So writers get writer’s block, or that’s what I’ve heard. I always remember the clichéd image of someone at the typewriter (I am older), pounding the word “the” several times before ripping the sheet out, balling it up, and then free throwing it into the trash. Then there’s Nicholson’s typed mantra from The Shining, of course, that one’s the best.
But being blocked is never like that around here. I just have days where I am totally uninspired to edit what I have or make anything new. I am not frustrated or hitting an imaginary wall, I am simply hollowed out inside with nothing to give a creative work.
I used to beat myself up over it and force something anyway. Now I trust, after two years of writing, that this passes within a day or two. I now give myself that freedom to use hollowed-out me in other ways – housework, meal prep, exercise, blog – to better prepare and free myself up for the day when I do feel inspired.
What do you do when uninspired?
Ah, smokes! I missed that but Sage always said it was a forced 7 minute break. I also grind through after the “let it pass” approach threatens to become habit. I am trying to teach my son that idea, that things need not be fun to get done. Shame, really, but something we all must learn to avoid the inner sloth.
Delay, procrastinate. Wait for the muse. The cigarette is the greatest invention when it comes to this. It’s tricky…I agree with you that, at a certain point in one’s “experience”, one learns to not fight that uninspired feeling. Just do something else for a while. But there are times when I just need to kick my own ass and “grind through” — sometimes inspiration is awakened through rote work. Sometimes it stays away for weeks. Certainly the need to earn a buck keeps the dry spells from becoming a desert.
Dude, that’s hilarious. And required as someone getting paid for work, yes? Once I get a book contract and have real deadlines instead of self-imposed ones, I’ll probably do the same thing.
I force myself to grind through and then create an intense exhaustion that is near impossible to recover from. 🙂