This Thing Won’t Write Itself

I’ve been cranking out Friday Briefings since 2016. Usually, something is in draft by Tuesday and polished up on Wednesday. But not this week. The article steadfastly refused to materialise.

This edition had at least five false starts, on everything from COVID melancholy to the danger of demagogues. None of them deserved the light of day. They all seemed tinged with “COVID Crankiness”, the sharing of which would benefit no one.

I was, quite frankly, cross with myself that nothing useful would appear on my screen. But then it occurred to me that “writer’s cramp” might itself be a topic of interest, given that the syndrome happens to all of us at one time or another. This, by the way, occurred to me in the shower– skip the visuals, but see below.

So, hoping to be of some help, here are a few things I’ve learned when inspiration refuses to spark:

1. Writing anything substantive is best compared to starting a small gas engine– finicky, unpredictable, and succeeding only by dint of perseverance. This is true of most good things in life.

2. The most likely reason that ideas won’t flow is that something else has taken over our minds and hearts. It may be illness, anxiety, relationship issues, or even woolgathering. As important as any of those things may be, if we need to get that writing job finished, we simply need to compartmentalise and lock that worry, pain, or fantasy in another room until we’ve finished the job at hand.

3. If you don’t have a deadline, create one. And throw away the key.

4. In the same vein, it helps to self-impose disciplines such as blocking out writing time, or setting timers. If need be, promise yourself treats or threaten yourself with dire penalties. These work.

5. Nothing will leave the runway until you decide for whom you are writing, what they need to hear, and why.

6. Cultivate the subconscious and give it space and time to talk to you. Seemingly mindless activities such as driving, gardening, splitting wood, or taking a shower are in fact the times that your busy brain stays quiet long enough for your gentle and clever subconscious to tell you what you need to hear.

7. You know all those false starts? Don’t waste them! I have over fifty articles that got started but never finished, or got finished but didn’t feel timely. From time to time one of those gets dragged out and polished up when its time has come. Conservationism works for writers, too.

The moral? If you need to produce something and just can’t seem to get it going, don’t quit– you’ve got what it takes if you manage yourself and your circumstances, listen to your subconscious, and show a little discipline.

And ten minutes before my 11:45 PM deadline, I’m done! And that’s my point: stick to the job, and you’ll deliver.

Keep well, keep safe, and keep productive!