How to Write When You Don’t Feel Like It: Part 2

When you feel low or resistant, how do you shift your energy and get your writing done? Or anything else done? Despite years of experience, I still have these feelings and questions. This is the second in a series about how to write when you don't feel like it  or when you have writer's block.

Shift into the Flow Through Teensy Steps

As Lao Tsu said, "All journeys begin with a single step." In writing, each day is like another journey.

Even after all these years, my steps may be very small. I just keep taking them, day after day. I trust my feet, or, rather, my fingers on the pen or the keyboard.

I start by telling myself to just do a little bit. Any bit.

Examples of Teensy Steps

For example, at the start of a project, I might create the structure for a report with the styles, the header and footer, the page numbering, and the title page. Another time, I know the sections that should be there, so I put the headings in for those with blank pages between, and run the table of contents.

Who says you have to start your writing with a draft of the introduction? Who says you have to write in order? I don't.

I write out of order all the time. I write where I have the barest twinkle of energy, even if that's just the title and the header. And after that, maybe I write the acknowledgements.

Later, I may have a bit of energy for some information that comes in the middle. It might be a description, or a table of data. Just a little something, anything, that will get me going.

When to Flow, When to Organize

Each day I take teensy steps to get the ideas out; I go with the flow. Flow has nothing to do with logic or order, even though I may have a list, an outline, or a map.

Still, I write intuitively, in flow. I write what I can; I write what comes, as it comes.

Once the pieces are drafted, I can go back and reorganize them more logically. I can re-order sections or paragraphs. I can add paragraphs or sections. I can revise. I can proofread. These are the left brained processes. They must be done separately and later than the drafts.

In the end, my project is ordered, clear, and refined.

Find and Use the Trickle of Energy First

My advice to you, then, is to find the trickle of energy. And don't judge it. Just do that teensy bit. And then you will feel another trickle, and you can go with that.

After a time, your piece will simply grow. And that growth will fuel your motivation. You will have more than a trickle of energy. You will write more at a time.

You will have to do this each day. Have your idea list, yes. Have your checklist, yes. But, follow your trickle of energy. And just start somewhere, anywhere that trickle leads you. Then you'll have a flow for 15 minutes or an hour or whatever is right for you. Then tomorrow is another day.

Over time, your e-book or e-course or workshop or video will take shape.

Then you can edit, revise, proof, whatever. Just don't do these until you let the ideas flow as they will.

Questions for Reflection and Application

• What is your experience?

• To what project will you apply this approach?

If this post is helpful, please click Like and Share it.

And if you haven't seen the first post, you can see it here at Dissolve the Wall.