I saw this quote from Kurt Vonnegut recently: "When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth."
Yeah, I've had days like that and I bet you have, too. In general, I'm a proponent of continuing to write whether it's going well or not--work through the tougher days. But once in a while it's a good idea to take other measures when the words aren't coming. Here are four that have worked for me--save these just in case you have one of those days:
* Go to the movies. Yes, even in the middle of the day. In fact, ESPECIALLY in the middle of the day. If your mind has been going in circles, a good movie will stop the spinning.
* Do some comfort reading. Go back to a book you love and read it again. And have some ice cream while you're reading.
* Change ways of expressing yourself. If you're a writer, do some sketches (it doesn't matter if you're not very good) or take some pictures and fool around with editing them. Or get some clay and make little figures.
* Take a nap. Maybe you need one.
Yeah, I've had days like that and I bet you have, too. In general, I'm a proponent of continuing to write whether it's going well or not--work through the tougher days. But once in a while it's a good idea to take other measures when the words aren't coming. Here are four that have worked for me--save these just in case you have one of those days:
* Go to the movies. Yes, even in the middle of the day. In fact, ESPECIALLY in the middle of the day. If your mind has been going in circles, a good movie will stop the spinning.
* Change ways of expressing yourself. If you're a writer, do some sketches (it doesn't matter if you're not very good) or take some pictures and fool around with editing them. Or get some clay and make little figures.
* Take a nap. Maybe you need one.
I hope that helps. Do one of those and then get back to work. Just like the good days pass, so do the bad ones!
(Another way to stimulate your creativity is to dip into my book, "Creativity Now!" You can get it from Amazon or your other favorite online or offline retailer.)
