Water well’s run dry for many reasons: overuse, poor structure, careless use, obstruction,
and drought are a few. When the water
well runs dry we call a professional to come and fix. Water, after all is life. We cannot do without it.
Some
of the same problems can happen to that well of words we draw on to write
our stories and tell our tales. And
words, the flow of them onto monitor or paper, onto whatever medium we use, is
life for the writer. We cannot continue
to exist without that flow. When the
words start to stutter, to hesitate, to refuse to drop onto that blank page in
our minds we seldom think to call a profession.
We may try to ignore the problem or more likely try to fix ourselves--write
in a different place, write on another topic.
Then I hear, think, or say “write” and I sigh. The sigh summons distractions easily latched
onto and I avoid facing the problem. But
sooner or later, a I come face to face with that blank unyielding page. But the page isn’t really blank. Let’s look at mine. The words aren’t listed in any sort of
order. I just wrote word associations
after thinking about why my well went dry and how to refill it.
Schedule. There are only so many minutes in an hour,
hours in a day. At times I have
scheduled almost every one of those and not with writing activities. My fix for this one is to evaluate my
priorities, and writing isn’t the only one on the list. One of the most important items
is often not on any of our priority lists and that is SELF. A worn out, over-worked, ill-fed, poorly
rested person will have difficulty writing--or more succinctly, cannot write
well.
Goals: How long would the Jews have wandered in the
desert if they hadn’t been headed to the Promised Land? Probably more than forty years. I do not have that kind of time. Success breeds success just as failure does
the opposite. When I’m stuck writing I
start with a tiny, cannot fail goal and work my way up to larger ones. A goal gives a target and I’m always more
libel to reach it if I have one than if I don’t.
Nurture/Freedom: These two are parts of many of the other. For example, one of the best ways to nurture
your writing is to read and read a lot.
Take time to do that, to marvel at other author’s, to let their
enthusiasm renew yours. Or give yourself
the freedom to cultivate your writing by not writing. Take some time to let go. Any repetitive act makes one weary; a forced
repetitive act leads to dead ends. Not
that there isn’t a time to push through no matter what but that is for another
blog.
Stimulate/Relax: Again this is bound with others and it’s also
a two-head coin--one where you won’t
lose the toss. Many things can stimulate
but also relax. A visit to the art
gallery, a day of browse shopping, a favorite restaurant with favorite friends,
travel. “Travel?” You read that and think, I wish or Get real. No time, no money--go on a YouTube trip. Browse YouTube inspirational videos--here are
just three I find refreshing:
Create/Fun: Bake a decadent cake. Color a mural with a child. Play hopscotch or run through a
fountain. Write a limerick, a pun, an
impromptu paragraph about bats in the belfry.
Arrange flowers, quilt, sew, crochet. Lay back, close your eyes and dream. Think of the most carefree, non productive
activity you can conjure and do it. Just
do it.
Reward: All of the above have rewards built in by
their nature. They may or may not be
directly writing related but anything that renews the spirit, refreshes the
soul, and revives the will has a blessed way of planting seeds of growth. A word, a phrase, a sentence. Bit by bit, filling the well, filling the
page.
For a wacky fix to refilling your will visit Recharge your Magick. It’s for witches who need help refreshing
their spells. Writing is sort of witch/spell/magic-like. Get a chuckle while you get
inspired.
