I’m on deadline.
Okay, I’m past deadline. But I’m
stuck. This happens to me on every book,
and yet every time it scares the bejeepers out of me. What if I can’t push through? What if my career is over? J
Thankfully, I always do push through, somehow—as His
Highness reminds me whenever I emerge from my office, whining. He knows that I don’t need another pity
casserole at my Poor Me Party. Instead,
he offers a bracing, “You can do it!” and goes back to work.
He’s right. I
can. I just have to take a deep breath
and remember what’s really happening.
I’ve been writing for so long I’ve drained the creativity well. I need to grab a bucket and get some more!
Here are some of the best ways I’ve found. Only two rules: It can’t involve my book directly, and it
must make my inner child smile.
1)
Play with paints and scissors. Others call this “art journaling,” but that
sounds a bit lofty for my rudimentary efforts. I don’t expect to be super good
at art, and so there’s no stress involved.
I genuinely play.
2)
Commune with the outside world. I walk.
I smell the flowers, listen to the birds and wind in the trees, meet the
neighborhood dogs. Here’s one fabulous
owl I encountered on a long evening stroll.
3)
Listen to music.
I have about a thousand songs on my iTunes list, and 900 of them are
ones I wouldn’t inflict on anyone else.
I am a born cornball, and I love the silliest, most sentimental oldies
ever. So I put in my earbuds and blast
away. My daughter recently sent me an
old Conway Twitty song we used to share, called “I Don’t Know A Thing About
Love.” If you know it, you know what I mean about silly/corny.
4)
Read. I
rarely read romances in this phase—way too stressful. Often the book is so clever I feel I could
never measure up. But all the other genres work beautifully!
5)
Write.
Yes, you saw that correctly. To
escape writing, I write. But always
things that are very different from my day job.
Right now, I’m in a poetry-writing spell. The poems are mediocre, at best, but I don’t
expect them to be great, so I don’t mind.
I’m putting together a bunch of short poems about the great loves of my
life, one for each. (The loves are not
all people, just for the record. J )
Those are my top five well-fillers. They’re all free, or almost free, and they
work! I can return to my desk, ready to pick up my own story and write like the
wind.
How about you? Do you have any great ideas for filling your
creative well? I’d love to hear
them! I’ll give away a copy of BETTING
ON THE COWBOY (or any of my titles, if you’ve read that) to one poster today!
***Kathleen's winner is Kaelee. Please contact Kathleen directly with your mailing address!***
25 comments:
Thank you for your post and giveaway, Kathleen. I'd be happy to share with you and everyone my techniques for overcoming writer's block. Alas, I can't; why? Because I've never had it.
My problem isn't lack of ideas. It's overcoming the obstacles, internal and external, that stand between my desire to write and actually writing.
You write poetry? Wow, you're full of surprises! You say your poems are mediocre at best? Why not publish them and let your readers be the judge!
Keep up the good work!
You're a treasure, Mary Anne! But take my word for it, my poetry should remain eternally private. Also, if I were hoping to be published, the exercise would lose some of its therapeutic value, I think. Right now, it's play. It's mucking about in my psyche, picking up anything that glimmers to see what it might be, like a kid romping in mud puddles. It's great fun.
How lucky you are never to have faced writer's block! I wish I knew your secret.
Reading, gaming, going for walks. And am I the only person who has ideas in the shower or on a long drive? It's kind of neat to get inspiration when my mind can really take time out to think, but it's also annoying to not be able to grab a pen or keyboard right away!
Great ones, Irene! Well, except for the gaming! :) I'd be so stressed out trying to defeat monsters in video games that I'd never have another good idea in my life! ;-) But you're so right about the shower. Someone absolutely needs to invent the water-proof paper and pen!
I'm lucky enough to live with and around a lot of creative people who also have no qualms with voicing their true opinion. I can shoot the ideas I am churning in my head to them and they will truly tell me what sounds fun or cool and what just plain stinks. Having helpful and willing ears that I trust is a good way I get around my creative blocks.
Wow, what's better than an eccentric, outspoken, opinionated family? ;-) Seriously, though, I know what you mean. I probably wouldn't ever write another word if I didn't have such a talented, generous family full of word people to help correct my course when I go awry!
I love to cook and putting together a big dinner for my family is exhausting but so much fun.
Oh, Connie, you're so lucky! I wish I liked to cook, but I've never acquired the affection. I like to eat, though, so next time you're putting together something delicious.... ;-)
For me it's reading, blogging, or taking a nap!
Or for the really tough times, I play favorite
music and dance my little heart & head clear!
Pat C.
I am not a writer but there are times when I just feel down. At these times I try to return to the place in the mountains I was born and grew up at. If that's not possible, I head for the nearest mountains. I need to see peaks against a sky and smell the trees.
If neither of the above options is viable I find a hill to climb. just the act of climbing makes me feel so much better.
Pat, I love the thought of dancing your heart and head clear! Are you willing to have witnesses? Or is this a purely private activity? I can jump about a bit while I'm listening to music, but like in my other areas of non-expertise I prefer not to be seen doing it! ;-)
Kaelee, the "down" times and writer's block are VERY similar! :) I think you and I have that bonding-with-place characteristic in common. Nothing cheers me up like a visit back to my hometown--and I only moved about 90 miles away, so things aren't all that different here! I can't imagine living in a geography that was very alien. If you imprinted on mountains, it's no wonder you need to see peaks against the sky to feel at peace. It sounds fantastic, even to a flatlands Florida gal like me!
I don't write, though I wish I could, but I do do beading and card making. When I get stuck creatively I do one of three, bake, take a long relaxing bubble bath or listen to music (and if no one is home I dance). By the time I'm done one these things I'm usually more relaxed and can think clearer which makes it easier to finish my project.
I'm into all my craft work. I knit, sew, crochet & embroider. It's relaxing & productive. At the moment I'm knitting a lot of different baby items in blue for a soon to be Grandmother.
Lisa, I'm going to try the bubble bath idea next! It sounds fantastic!!! And I'm with you...dancing is for when the house belongs to me alone! :)
I have often thought of trying to learn one of those crafts, Mary, as they look so soothing, and the product can be so rewarding! I'm not "handy" like that, but simple projects might not be beyond me, if I put my mind to it. I have some friends who love knitting, and the yarns are so heavenly! I love color, and I think I might just go a little crazy in the yarn store! :)
What a lucky grandmother she is to have a friend like you to knit for her!
Privately or family only!
Yeah, I'm from a family who's creative juices oozes. My brothers a painter/tattoo artist and a lot more. My Mom is good with drawings and sewing, so as my others siblings. I'm into drawings and paintings too, sewing bags, clothes and a whole lot more. I just can't stay in a corner doing nothing!
I get outside and just look at the beauty that mother nature gives us. Or sometimes I like to go for a drive through the country and just look at old barns, farms and horses. That usually takes my mind to another place.
Lory, sounds as if the Muse lives at your house, and your chances of having it "blocked" are pretty slim! What fun it must be! I'd love to be able to draw, but unfortunately I'm stuck at the stick figure stage. :)
Linda, I'm with you! The outdoors has a special healing quality, doesn't it? We are too suburban around here to have much in the way of old barns and horses, but I've been known to drive off to some quaint old-Florida town, or even as far as Ocala, to get just such a view!
Kaelee, your name was drawn at random to be the winner! If you'll send me your snail-mail address to KOBrien@aol.com, and let me know which title you'd like to get, I'll send it off to you ASAP! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your feelings about unclogging those emotional blocks!
Kaelee, you're the winner! Send me your address and your book choice at KOBrien@aol.com, and I'll get the book out to you as soon as I can! Thanks so much!
Thank you Kathleen! I'll send an email off right away.
Thank you Kathleen! I sent an email off right away.
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