Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, outside forces are at work draining your creative spirit. After all, how can you write a romance scene when the toilet is overflowing and the water is lapping at your ankles? Or the air conditioning is broken and the temperature outside passed one hundred hours ago?

Don’t despair. There are some things that might work. Not guaranteed, of course, but what’s the harm in trying?

• Keep moving toward the goal regardless of how you feel. If you think you have to be in a great mood to be creative, you might be in the wrong field. Achievement shouldn’t depend upon how you feel, although it often does. Picture this: You’ve got a terrible cough, your nose is running and you’ve got
  the shakes. Time to call the doctor. If he or she has to feel good to tend to you, what would happen if an argument with a spouse or office worker made doc feel bad that day? Would the receptionist refuse to take appointments? I think not. Turn the negatives into positives. It might be the time to use your emotions to write an angry or sad scene or short story.

• I tried, but it didn’t work. Solution: Take a vacation…even if it’s only for a day. There’s a new word on the horizon: daycation. If you’ve tried everything, and instead of a spark you have a fizzle, you might really need a break. If you were a kid, it would be called a “time out.” Vacation doesn’t have to mean going somewhere. It can be just getting away from the project. Decide how long of a break you need, and if it’s on your computer, don’t open the file. Hard copy? Shove the physical file in a drawer, to be looked at when you’ve regenerated. All the better if you can actually have a change of scenery, but that’s not a requirement. It’s amazing how different something can look when it’s allowed to get cold. All of a sudden, the ideas spring forth like leaks in a hose.  Remember, you’ve taken a vacation from your work in progress—not from your commitment to yourself.

• Don’t wallow in self-doubt. That won’t solve anything. If it still isn’t working, maybe this isn’t the project for you. Or maybe it is, but this isn’t the time. Find something that you really enjoy writing, put the culprit aside, and dive into the new project with fingers flying. Of course, you can’t do this every time, or you’ll never finish anything. Only use this tactic if your brain is like a rock even after resting. I’ve picked up projects that languished on my “to be looked at” pile for months, only to find that all of a sudden ideas were flowing again. Maybe the idea came to me in the shower, or as I was stuck in traffic. That doesn’t matter. What does, is that now the piece is ready to be finished. In the case of some projects, this may never happen. For those, the fate is being relegated to the dead file. Move on. As the saying goes, “You can’t beat a dead horse.”

• Associate with positive people. Don’t let negative people lend validation that maybe this is a permanent block. They will delight in confirming that you’ve reached the end of the road. There is nothing more helpful than a positive support group. You’re not by yourself, you know. You’re not the only person in the world who’s ever had a block, and therefore your life as you knew it isn’t over. It may just be stuck in neutral for a while. Surround yourself with people who give off positive energy. Allow yourself to feed from their enthusiasm, brainstorm sessions, and appreciation for what they are doing not only with you but for you.  Judi Moreo, a motivational speaker I know, has written a book that reflects her attitude toward life. “You Are More Than Enough.” Remember that phrase when all else fails.

• Be responsible for your own thoughts. Don’t become a self-fulfilling prophesy, having told yourself you can’t do something and therefore you remain stuck in the rut. I’m sure you’ve heard this a thousand times, but you are the only one who can change things. You are the only one who can reignite that creative spark that somehow got reduced to fading embers. Look over some of your old work. You did it then, so why not now? Allow everything you’ve experienced since you produced that work give you a way to grow, not an excuse to decline.

• Congratulate yourself on your successes. That’s right. Go out and celebrate when something gels. We often get so caught up in the routine of life, we can’t take the time to reach around and pat ourselves on the back. Try it. It does wonders.

Unless you write with a partner, the job of writing…as with many creative fields…can be very lonely. Some writers set up routines, others write as the spirit moves them, but in any case it’s not that hard to become somewhat of a hermit. Particularly when working on deadline. Don’t let that happen. Get out, exercise, socialize, take a drive with a friend. Keep the creative juices flowing by offering them stimulus of the interaction with others and new experiences.

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