For the month of December, I was holed up in a wonderful home in Salt Lake City, Utah, working on my next book. Some of the writing days were magical. Words flow smooth and cool downstream from my heart and imagination. On other days, though, every word feels like a labored breath-painful and uneasy.
What’s the best response to a bad writing day?
- Keep writing. If the goal of the day is to write 1000 words or even 250 words, don’t stop until you’re done. Even if what you write is terrible, terrible, terrible. And you had to become repetitive and write icky sentences to hit your goal.
- Go for a walk. A short walk can clear your head, stir the imagination, help thoughts and images flow more easily.
- Read great writing. Dive into a chapter by your favorite author and allow someone else to breathe life and beauty into your soul.
- Spend time editing. The same days that are the worst for creativity often prove to be the best for critical analysis. Spend some time proofing your own work.
- Stay away from the kitchen, PS3, and your favorite Internet store. Bad writing days make us look for comfort-comfort foods, comfort in blowing other people to smithereens, and comfort in shopping (among other things!). If you’re not careful, you’ll consume the remaining box of cookies, whittle away hours gaming, and spend way too much money on items you didn’t really need (again).
- Write a blog. That’s right! Write a blog and find out how other people respond to their bad writing days. Seriously. Any suggestions?
What tips do you have for those experiencing bad writing days?
*Photo courtesy of here
Thanks for the writing advice!
I have always loved to write. But everytime I had a bad writing day (or days) I convinced myself that I couldn’t or shouldn’t write. Reading the Organic God where you shared your experience with a teacher finally helped me to realize that MY OWN issues with writing stemmed from a bad experience with ONE bitter high school teacher! This one experience completely overshadowed every single accomplishment, encouragement, or praise I received and kept me from doing what I love!
Thank you so much for sharing that experience and letting us know you have bad writing days too!
Other things I do, is listen to music – there are so many beautiful and inspirational lyrics, read other blogs for thought provoking posts, look at great photography on pinterest and even short videos on youtube!
Some days its as simple as randomly picking a word from the dictionary and free writing.
Becky–Music is so great to help stir creativity.
Thanks! Hard to imagine that you would experience this too! Now if our old computer would like my iPhone pics ;/ not syncing ! Oh technology sometimes fail!
Sharon, totally know what you mean! If only there were a way to make sure our gadgets and gizmos would never fail again….
My main problem is sitting still and concentrating.
I get up and give my whole body a shake or grab a favorite drink like iced tea. I take my dog for a walk or text someone (usually my best friend or my mom) and they help me figure out why I can’t get out of the bad writing dilemma.
A cold shower almost always works. Hair pinned up, jump in for a few minutes. Or cold water on your face.
I also like to play movies that I’ve seen a million times as background noise, usually Disney. I seem to write most productively when listening to something the opposite of what I’m writing. Watching The Little Mermaid while writing horror for example. I have no clue why that helps, but it does.