How To Write When You Feel Creatively Dry

So how do you write when you feel creatively dry?

You don’t. At least…maybe you shouldn’t.

It seems counter-intuitive, right–to let yourself walk away whenever the words don’t want to fall onto the page? And that isn’t exactly what I’m proposing.

Hear me out…

This last summer and fall, writing had become impossible for me. I felt creatively empty, revisions had slowed to a crawl, I was playing on social media through my usual writing time. Where had my drive had gone? My discipline?

After a full day of work, we both head straight to our gym, hang our introverted selves in the closet, and don the outgoing and energetic versions we have to be. Between budgeting, additional social media profiles (because I didn’t spend enough time on Twitter already), and the pressure to get new clients in the door, it seemed obvious where my energy was going.

Reality Check

We talked about balance, about meditation, about how writing doesn’t have to be painful, and studied revision strategies. We rested and laughed and journaled and gave ourselves SPACE.

(Here’s a fun overview from another writer on the retreat.)

After a few days of my co-retreators’ rallying cries, after talking about boundaries and guarding my time, after preparing myself to tell my husband I needed to take a step back from our business, it hit me…

The gym wasn’t sucking my creative well dry. It was my stressful day job. 

That might not sound like a huge revelation, but I swear, I saw FIREWORKS. 

I realized that my day job has been consistently and overwhelmingly stressful for the nine months I’d been there full-time. I always had more work on my plate than I could possibly get done, and being on the cutting edge of email marketing means NO ONE has the answers. It’s a constant game of trial and error.

It’s interesting and engaging and important, but it’s also exhausting.

On the other hand, even when I dread going to our gym after a long day, I can’t deny that by the end of the night, I leave stress free and happy. Our clients are really freaking cool and I love helping women feel strong and confident through self defense. My emotional health has always been better when I’m consistently working out, and now that I’m ALWAYS at the gym, I jump in and out of classes whenever I want to. 

And I’m proud. I’m proud of this thing we’re building and I’m proud of our students.

The Story I Told Myself (And Everyone Else)

I suddenly had to grapple with this story I’d been telling everyone, that the gym was Omar’s thing and I’m just the “support staff.” I’m not kidding, those words came out of my mouth on more than one occasion. It was an excuse, a cop out, a way to absolve myself of ownership of this scary hard thing we’re doing.

When my conversations with the Pneuma ladies forced me to take a step back, it suddenly became crystal clear where my emotional and creative drain had been coming from. 

But what does one DO with that information?

I like my employer. I really, REALLY like the people I work with. They’re brilliant and positive and diverse and just plain fun. We’re doing valuable work, helping people grow their own businesses. But on the other hand, they’re a successful small business experiencing some growing pains. Two years ago, I would’ve loved to be a part of the solution, to help develop new processes and new training. I LOVE that kind of thing. 

The thing is, I need to focus on other things right now. For myself, I need the emotional and mental space to write. This is the fuel of my soul. This is what makes me feel alive and inspired. And I also need to focus on nurturing our gym. For me.

I need the emotional and mental space to write. This is the fuel of my soul.

(Tweet this)

Did I want to quit my job? Not really. Could I continue as things stand? Absolutely not.

So I talked with my husband, negotiated with my boss, and one month after the Pneuma Retreat, I dropped to part-time, just 20 hours per week.

Part-time, people!

Lesson Learned – How do you write when you’re creatively dry?

1. Don’t.
2. Take a step back. Give yourself time and space.
3. Dig into what brings you joy or energy, and what leaves you feeling drained.
4. If possible, do more of the first and less of the second.

Maybe you don’t have the freedom to quite your job just yet or a new computer isn’t in your budget or you never have more than 20 minutes at a time to write.

But you can make a plan. Right now. Today.

When does it end? How do you escape? Even if you’re trapped in a job or situation you don’t want to be in, you don’t have to be there forever. Is it a matter of paying down debt? Or spending your usual writing time applying to new jobs instead?

And just as important – make a plan for surviving the short term. For me, that included permission to NOT write, to take that one pressure off my shoulders, and allowed plenty of reading to de-stress.

You–and only YOU–have the power to change your circumstances.

It might not be as quick or as easy as we’d like, but it IS possible.

I don’t propose you drop everything to do the starving artist thing, I’m way too practical for that. But I DO encourage you to be honest with yourself about what feeds your soul and what starves it.

Be honest with yourself about what feeds your soul and what starves it.(Tweet this)

Who knows what exciting things will come from it?

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Coming soon…how to get excited about your writing again, in just 20 minutes a day!