Writing Dry

As a writer there are days when the words just flow and bounce on top of each other trying to get onto the page. The world is sweet and beautiful, and you're writing for all the world to see.




Then something happens.





Life!


Writer's block, illness, finances, kids, grandkids, parents, rejections, obligations...okay, you get the point.


Now what? The words dry up like dormant wood, with their beauty of leaf and flower frozen and lifeless.


I'm not a seasoned writer, but here are some exercises that help me. (No I'm not going to tell you to do push-ups or squats....although that would help me in more than one place.)


1. I write anyway. If I find nothing to say, I write about my words drying up. (Oh, Lawdy, I just spilled the beans.)


2. Get into nature. I know it's easy for me living in Florida. But if you have that strange awful winter stuff, get your camera, take pictures of ice crystals, or snow on a fence, leaf or someone's face. Get out at night and look at the heavens. Let God's creation inspire and uplift you.


3. Find a good writing support group, or a couple of friends. This is most important. Don't go it alone, unless that's how you like to operate.


4. If deadlines don't matter, take a short time off. But keep a notepad handy, that's usually when the ideas come.


5. Attend conferences, book clubs or whatever might be in your area. (We have one in March, the Florida Christian Writer's Conference.)


6. Finally, commune with the One who is the Word. Learn from the Master.

So, as in the dried bougainvillea above, don't cut it back yet, just because it looks dead. Wait and watch where the green leaves sprout, you may be surprised.


Karen


Photos: pretty colored one is Free Photo, the dead ugly one-mine.