It is eleven o’clock in the evening and something important has gone missing. I have been poking around in the corners of the internet looking for it and not finding it there. I have stared blankly at my computer screen and it is not there either. I am looking for my inspiration – that trusty spark, which, night after night graces me with one or more ideas for my blog posts.
Have you seen my inspiration? If so, could you please send it back. You see, it may have wandered off and become lost. Perhaps it is somewhere out there collecting great ideas and it is trying to find its way back home to me so that it can share them. However, I think that it has somehow gotten waylaid because it knows that I sit down to work around ten each evening and it is usually right on time.
Every writer is bound to encounter writer’s block from time to time. If you are a writer, it is a good idea to have a list of strategies close at hand for when that time comes. Here are a few things that you can do if you find yourself sitting at your computer, waiting for your inspiration to come back home.
Read. Something. Anything. Read the newspaper, a book that you randomly grab off of the shelf, articles or blogs on the internet – anything goes. For some reason words like company, and reading the words of others can help your own words return to you.
Write. Oh, the irony. How can you write when you can’t, um, write. You don’t have to save it, just write whatever comes into your head. It could be lyrics to the song you heard in the car, a random thought, or even utter nonsense. The exercise of writing can help you to get out of your own way and get back to writing whatever it is that you were working on before you became blocked.
Move. If the words aren’t coming while you sit in the chair, get out of the chair. Go for a walk, preferably outdoors in a natural setting or somewhere where you could do some people watching. If it is night time, walk around in your house. You could even do some yoga, turn on some music and dance, or go for a run. Whatever you like. Your body will be reinvigorated and your neurons will more than likely start firing again.
Photo by Alvimann on morguefile.com.