I am a creature of habit. And establishing your writing space and creating work rhythms can help you immensely as a writer. But if you have an established routine that’s been working for you, and you’re starting to feel restless or bored, then it might be time to deliberately break your routine to get your creative juices flowing again.
Oftentimes, you figure out a way to do something, and it works for a while, then progress stagnates, and then you have to change again. I learned this especially well when it came to riding horses. If ever I fell into a rut of doing the same exercises repeatedly with my thoroughbred, he would inevitably get bored and start ignoring me. I had to change my strategy constantly.
People are much the same way. Eventually, you will grow bored or numb if you never change anything about your writing practice.
I have been BICHOK (butt in chair, hands on keyboard) for weeks now, hammering out the third draft of ALoS2 to meet my editor’s deadline. And while I’ve enjoyed nearly every second of it, I know that the intense practice can quickly become daunting. But we’re getting a week of absolutely gorgeous weather in middle Tennessee right now. Sunny. Breezy. You might think it was fall if you didn’t know any better.
That makes a change of scenery easy. I take my laptop outside, at a picnic table or laid out on a blanket under a tree, and I write outside. The beautiful weather is an instant mood boost. The different sounds and sights shift my brain out of its one-track mode.
My other scenery change has been to actually write at my desk, which has been untouched for months. I’m usually a couch or bed writer, because I believe in being cozy above all else, but sitting up straight at my desk taps into my school-minded brain, which is good for now, because this deadline is serious business.
If you’re feeling a little stuck, a little overwhelmed, or a little bored, grab your computer, grab your pen and paper, and go write somewhere else. If you don’t have the option to move locations, then shift something in your current space. Can you face your desk a different direction? Can you hang pictures of things that make you happy? Can you change your mood music?
Work with what you have! I’m writing this at a picnic table by the playground of my local library. Kids are yelling in the background. I keep thinking bugs are crawling on me. It’s honestly lovely.
See what a change of scenery will do for your inspiration. You might find that you’ve moved right out of your writer’s block.
