No skiing.
No climbing.
I'm just wondering.
The last week I've felt as though I had something to say. I get that feeling up in the corner of my mind that tells me to get over to the keyboard- pronto- and start writing. I comply only to find that I have nothing to say.
This has happened day after day. I've asked questions on my blog & Twitter, hoping for inspiration. The comments were varied but none of them really sparked anything in my mind. I thought of asking for a word and just writing about whatever came to mind. But I wanted to actually say something- and I had nothing.
I should be inspired. I'm surrounded by creative people. For example, Steve is great about posting up meaningful content based around his enthusiasm for all things outdoors. Today he posted about our recent ski day with some of my photos; usually this type of thing is enough to get the words flowing. His blog posts have been flying out. I find myself reading and feeling completely ready to write and then... nada.
The truth is, I have things in the works but I can't talk about them yet. I have pictures I need to post up but a computer that really is only good for crashing. I have video I need to edit but based on the previous statement, that would obviously be a fatal move.
So I am stuck with words. And they won't come. I feel caged in.
How do you get out of ruts like these?
i take a few days off from my blog and let myself feel creative again. sometimes i want to blog but i don't feel like i have anything good to blog about. i think it's ok to take a break.
ReplyDeletecan you blog from your phone? sometimes i send in a quick photo from my phone when i don't have time to upload pics.
good look w/getting out of your rut. :)
Have you made a life list? That might get your creative juices flowing (at the very least it would fill a post!
ReplyDeleteHere's a great one from my friend Natasha: http://www.becomingsomething.com/
(See the center column)
Sometimes things like this are silly, but helpful: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/
ReplyDeleteyou might not want to write about a topic but it ends up bringing something out of you that you share with your reader.
I also, if I'm stuck - link to something someone else has written and explain why I agree/disagree.
I'm a terrible writer, but I do experience writers block when I'm composing music. Here's what I do:
ReplyDeleteI listen to something completely new and different from where I was going.
I exercise
I either put it away or invite another musician over to play with.
The last one seems to work the best. I find collaboration is so incredibly useful to getting the creative juices flowing.
Hope it helps. Peace.
-Andy
I say take a deep breath, go offline and let things percolate in the back of your mind for a while. When those thoughts/ideas/inspirations are ready to be recorded, it will be easy!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention dude-et (obviously dude in girl form). My personal opinion, I do something outdoors to get out of funks. The outdoors always inspire me to write plus it's what I write about, so double whammy. Also, researching things and posting your findings (& credit where it's due) can be a cool post and it brings you closer to being an expert.
ReplyDeleteI have a few blog books that have different "assignments". One might say something like "today, write a list post." I force myself to do one of them. When I go from "What should I write about today?" to, "What kind of list post can I write right now?" I find that it sometimes breaks down whatever barrier was keeping me from writing. I don't know if that helps, but good luck.
ReplyDeleteTurn the radio off and let your soul be the melody.
ReplyDeleteWhen I can't seem to find the words (or even the topics) a trip to a bookstore always works. I wander around looking at books and magazines of every genre - always sparks some novel (no pun intended) connections in my brain. Works for writing, for strategy, for everything!
ReplyDeletei hear you, sister. it's the worst! sometimes words just come out so quickly—no problem! and sometimes it's like pulling teeth! unfortunately, i don't have any good tricks or advice. just empathy! :-) But I do like the comment from Andy D about writing a list. I may try that myself sometime (um, like this week :-)). Lists themselves can be so therapeutic!!
ReplyDelete