I've been pondering a question for the last two hours. In search of a trigger, I went to Facebook, read some news, checked out a couple blogs and, really, I've got nothing. Zero. Zilch.
When I'm not feeling inspired, I usually go for a walk, but believe it or not, it's still cloudy and chilly and frankly, that doesn't exactly lure me into my sneakers.
So I'm stumped at keyboard. What do you do when you come up empty?
xoxo,
Suzanne
About Me
- Suzanne Casamento
- Author of Fingerprints, Choosing Tally, and All the Moments in Between. Tweet me @suzannecasamento
I've been coming up empty a lot lately.
ReplyDeleteI read a few chapters of a good book with the intention of getting lost in the story or reminding myself WHY I want to write. Or I crank the music and envision myself as a dancer. Or I go back and read something I wrote before and analyze it, often deciding it wasn't so bad...and that will fuel me to start again.
ReplyDeleteSleep.
ReplyDeleteAh - I put on headphones and blast music. That seems to get me focused on the task at hand. If I'm completely blocked I go do/focus on something else completely and then come back to it. I've learned long ago that a block doesn't clear itself by sheer will alone. :-)
ReplyDeleteFirst I get frustrated and tense. Then I walk away - try to forget it for a while. I'll eat something yummy. Then ultimately I sit in a relaxing space and stare into nothingness for a while, letting my brain brainstorm with itself - sometimes I doodle when I do this. This process can happen over the period of an hour, or over several days.
ReplyDeleteI think you should dance it out or bring Sparkles out for a walk.
ReplyDeleteLook at my dog, listen to some older music from the 80's or 90's, but I find myself not having blocks as much as staying on one topic. I've been writing a piece on Che and Hollywood but it's taken me down so many different paths I can't seem to finish it. That's what is great about history, it has so many threads. Just today I was finishing the piece on Che and Oliver Stone said some more idiotic stuff about Hitler, the Jews, and America, so I have to go back and fit in some stuff on Stone and his fascination with dictators such as Hugo Chavez. For me there is so much going on in the world right now it's hard to draw blanks, but it is hard for me to focus on one subject.
ReplyDeleteLeave a blank with a note, like ____(INSERT L.A.-CENTRIC METAPHOR HERE)____, then keep writing the rest of the story. Usually, it'll come later, when you're not thinking so hard about it.
ReplyDeleteWalk away and take a break, even if it's for the rest of the day. Start anew tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteI do what Ara does too! I skip a few lines and in caps write general idea like Funny scene about bats and then move on.
Take a nap. It's amazing what happens when you just drift and open up the space for your imagination to bubble to the surface.
ReplyDelete