It's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time for another meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group! Our leader Alex J. Cavanaugh has assembled another great group of co-hosts for this month: Feather Stone, Beverly Stowe McClure, Mary Aalgaard, Kim Lajevardi, and Chemist Ken.
Be sure to check out the IWSG website for lots of great advice!
The optional question for this month is: Do you have any rituals that you use when you need help getting into the ZONE? Care to share?
I'll say this. I've needed additional help getting into the zone lately. The stress of the pandemic is a factor, but an even bigger factor is having the kids home all the time and adjusting to them learning from home. I find the best time to get any writing done these days is after I've put all the kids to bed. The down side of that is I am often tired or stressed out after a long day. Still, trying to sit down and write can be a good way to end the day with a sense of accomplishment.
Normally I would sit down to write with a cup of coffee, but since I'm writing later at night, I've had to substitute that with a cup of tea. Sometimes putting on some soft music helps. If all that fails, forcing myself to start writing, putting one word in front of the other, can get things going.
There are no guarantees, of course, and in stressful times like these, it's understandable if your creativity well is less plentiful than normal. Enjoy the times when the writing flows, and when it doesn't, try not to be too hard on yourself. We're all human, and all we can do is our best.
Do you have any writing rituals that help you get into the zone?