It’s snowing and raining and generally, not to get too technical here, icky. Come on, April, what are you doing?
Yesterday several people identified with being creatively stuck, so today I want to share with you some of the things I do to get going when the going is velcro.
Set a timer.
This is one of the easiest and most effective methods I’ve found. You can set it for whatever period of time feels doable, from a few minutes to an hour, if you want. Though I’d go with shorter periods of time if you need to get yourself started. And if you’re in a flow, no need to stop when the timer goes off, it’s for you! Or if you’re motivated by metrics, track your word count when the timer goes. This works for all kinds of tasks, not just writing.
Use a prompt.
Prompts are fun but they’re also incredible tools. You can use a single word, an image, a sentence, a news story, anything that makes you think enough to put some words down. I have tons of ten word story prompts, and you don’t even have to limit yourself to ten words if you want, you’re doing it for you.
Change your genre, style, or type.
Not getting anywhere with fiction? Try journaling, or nonfiction or opinion. If you usually write horror, try romance. Humor, try something serious. If you mix it up, the expectations you have for yourself may relax a little, and you can let go of the idea of perfection.
Writing is rewriting.
While we’re at it, perfection is one of the greatest enemies of any productivity, any creativity , including writing. Know that it doesn’t have to be perfect when you write it, things rarely are. Most of the real work comes with the reshaping and reforming. Writing, like many other things, is best done in layers.
Say the thing, if only for yourself.
Sometimes something you are trying really hard not to say gets in the way of you saying what you do want to say. And again, this can apply to all kinds of artistic expression. So sit with whatever it is, and just get it out. No one else has to see it, you can even destroy it after if you want to and that would be cathartic, but sometimes, that’s the thing that standing in your way.
So it’s a little bit of a different post today, and I hope you find it helpful, or it at least gets the wheels turning. Have a great Wednesday!
A Bit to Read 
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