How to Keep Writing
When your creative well is running low, how do you keep going?
Most days, you’ll find me writing. Since middle school, I’ve scribbled poetry in the margins of my math notebooks. In high school, I started exploring short stories. As an adult, I’ve written three books. There isn’t much from my childhood that stuck with me, aside from writing. As a child, I hated the color pink. But now? It’s my favorite color. Onions fall into the same category. I hated them as a kid, but they now accompany most of my dinner menus.
I’ve scribbled words in hopes someone will one day read them for so long. Even if I never make a ‘name’ for myself, writing is a part of who I am. When I express myself with writing, I feel like my most authentic self.
But just because you love something, or feel called to do something, doesn’t mean it’s always easy to do. As someone who is both autistic and has ADHD, there are many days that my brain just says ‘nope’. It often feels as if I’m frozen. I want to write, but the idea of sitting down to write feels insurmountable. Other days, my creative energy is running on fumes because, ya know, life. Then, once in a blue moon, my old friend writers block visits when I’m working on a particularly stubborn story.
Because writing is an integral thread of who I am and contributes to my overall well-being, I do my best to work through these feelings of stagnation, procrastination, and exhaustion. Below are some tactics I use and resources that I hope will help get you unstuck.
Set a Timer
When I’m feeling stuck or unmotivated, I try to poke at the current project for a set time. I’ll tell myself to sit with the current project for ten or fifteen minutes. You are more than welcome to set an actual timer.
Sometimes I’ll just sit there, staring at my document. Other times, I read over my prior words and it sparks something. I may make some edits, or even write some new words. If I’m lucky, it will normally propel to keep going past the original timeframe. But I also don’t beat myself up if I end up sitting there and accomplishing nothing, at least I tried.
The Early Bird Gets the Worm
My favorite solution is also the hardest one - waking up early. This is a challenge even for a normal person. However, if you had ADHD or autism, you probably struggle with having a regular sleep schedule. The only reason I’ve been able to ‘wake up early’ is because I’ve had the privilege of working for companies on the California coast (I live in NC). I don’t start work until ten or even eleven in the morning.
Even when I was teaching, though, I found waking up early to the be the best way to get over any stagnation. My mind has a lot more clarity first thing in the morning. I’m not weighed down by all the days ‘stuff’. But I promise, I don’t do this every day and I don’t want you to feel you need to do this either to be successful. For me, waking up early is a tool I use when I’m really stuck or really need to make progress on a project when up against a deadline.
Stop Writing
I’ve spoken with a few different creatives who’ve said consuming other media helps. In my most recent podcast with Reese Sherron, she talks about how music helps her get into a creative mindset.
For me, I often take time away from writing altogether to indulge in video games or watching mindless reality TV. And believe it or not, consuming these other forms of media is really helpful in keeping the creative well full. It’s difficult to create if you’ve drained your reservoir. Music, TV, reading books and even playing video games spark new ideas. Writing all the time, and writing originally is not possible if we are not living our lives, consuming other experiences and media.
In her article, How I Get Myself to Sit Down and Write, Noor Rahman, touches on other topics that get us hung up in our writing practice. She talks about fear and giving yourself permission to me messy. So many of us get caught up in the ideal of perfection and it stops us in our tracks.
Her words inspired me to look into the ways I keep the momentum in my writing practice. We’re all so different. Our brains are all wired in unique ways, and it’s important to not take any one piece of advice as a hard and fast rule. Try out lots of things, keep what works and throw away the rest.
How are you staying consistent in your creative practice?
It's so odd that I already know that I feel the best on days that I sit down and get some writing done, you'd think that is all the motivation I would need. Yet everyday the resistance trying to stop me always remains. It's like a demon or something that I have to chase away and exorcise out of myself.
Great article!