WFMAD Day 20 – Stuck in a rut?

Is your writing stuck?

Maybe not. Maybe the ideas are sputtering along. But you’re not happy, because you know (down deep inside) that what you are writing is a bit mechanical. Bloodless. DOA.

If you have the kind of busy life that makes it hard to develop a consistent writing routine (hence your presence on my blog this month), then it’s a safe bet to say that you don’t have many opportunities to do, see, or experience something new. You work, go to school, take care of the family, make sure the car has oil, deflea the cats, pay the bills, do the laundry, volunteer too much because you are too exhausted to say no, go to church, buy the groceries, negotiate world peace, and put out bird seed.

And you wonder why your writing feels stale?

Ready… Get out your calendar.

Set… “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” Anaïs Nin

Today’s prompt: Everyone has a few things that they’ve been wanting to do…. for fun. I’ve been wanting to visit the Canal Museum in Syracuse, and an SU basketball game, and go for a run at Green Lakes. But those things are WAAAAAY outside my daily routine, which always feels overloaded as it is, so they remain only fond desires.

You have a few items on your list, too. Fun experiences. Out-of-the-ordinary adventures. Indulgences. You need to go on them. So do I.

In your fifteen minutes, write a short list of four or five easy, local adventures you’ve been wanting to take. Then commit to taking them. Write down on your calender when you will do it (in the next 30 days, please) and commit to taking someone you care about with you. Make a date.

If you have time left over, write why you haven’t given yourself permission to take these adventures yet. You can also write about the adventures that your character secretly wants to take, but for (fill in the blank) reason, she won’t make it happen.

Scribble… Scribble… Scribble…

4 Replies to “WFMAD Day 20 – Stuck in a rut?”

  1. Laurie, these posts are so kind, gentle, and helpful. Thank you for the time and soul you pour into them.

  2. You know me! All but the cat–we have fish and parakeets. 🙂
    Still plugging away at my synopsis of the next WIP, but will take a few minutes to write a list of local adventures.

  3. I’m so glad I joined in on the 17th even tho the month was past half over. I so needed this little nudge and am finding your posts so helpful with both encouraging and thought provoking musings. Especially yesterday on making anger a friend as I tend to treat it like a hot stove that can never be touched without punishing repercussions.

    My daily 15 minutes have so far been only rambling and ranting but the fact that I know they are not for immediate audience viewing like my daily blog posts is so freeing. Daily blogging has pushed all my other writing out lately and that was never my intent. I can understand now why Robert Owen Butler refuses to write any non-fic at all for fear of loosing the dreaming place where his stories are found.

  4. Can you repeat this “get out of your rut” advice like every other month or so? =p It helped me a lot today, thanks. =)

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