Falling off the wagon with a loud thud.

Posted on June 2, 2009

The past two months have managed to suck me back into a pattern of non-productivity on the writing front. It’s official – I fell off the writing wagon. Work got crazy, My performance schedule got (thegoodkindof) crazy, my allgergies hijacked my body a couple of times, and my brother is getting married at the end of the month, which is its own kind of crazy. It’s easy for me to get so busy that one of things that keeps me the most grounded, my writing, falls to the wayside…and that’s exactly what happened, as evidenced by my complete lack of blogging.

This happens to everyone from time to time, and I think it’s important to remind yourself that it’s OK. The best thing to do is just to start over, get back into a routine, and keep writing. If I spent two more weeks beating myself up about NOT writing, I still wouldn’t have anything to show for it, so why not just skip that part and get back to work?

I started a yoga class this month and a pleasant but unexpected side effect has been that it clears my mind perfectly to prepare for a writing session. I’m going to reschedule one of my weekly sessions with myself so that I can have time to write after yoga. If you’re having trouble with your own hectic life and not having time or energy to work on your writing, I definitely recommend a yoga class or another type of exercise. It manages to make me both relaxed and absolutely present at the same time, and that is a fantastic feeling.

What do you do when you “fall off the wagon”? What’s the best way for you to get back in the habit?

Tags: strategies, writing appointments, writing routine

Jessi Miller

My blog has a creative focus too, so when I fall off ye olde wagone, usually it’s because I haven’t done anything “blogworthy” recently, or I can’t find my camera! To get back on, I’ll make an appointment with myself to look over my current projects again and see if maybe there’s a nugget to write about. Maybe a process that people would find interesting, or a mistake I made that others can learn from.

I also really need to find my camera… How does it escape so often? And don’t even get me started on the upload cable and its escapist tendencies!
Josh Benson

When I get into a slump where I’m uninspired, I either go out and cause some trouble for myself, or at least place myself in a situation where I can imagine trouble occurring very easily. This gets the juices flowing again usually.
mandythompson

My power combo seems to be having a routine schedule, PLUS something novel – whether it be a new TV show, a cute new purse, a favorite new restaurant, a shiny new artist to listen to, or whatever. A simple NEW addition to a normal routine, and I’m off to the races again.

Oh. And a lazy rainy afternoon.

And maybe a mocha! 😉

Now, if I could JUST get back into a routine…
Jenny Scott

Well, my run after the train, trying to get back on my loved wagon of creativity looks like reading a book, going for a walk or just taking my notebook and start writing ’til my fingers bleed.

Or I type “songwriting” in YouTube to find scads of videos about how others do the “work” and that usually puts me back on the top off my wagon.
Recently I found an interesting interview of Bruce Springsteen;)
mandythompson

Just stopped by to see how the writing creativity was going…? Hope you’re doing alright!
- jules
  
  Oh man, it’s been rough! I think once my brother’s wedding is over in a couple of weeks I can have a lot more time to myself. Here’s hoping! 🙂 Thanks for the gentle nudge.

write. play. repeat.

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