SPA Girls Podcast – EP239 – How to Be Creative When You Don’t Feel Like It

Sometimes the muse has left the building.

Or you’re tired.

Or something happens that you weren’t expecting. Yeah, like a pandemic. That’ll do it!

There are probably very few people who haven’t felt the panic or sense of doom and gloom in some small way, and others far worse than the SPAGirls.

It’s fair to say that we all took a moment (read a week or three) to get our heads back in the game, and even if you didn’t, that’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up about anything you didn’t do or won’t do if that is the case because it won’t change anything or make you feel better.

However, if you’re like us, you’ll be ready to get back in the game. Writing is our livelihood, and we’re doing okay, so we thought we’d give you a few things that helped us.

Show Notes:

Firstly, let’s talk about how you feel. You don’t need a professional to listen, but if that’s how it plays at for you, then go for it. We have each other, but sometimes you need somebody else, right? Someone not to pass judgment but also someone who might offer advice. Someone who understands. Who could that be for you?

We’ve talked about plans and how they may have changed. Perhaps it’s now an excellent time to look them over. Can you tweak them to make a new plan? One that suits your life better at this moment and makes more sense.

Eg. If a book usually takes you four months from start to finish, working Monday to Friday, you would know precisely how many words that is a day, week, or month. (This is not an exact science, yet it could be the tool to get at least some work done.) Let’s look at the same book again, but with the understanding that the word count simply isn’t going to happen. Now the book could conceivably take six months or even a year. (Maybe way longer if you’re a slow writer or this isn’t your day job.)

It’s a ball-park figure only. Or you could reverse engineer it and say I know I can do 500 words a day x 5 days=2500 words per week. Now that’s not too shabby, is it? Then 2500 words per week x 1 month is approx 10k.

 Maybe this book could be shorter?

So, hey, what do you know? In 5 months you have a 50k book. Hurrah!

Here are some more tips:

– try something new 

– set a timer – when it’s done, you move on to something else.

– go back to when you first started writing and look for your why, or how your schedule used to look

– tiny chunks can take the pressure off 

– we all move around our houses to create a different environment

– Different environment, different sounds, different tools

– Recommended reading: Deep Work by Cal Newport, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

– Gamify – keep it fun! – https://4thewords.com/home

– podcasts!  https://unmistakablecreative.com/

– research – still work but more fun!

– get outside – go for a walk, garden, or simply smell the roses.

You’ll find all the show notes and SPA Girls podcast at: www.spagirls.com

Keen to join the SPA Girls in a live workshop? Join our mailing list, and we’ll let you know the minute we have workshop bookings open. Info here: https://selfpublishingworkshop.co.nz/index.html

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