When We Are Desperate for Writing: Staying the Course and Finding the Idea

Sometimes the writer can find themselves with a myriad of ideas or thoughts. They will try to get each of these thoughts on paper, but the processes will be different for each. Where one writer would say, "If it's good enough I will remember," another might say, "I will forget this and have to get it down." When we have the myriad of ideas, half of them are often unworkable. But, when we do not give them a chance on the page, we are cutting off our choices later on. We will become desperate for ideas later on, especially when we are blocked. Sometimes, in these moments, we need to do a little writing meditation. We can let the world pummel us as writers, but we can always act. We are desperate for writing, and so we write.

The ideas need to see themselves on the page. If we let the idea go, we will regret it. Just about every writer suffers a kind of block at some point. Even Stephen King was blocked while writing his longest single work, "The Stand." He came up with the ideas to break through the block by walking. Some writers will tell you to write every day, or just as often as possible. There is something to be said for walk to refill our creative wells. When we refill the well-a term used by Julia Cameron-we make the fiction or non-fiction writing less of a chore and more about enjoyment.

Being desperate for writing can spill over into our normal lives. Perhaps we have a day job, or children, and we do not give these things the attention they deserve. By walking, writing, and thinking, we are allowing ourselves to stay focused not only on writing but life. Julia Cameron is perhaps the best writer to read when we are desperate. Her books "The Sound of Paper" and "The Artist's Way" are so popular they have sold millions of copies. Inspiration writing like this can help us when we are desperate. If we are blocked, we can try an exercise in one of Cameron's books. If we feel our writing is poor, we do the same. By exploring what we have inside through written exercises, we are allowing for the inner writer to connect.

We should also read at every chance and, on occasion, completely stop reading. Doing either lets the mind refill. We read for ideas. We cut off reading when we are desperate because our minds need to relax.

The desperate writer can even write himself or herself into a story. We can find joy in putting ourselves into a fiction or non-fiction piece-just for fun-and seeing how small all the problems we have are. Writing can be therapy. The next time you are desperate in a rut, consider following a few of these rules.