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?
It's definitely understandable if it's hard to be creative right now. It took me a while to be able to force myself to work on writing every day again. The stress was just too much.
ReplyDeleteI do think it's harder to be creative with all the stress of this pandemic around us. And especially for people who have kids at home. I can't imagine trying to home school a kid or three. Not sure if I'd be any good at it.
ReplyDeleteIf you can write at all during this time, then that's a win. Although the kids would probably drain me more.
ReplyDeleteI did that too, when my boys were little. Wrote at night, but you're right lack of sleep catches up with you. May this nightmare end soon!
ReplyDeleteI usually write in the evening, but I'm so busy that I'm beat, especially when you add the stress of what's happening on top of it.
ReplyDeleteCombining young children with writing is hard work. And the pandemic and the quarantine situation up the pressure even more. I'm amazed you get anything written right now.
ReplyDeleteI could never write with young children playing around. Perhaps go to bed and set an alarm to write in the early morning, before the kids get up.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine trying to write with kids at home all the time (It gives me flashbacks to when my son was little. Yeah, nothing productive would have happened under circumstances like these). Hang in there. This too shall pass, and maybe some of it will be good fiction fodder down the road.
ReplyDeleteI don't have kids at home. I don't work remotely. I'm retired with an income. So why am I stressed over the pandemic? I don't obsess over being in that susceptible group (older, with underlying health issues). Yet writing is evading me. Lack of focus. Reading what I've written sometimes helps me get back into the groove. I should try that, right?
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