WRITING LULL

            Last year, I did an article called “Nothing To Write About.” That’s always a possibility for some people, but what about when circumstances prevent you from writing?

JOB

            There’s always the case of having to work, sometimes too much. If you do a lot of overtime hours, even if you have a certain window when you get home, you may not want or have the energy to write. This can last for extended periods of time.

HEALTH

            In the hospital? Have something temporarily debilitating? Something permanent where you have to adapt to an extreme?

CIRCUMSTANCES

            Moving, family obligations, disasters? All of these may delay writing for days if not weeks or even months.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE IT?

            If you’ve got a big imagination, while you may not be able to physically write, you can always think of stuff for future reference. If you have a bad memory, small notes may be a way to fill in those gaps. Or, cement an idea into your mind so that you can recall it later. There are always ways to compensate for not writing. At least you can build up a storehouse of ideas for when you’re able again.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

            While I could be hard-core and write no matter what, sometimes life will get in the way.

            Some of you may be able to whip out a laptop and jot down ideas, sentences, paragraphs…anything to keep forward progress. In my case, I absolutely despise laptops and as much as I love to write, self-torture was never part of the deal. Instead, I catalog ideas, either with repetition in my head, or sticky notes.

            At present, I have not written anything new on my latest for several months.

            Why?

            Circumstances, some beyond my control.

            Instead, what I do is still get inspiration from everything around me. I’ve come up with some ideas for further progress and have been toying with them in my head. When I do get back around to my work in progress, I’ll already have those ideas ready to go.

            I still have a yellow sticky on my computer desk for some ideas I’ve already incorporated into a past novel. I haven’t taken it down yet! So much for stickies.

SUMMARY

            You’re still brimming with ideas, but as Meatloaf once sang, “All revved up and no place to go.” Circumstances prevent you from sitting down and putting it all on paper.

            That’s okay, just improvise. You’ll figure a way to lock in those ideas.

            Happy writing!