Wednesday Writers Workshop: Writing No Matter What

  • …no matter what you’re feeling
  • …no matter whether you want to
  • …no matter if you have nothing to say

Who among us hasn’t been there?  I dare you to raise your hand if you’ve never sat in front of the screen or paper and just thought, shoulders slumped, I don’t wanna.  Fact is, however, that those of us who are writers do it anyway.  It’s our job, and if it sometimes feels like Monday morning on the assembly line, well, so be it.  That means, deal with it.  Here are some things I use to get me going.

  1. Get up and do something physical.  Go for a walk.  Do a load of laundry.  Pull some weeds in the garden.  You’ll feel better because you’ve actually achieved something and your brain will be bathed in those happy feeling endorphins that are released when we’re physically active.
  2. Read some blogs, good blogs, the ones written by talented writers.    Let the thoughts of these good writers and the ways they express them spur you on.  Comment on the blogs.  Play your part in the conversation that is blogging.   Suddenly you’ll find yourself with something to say and that alone can get you going.
  3. Write yourself a letter, telling in great detail just why you don’t feel like writing and how hopeless that makes you.  Don’t forget to swear at yourself and the gods of creativity who have, dammit, abandoned you just when you need them the most.  Vent, vent, vent–hold nothing back.
  4. Have a glass of wine and some cookies, the early hour and your diet be damned.

My experience with that I don’t wanna write is that it’s a function of my head and heart being in two different places.  My head says I’ve got work to do.  My heart says, not so fast; there’s this stuff over here that you’re not paying attention to.  That conflict between my rational and my emotional selves makes for a creative logjam that I have to find some way to break.

That things that get me going above work because each of them is aimed at moving my attention away from what I’m feeling and refocusing it on what I’m thinking.  It’s a function of mindfulness, in some ways, to redirect your attention at what is right in front of you, rather than what’s hovering somewhere out in the ether.

How do you deal with the I don’t wannas?  What tricks or ploys or games do you use to break your creative logjams?

Tagged as: Blogging How To's, writer's block, Writers Workshop, writing

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=675166024 Lauren Drabble

    This is exactly what I needed to hear today. I am literally doing everything on your list. The laundry is running. I’m reading other blogs, I’ve enjoyed my coffee and cookies. I did post to my blog today and this was the topic. To kick myself in the butt I made my blog public for the first time (it has been private since 2008) so I’m trying the ‘do at least one thing everyday that scares you’ rule.
    To answer your question though, nothing always works. There is no magic bullet that makes me get through the “I don’t wannas” but a good general rule is to participate in something that inspires me. Even if that means re-reading something like To Kill a Mockingbird or listening to Damien Rice, again, just immersing myself in something creative can inspire me.

    • http://midlifebloggers.com Jane Gassner

      Lauren,
      Sad that there isn’t a magic bullet that can get us through the “I don’t wannas”. I read bloggers that I like when I need a lift. Heather Armstrong at Dooce.com always gets me jazzed about writing.

  • Jude

    I like the idea of wine & cookies at any our.

  • Diane

    When I am feeling like I don’t want to write, I write anyway. I use a technique I’ve used with hundreds of older learners: write for 7 1/2 minutes, timer set. Stop when the timer dings and you are done–or keep on writing. Either way you have put in time with pen in hand. And many terrific pieces come out of just this short writing period.

    If topics are a problem, scout them out and write them on pieces of paper and put them in a hat. Draw one out each day and go with it.

  • Barry Nora

    I go work out and clear my head.

    • http://midlifebloggers.com janegassner

      oh god, work out? that’s work….!

  • Mark

    I don’t really have an answer to your question … “How do I deal with the I don’t wanna?” There are times when I force myself and other times when I allow the distractions and ennui to keep me from it. I know I’m writing more now than ever and keeping at things more than I did before.
    More often than not when confronted with the “I don’t wanna” it’s just a question of making myself do it anyway. Even if it’s just a blog post or a page or two on a story I’m writing. Something is better than nothing.
    My biggest problem is not having the time I’d like to focus on writing. The biggest reason for my “I don’t wanna” is this … what’s the point if I only have a half hour or hour?

    • http://midlifebloggers.com janegassner

      Mark,
      So your version of ‘I don’t wanna’ is ‘what’s the point with the little time I have.’ Same song, different chorus. And the answer, as you said, is making oneself do it anyway.

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