Writer's Quench

Photo by Kejadlen (www.flickr.com/photos/kejadlen/222615074/)

There are days and seasons when your creative juices are sucked dry. When you move a family of six to a new city and have to unpack gazillions of boxes, tend to a 7 month old, deal with school transitions, and try to fall in love with a house that might not be your dream home (okay, I am referring to myself at this moment in time). Or there are other times that aren't so drastic-- a bad night's sleep, a visit from the in-laws, a season where you just feel...parched. You might sit and look at the screen, fingers in the a-s-d-f and j-k-l-; position, and read your last sentence twenty times. You attempt to write a new one. It sounds thin and boring and elementary...and you thirst for those creative juices to pour from your finger tips...and they don't.

What do you do with thirsty sentences, writing?

Sometimes, you just shake your head, pound the backspace key, and slam your laptop as hard as you can without doing any damage. And then spiral downward in thoughts of, “I can't do this”, “I am no natural...it shouldn't be this hard”, “maybe I will just throw in the towel.” This is when you need to hit your knees, pray for guidance. Get connected with your writing friends, seek encouragement. Don't give up, just press hold until your emotions have settled and you can think straight. (A good night's sleep is always helpful)!

Other times, you sigh and decide it's that time in your life that you are suppose to be taking in the words of others. Read, read, read. I have four-ish novels that I have started reading, and I pick them up whenever I have the chance...it has slowly quenched my writing thirst...given me inspiration to tackle writing again.

Photo by Christopher Craig (www.flickr.com/photos/kriztofor/3724503239/)

But the most rewarding of times, is when you fight through the thirst, type on, dig deeper, dig, dig, dig. Ignore the distress of those sentences you are struggling to form. Leave them in their moisture-deprived dust! Let them be, for the moment, and keep on!
Suddenly you feel that rush, that beautiful bubbling of creativity springing into your writing. You can always go back and “water” those thirsty sentences with your revived artistry. When you can stick it out and allow bad writing to sit there and move the story forward, you will discover a spring of eloquence in your waiting.

Don't get discouraged...JUST KEEP WRITING!

Do you have any tips you'd like to share to persevere through less-desirable writing times?