude that influenced by work habits. I did what I felt like doing, which we all should do sometimes, but it wasn't what I should have been doing. I felt like being a lump. I felt like not thinking for a while. This is not really healthy if it continues over long periods of time. They say for every day you take off from writing, your Muse takes off three..

I did write a little Ficlatté about the death of my Muse.

Detective Hawk reached a gloved hand to the light switch. In the moment before the room was bathed in light, she braced herself for a scene of unknowable atrocity. It was not difficult to kill a muse, they are quite delicate, but at times the results can be quite macabre.

click

She squinted. Stark reality was hard on the pupils. A lithe figure, white feathered wings drooping from two graceful shoulders used to bearing the weight of the world curled around a body stooped limply yet stiffly across the top of a writing desk. Ink cascaded down a single white page and puddled on the floor thickly. A pale head, thankfully turned away from the Detective, rested on the ink stained page. Her feather quill had fallen to the floor. Elegant legs were still tucked under the desk.

She could have been asleep.

Unfortunately, the Detective had no choice but to walk over and stare into the vacant, open eyes of crystal blue.

"What happened to you, goddess?" she breathed in awe.

She began to search for clues.

It's not the best thing I've ever written, but it was a way to cope with the loss of being creative in any way.

To free up my creative energy, I am going to try to freewrite for 10 minutes a day. It might become longer, but a promise to myself of just 10 minutes should do wonders for healing my Muse. Truly, she is not really dead, but in a coma.

A person can do a lot of things in 10 minutes.

What can you do in 10 minutes?

Also, comment on ways you fight against creative blocks, not just writer's. :) I'd love to hear some strategies!

A to Z - "W" is for Writer's Block

So you're writing along and you come to a place where you don't know what happens next to your characters. You can't find a solution to the scene. It ends. You close your work and walk away. But nothing comes that day, or the next or the next week.

You have a block.

There are so many ways to cure Writer's Block.

Here my faves.

1. Work on something else. Never. Stop. Writing. So what if you have to go blog for a few days to get the things on your mind out of the way?! Keep writing.

2. Focus on a different character. Perhaps the one giving you fits is stepping out of the limelight for a reason. Maybe your entire work should be voiced by another character as if the story you want to tell isn't really theirs to tell. Keep Writing.

3. Read. Pick up a book and get immersed in the story. Study what the author does to move scenes along, use dialogue, and other ways they craft the story. Take notes. Keep Writing.

4. Watch. Take a TV or movie break. Those are stories too. Take notes on the loopholes you find, the characters who intrigue you, and anything else that catches your fancy. Keep Writing.

5. Research. Maybe what you need is more detail. If you aren't really sure about the scene, the flaw that stops you could be in the details you don't know or understand. Interview people, read up, watch some documentaries, whatever you have to do to learn more. Keep Writing.

6. Get away for a while. Step back, maybe review your work for your own plot holes, but also take time to leave the work for a day or two. You can get burnt out. It happens. Give yourself a mini vacation or a treat. Then come back and write.

7. Listen. Music can alter your mood, tell stories, or enhance a piece of writing. Some people write better with music or establish CDs as soundtracks for their writing, lending the emotion they feel in the songs to their works. Listen to people talking and pick up their slang, cadence, hidden meanings, and write their dialogue down. Listen to your story read aloud. There may be glaring errors that need fixed.  Listen to your own thoughts and brainstorm ways around the troublesome part. Keep Writing.

These are just off the top of my head. Oh, use some writing prompts! Have you tried The Brainstormer? Or just serach for Writing Prompts.  Go to my new favorite site Ficlatté and write a few prompts for them (us), or use one to write a new story.

Search for 'cure writer's block' for more ideas and theories.

Keep Writing.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Inspiration!

I have been looking for great websites for writing inspiration. In my search I have found some that list ideas, some that lean to spiritual energies, and one that really works for me.

Language is a Virus This site has fun generators for names, poetry, and ideas. I have looked at three tools and have had so much fun gathering ideas! Two lines (and Blu) inspired me to write a poem, and I posted it on my other blog, but I feel like sharing.

Missed Opportunity

There he stood
On the verandah
Looking for his date

There she stood
In the parlor
Nervously scouring the place

His best friend
Comes out to chat
Invites him to a game

She nods and greets
Looks about the scene
Thinks he's not in this space

Deep bass booms, but not his heart
As he glances back
He missed his chance

She is with another guy
She takes the arm
The two begin to dance

Heartbroken, he loses the game
Prepares to leave
The dark sky brings rain

She sways and sighs
This is not the guy
For her love, her eyes strain


Also, I'm thinking about finding this book for inspiration. I even was able to comment on the writer's blog and she quickly responded!

I guess I SHOULD take time this week to edit Tuvalu as well, huh? Come on blog readers, hold me to it!