How Do You Write When You Don't Feel Like Writing?
And am I the only one super annoyed that I still need to capitalize every first letter of a title?
I think I’ve spent a good chunk of the last 12 years feeling this way. “I don’t feel like writing.” or “What will I even write about?”
You get the cliche advice to “Just write anything, anything, ANYTHING to get you started!”
All I hear when anyone says this is, “Write nothing. Write without being mindful of what you put down on paper. AKA let every passing thought, even the ones that don’t reflect who you are as a person, take space in your reality.”
I hate that advice, to “just write anything”. Because that effectively always results in me writing nothing at all.
And yes, maybe different strokes for different folks, right? If you need to coax every idea out to help with your constipated thoughts, by all means. But for me? I will not touch this advice with a ten-foot pen. (Not that I’ll be able to anyway. But here’s the closest I ever got to writing with a giant pen back in 2010, to show you I mean business.)
*One of my greatest fears in life, is to have my great-great-great-great-grandchildren find this photo of me and say something like “Wooow… Grandma’s really… something, huh?”
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So, if the advice “just write anything” doesn’t work for someone like me, what did work, after years and years of fighting with myself to “just do the damn thing!”?
And trust me, it’s so simple, I hate myself for not realizing it sooner.
How do I write when I don’t feel like writing?
I don’t.
I simply don’t! I don’t ever want to associate myself with the feeling of not wanting to write, and doing it anyway. To me, that’s as effective as going to the gym when all I want to do is jog to the nearest boba tea shop and get boba tea (and a cheesecake for good measure).
I say NAY!
This is NOT to be confused with “writing when I’m angry or sad.” I didn’t say I don’t feel like writing during these times. In fact, now that we’re on that…
I write a thought down when I can’t stop thinking about it, and I want to catch it on paper.
I ran to my room and wrote down everything that happened after my first date with my boyfriend (who eventually became my husband. I wrote that day too).
I wrote during the pandemic, when most days the only conversation I had was with my husband or with myself. I had many thoughts that period. I realized, I was on autopilot for a really long time, just working and working and working and never had a break from reality, until the world forced us to have one.
I wrote down the first time I fell in love at first sight, and that’s huge coming from someone like me who never believed in that sort of thing. (It was when I met my cat at the shelter.)
I wrote down the first time my toddler said “I love you, mom”.
I wrote every time my in-laws were mean to me. And I wrote when I decided to cut all contact with them.
I write when I’m scared to fail.
I write when I’m happy and “don’t know why, but it must have something to do with how pretty the sunrise is today.”
I write when I feel like writing.
Because I write when I feel alive. Because I want to remember what it feels like to be alive, especially when I don’t feel like writing. You know what I do instead when I don’t feel like writing?
I read.
Fun fact: I also write stories. Funnier fact: You can read them all. Upgrade your subscription now and prove you have great taste