Tips and Techniques

I'm still not feeling 100%. Head still hurts, but Daylight Savings Time means Gabriel hasn't woken up before 8am, and I'm getting a little bit more sleep.

I took a little vacation from being productive, from my To Do list, and from the dishes. Now the dishes are starting to pile up and smell a little bit. And not writing is piling up in my head, and that's starting to stink a little... especially since I'm getting used to the lazy day, not doing anything lifestyle.

On the other hand, the weekend was all about family time, and we had a good time. Gabriel loved having a little picnic in the park while Papa played softball. And he stayed up late, giggling and scooching back and forth between mama and papa on the couch.

So the time off from my work was valuable. Maybe I should actually build that into my schedule. I need to be realistic about how much I can do and when I can do it. I need to give attention and time to my family as well as my ambitions. It's all a very intricate web, I think, but there should be a way to work it all together.

Right now is the time for Mama's work. However, I'm feeling stuck. It's hard to get it up again after taking that little break. What to do?

What do I know about being stuck?

I know that if you put all your energy into how you are stuck, you will feed the stuckness. You will stay stuck. However, if you put your energy into moving forward, that’s the direction you will go. In other words, if I go on and on about how I can’t write, wonder why I can’t write, write about not being able to write, talk about it—that is what will happen, I will be unable to write. But if I put the same energy into writing, either just sitting down and powering through, or planning, or doing exercises, maybe figuring out a character sketch, or so… well, then my head will be in the book, not in not writing, and the ideas will flow.

I know that I can do 15 minute exercises and get somewhere

I know that sometimes a sketch or visual outline can get juices flowing.

Oh, hey. An idea web! Let’s turn to a different hemisphere of the brain. Work the whole organ. Brainstorm all those ideas and see what things pop up and what that leads to. Those are always fun, because you don't have to have everything figured out. Your subconscious actually works for you.

Talking to someone about your story ideas. Damn, damn. Why don't I start that writing group? (Maybe I'm a little scared that starting something like that will mean I actually have to live up to what I'm talking about. Money where my mouth is, ju know what I mean?)

I know that what I should REALLY be doing to get myself out of this stuck is stop going on about it, and just start writing.

Ciao

(Don’t think about how Gabriel is probably going to wake up in a few minutes and you won’t be able to get anywhere, anyway. Don’t think about that.)