Fatigue

[Serra K]

I'm sure most writers experience bouts of fatigue, whether they be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. When the inner accuser strikes and demands to know why you haven't committed a single word to paper or screen today, how do you quieten it?

Go for a walk or a run?
Spend time in the garden?
Secretly re-watch the Twilight series?

I look forward to hearing your strategies for managing time away from writing.

 

[izi 出久]

I go skating or play basketball. Sometimes I'll go for a run (striving to not berate myself for how little I do this now). Skating is my #1 though, with basketball a close second.

I never watched the Twilight movies. I like Kristin Stewart too much to watch what they made her do in that franchise lol.

Jk. I read all but the last half of Breaking Dawn, when I realized I didn't like the series anymore. I was also 16, so give me a break haha.

 

[izi 出久]

And sometimes I just open my notebook and write "Fuck" and that is my writing for the day.

 

[Barbara]

I tend to push on anyway but can't recommend it. I end up, dragging myself forwards, writing on, exhausted, clinging to the keyboard. Just. One. More. Word. Am there at the moment and I damn well know I need to stop. Prob is, if I do stop, I'll see life things that need dealing with which I don't want to see or deal with.

So take it from me: take a break, any break, even if it's just for breathing. You'll be better off for it.

(Not that I ever follow my own advice.)

 

[Hannah Faoileán]

I tend to be quite busy with other things anyway, so I timetable my day and when it's time to write, Goddammit I write. If nothing's in my head, I tell myself, "one sentence. Just write one sentence even if it's crap." It's never just one sentence.

 

[Dorm Ant]

I never get writing fatigue. I get cleaning fatigue, job hunting fatigue, replying to texts and emails fatigue... Never writing.

 

[izi 出久]

I never get writing fatigue. I get cleaning fatigue, job hunting fatigue, replying to texts and emails fatigue... Never writing.

I very rarely get it. Normally happens between high and low. It's more that I catch myself staring at the screen for two hours. And then I'm like. "Girl, byeeee. Time to move."

 

[Vagabond Heart]

Ah, that ‘inner accuser’. Doesn’t just happen with writing, does it - pops its snotty little head up over lots of things.
If I distract myself from it, I know it’ll sneak back in another time. So, instead, I counter it with some strong truth-telling.
SN (snotty voice): you’re not doing enough
ME: actually, I’m not God, so I can’t say exactly how much ‘enough’ is
SN: but if you don’t do more you’ll never get it done
ME: yes I will, it’ll just take a few days longer
SN: real writers write every day
ME: I’m writing. Ergo, I’m a real writer. And I’m not doing it every day for lots of good reasons.
SN: yes but
ME: and by the way, fuck off.

(Oh, and when I do go back to do more, I change my paper colour setting to a mid blue, as it stimulates creativity. Am usually only blocked if I’ve forgotten to do this.)

 

[Brayati]

'Writing' is something you do all the time: observations of life, people, things happening. Writing is breathing the air and observing how it feels to your skin, mouth, nose, throat. Writing is reading the news, the weather, the world issues, and noting areas that cause conflict/unease/disease. Writing is everything in life, and in dreams and in actions. Writing is something that doesn't always involve words on the page. It's words on pages when the life experiences are placed in black and white (or blue or purple or red or green, you choose) in order to share experiences and epiphanies and metaphors for life.
Writing is never the act of getting words on paper, it's the act of living, and then sharing what has been lived.

If in a state of ennui, go out and observe. Feel the world, touch it, before you feed it the words.

 

[James Charles]

I'm sure most writers experience bouts of fatigue, whether they be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. When the inner accuser strikes and demands to know why you haven't committed a single word to paper or screen today, how do you quieten it?

Go for a walk or a run?
Spend time in the garden?
Secretly re-watch the Twilight series?

I look forward to hearing your strategies for managing time away from writing.

Swimming, with sharks.