Some days creativity just isn’t there

A few words on how to force your ideas out on the worst of days.

Falling asleep last night, ideas rushed through me for an article I’m currently writing. I’m very passionate about it as it’s something that’s always cruising through my mind.

Today, I wake up to write, but It’s no longer there.

I woke up lacking creativity today. Like I lost the ability to think straight.

But it won’t stop me.

I think anyone who writes, whether it’s articles or programs. Anyone who draws, for themselves or as a job. They will know how I felt this morning.

The frustration of just not being able to find the words to put down on the page is surreal.

It’s eating me up. Every second that goes past makes it so much worse.

I was on the verge of giving up and trying again tomorrow morning.

But I didn’t.

Here’s what happened:

Every night I go to sleep thinking about what I want to write in the morning. Some days there are no ideas there, others there are so many I can’t force myself to sleep (I think I have about 30 drafts right now that I just haven't worked on enough to publish).

I wish I would pick up my phone to write it all down, but then I won’t sleep for even longer.

I’ll do it all in the morning I tell myself every night.

But in the morning, it’s gone.

Somehow, hours later, I’m able to get back into it after struggling for so long. I get my ideas back! But why?

I force my brain to recall the ideas

Over the years I’ve found if you focus on something for long enough, it will come back to you.

Some mornings when I wake up and the ideas have flown out the nest (my brain), I simply force myself to get them back.

If you say you can’t, well:

“The man who says he can, and the man who says he can’t are both correct” — Confucius

That’s right, you can do it. If you can’t it’s because you’re telling yourself you can’t.

Anyway:

To do this, I start to write any old crap about the subject. Eventually, it all comes back to you. One idea after the next.

The issue is, the writing still seems shit.

To fix this:

I read a few days ago about an artist (I simply cannot find the article I was reading to recall their name), this artist takes the first piece they create every day.

They look at it, taking it in.

Then rip it up and throw it away.

I’ve been doing this for years with school essays and never realized that professionals do this!

“Alex what the actual ****. Why on earth would you do that?”

Listen right. Your first piece or first draft just won’t be good enough. Dispose of it. Take those words in, reflect on them. Then select all of it and delete it. Now rewrite it!

Trust me, this will make your work so much better.

This is exactly what I do!

Any morning that I wake up and I’m struggling with writing. That’s what I do and it really opens up my mind and allows me to write.

In fact, I did the same thing with this piece. If you think it’s garbage now, think how much worse it was before. Wow.

If this isn’t working for you, try this instead:

Go and do some reading

If that first idea doesn’t work for you, or you’re too lazy to give something new a try. Go read some articles about something completely different. Or read a book even.

If your sentences aren’t flowing one morning. Take the time to read how someone else writes. This will help with your own work.

When people tell you that reading is the most important thing in life they’re not joking.

In fact, for 18 years I wanted to have nothing to do with reading. I watched a video about Will Smith talking about a book, ‘The Alchemist’, and it changed my perspective.

Reading is the greatest tool in life.

Use it to your advantage!

The most important thing of all:

Drink coffee every morning

“And how is this important Alex?”

It’s not the coffee but the establishment of a routine. Something that will help with your self-discipline.

Doing this will make it less frequent for you to get days where you wake up and have no idea what to write.

Routine is everything and so is self-discipline. Once you get a good morning routine going, you won’t have to worry about not knowing what to write down on the page.

Well, maybe every so often you might. But then you can come back here and fix it!

Now that I have ideas flowing and sentences forming themselves, I might actually be able to finish some pieces off.

If you’re stuck too, I’d recommend writing some bullshit, then deleting it and actually writing something worthy of reading. If not, go read a bit.

Either way, never give up! And drink coffee. It’s the best.