Caught you nodding off didn’t I? Just kidding, of course 
You may have noticed that I have had several news-related posts the past few days, but no posts with “original thinking.” Well, there are two reasons: (1) I like to share news with you, especially when I think you might not get that news from your regular sources and (2) I’m in a writing lull.
Do you believe in biorhythms? Wikipedia tells us it “is a hypothetical cycle in physiological, emotional, or intellectual well-being or prowess.”
I occasionally feel as if this hypothetical rhythm is factual, in that I seem to go through periods of higher than normal mental ability, lower than normal physical ability, and so on. Right now it seems to me that my intellectual, creative, and physical “rhythms” are simultaneously at their low point. For example, I have one article I have been pecking around for three days, and it’s still not worth a crap. Normally I can write a post in a few hours, from concept to “polished.”
So, I decided to let you know I am in this lull. Hopefully the cycle will shift in a day or two, and maybe I’ll get that one post finished and posted by Wednesday. In the mean time, why not take this lull as an opportunity to look back through some of the previous posts and see if you have a comment or two you’d like to add?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Or I can add a comment here.
Being an amateur fiction writer and illustrator, I go through periods like this (although I just call ‘em “creative block”). Some people find that it’s best to just set the work aside until they’re back in the zone. I prefer to keep hammering away during a slump, because I find the harder I work the more inspiration I receive. Often my best ideas come from banging my head against the proverbial brick wall for a day or two.
Or maybe I’m just stubborn and bull-headed. “You say po-tay-to, I say po-tah-to.”
Being bull-headed can pay off at times for sure, Bill. It seemed to work much better for me when I was younger, though, and not so much now that I am 59. Oh well, such is life, huh.
I know what you mean. Bill’s suggestion of pressing on is a good one. Another approach is “productive procrastination.” I like to have 2-3 project files open and if one isn’t working out, I work on another one. Moving forward on something else often encourages me enough to overcome the creative hurdle.
Good point, John. I definitely do the productive procrastination when I get stalled on something, so I have been making progress “on other fronts.” It just doesn’t pay for me to channel my energies where they are unproductive, though. As you and Bill point out, sometimes doing so can get you over the hump, but this is just one of those times when the hump has to wait on my writing abilities and energy level to return.
Thank you, both.
@John: “I like to have 2-3 project files open and if one isn’t working out, I work on another one.”
Mark Twain used to do that. When he hit a wall with one story, he’d switch to another work-in-progress for awhile.
@Bruce: “…but this is just one of those times when the hump has to wait on my writing abilities and energy level to return.”
A friend of mine who is an amateur writer believes it’s best to take a break from writing when he hits a wall. That doesn’t work for me — the unfinished piece keeps nagging at me until I come back to it — but it works for him, and that’s what’s important.
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