Ah, the I DonWanna Blues. Unfortunately, Sherry and I are WAY too familiar with them. Often happens when the Real World and your Writing World collide. Dealing with the I DonWanna Blues can sap the creativity right out of your brain. The causes that contribute to the IDB's include---but are not limited to stress from your day job; family upheaval; sickness (yours or a family members); life in general intruding on your writing time, because let's face it, if you have kids at home, you have built-in writing time intruders right there!
Sure, Sherry and I joke around about being Museless in the context of "I'm ready, willing and able to write, but the feckless Muse has taken a powder for the Bahamas", but there's another, darker side of being Museless.
To avoid a long list, let's simply attribute the IDB's to Stress In General (day job stress, life stress, extraordinary life events) and Life in General (the "What do you mean you've started to recycle your underwear and you think it's time I did the laundry?" or the "You want to eat again? Didn't we just have dinner LAST night?" type things). We all have responsibilities we have to deal with that we have no option about---day in day out Life in General can take it's toll on the Muse, even though we try very hard not to let it. Sometimes, you can't avoid the flu or cold that knocks you off your feet for a week. Can't avoid computer woes...
But what we can avoid is being dragged down by them.
Easier said than done---BTDT, bought the t-shirt. With the IDB's having dogged my steps off and on since the start of the New Year, I decided to brainstorm ideas to help myself get over the IDB's. Here's the list, and if you have anything to add, don't be shy, leave us a comment! Every little bit helps.
1. Make sure you're eating right. This means ditch the crap food and opt for the healthy choices. The occasional chocolate is fine, it just shouldn't be the main course for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2. Get some exercise. Even if all you're doing is jogging up and down your stairs, or around your house. Take the dog for a walk. Park further from the grocery store doors.
3. Make time to write. Sit down at the computer every day, or whatever your schedule is, and open a WIP. Read it, take notes, research, whatever. Start outlining a new idea. Find a writing prompt and play with that. Blog. Don't count the words, don't watch the clock, just try to write during your usual writing time.
4. If you're sick, then take care of yourself. Get yourself healthy and don't fret about your deadlines. It would be nice if the flu (or whatever) would pay attention to the calendar, but so far, I haven't found that there's really any convenient time to get sick.
5. Open the curtains/blinds/shutters and let some light in. If it's gloomy outside, turn on a light. Bright seems to help elevate the mood.
6. Light a fragranced candle. Pick a nice scent you love, put the candle in the best place in the house for it to send it's delicious aroma throughout all your rooms, and enjoy.
7. Turn on some music. Pick something with a good beat. Nothing "dirge-ish." Don't cater to the IDB's, you're trying to chase them away, not help them root.
8. Watch your favorite romantic movie. You never know where you'll find inspiration.
9. Re-read your favorite book (that's not of the same genre you're writing! This seems to be important when I do this, because it's hard to compare apples and oranges.)
10. Decide to give into the IDB's, but give yourself a time limit. No more than a few days. Cater to your mental, physical and emotional health---the well-being there of, not the wallowing in the IDB's.
11. Ask yourself, do you wanna run your life (and your writing) or do you want to be driven by the I Donwanna Blues? They happen, inevitably, but envision them as the mole in the Whack-a-Mole game, and beat the tarnation out of them with a club.
12. Stay in touch with your friends, writing buddies and CPs---yanno, the special people in your life.
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4 comments:
This may sound corny but when I hit a dry spot I love picking up a 'how to write' book, and doing some of the exercises in it (or doing the same with online writing sites). It seems to get the creative energy working again. Of course when you're REALLY down, even reaching for that book or looking up the website can be an effort, but it's worth trying.
Great idea, Judy. Thanks for sharing!
~Laura
Start a new WIP. I know. The ultimate no-no. But grab one of those book ideas kicking around and run with it for an hour or two.
Think about why you started doing this in the first place. Sure, back then you weren't thinking about what a PITA it would be to get published or how hard it is to write 95K coherent words in a row. Or even 55K or 35K or 10K... But I digress. You love words, you love stories, and you love happy endings. Get back in that zone.
Open an old, forgotten WIP. Pretend someone else wrote it (instead of focusing on how poorly you did something or chastising yourself for not finishing it). Edit it for all you're worth. Look for the good bits and think about where else you could use them IF you were to leave this WIP on the shelf permanently.
Start a Confession. Some based-on-actual-events story that you might not want in your books but makes a juicy tale. Tell it from first person. Start embellishing it and see how fun it can be!
Do something constructive. If you have tried what Laura said *I really liked this suggestion, BTW* and opened the WIP and tried to blog and nothing's coming out, clean your desk. Make your work space, your creative place more enticing. *looks around desk and cringes* It's like insomnia. The more you lie there staring at the ceiling STILL AWAKE, the more frustrated you feel and the more you dread going to bed the next time. I don't recommend staring at the blank page forever if you are really blocked and can't vomit up anything at all from your imagination.
I've done the start a new WIP thing, Grace. One of my favorite things to do, actually. Wonder why I forgot it. LOL!
After you've cleaned your desk, purty it up a bit. One of my kids brought me a plant from the other room because the dog had climbed up to where it was and had started eating it (um, yeah, poor plant, weird dog). It's still here on my desk, and I'm thinking of making it a permanent fixture. Sure looks better than the clutter (although not quite as tasty as the Girl Scout Samoas housed on my desk because they are MINE, all MINE and I'm NOT going to share them with ANYONE!).
See, I KNEW I was forgetting some awesome ideas for beating the IDBs. ;))
~L
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