Often, something happens during my week, and I know exactly what I want to write my Sunday Story about. Other times, I’m not so lucky. This week, nothing screamed out, write me.
That’s when it’s good to have a list of potential writing topics. I looked through my backup list, and nothing interested me there either.
Now what? Do I skip writing a Sunday Story, say I was uninspired this week?
That’s not a good option for Sunday Stories or writing in general.
Sometimes, we don’t feel inspired. We search our memory’s filing cabinet, and nothing grabs our attention.
Should we abandon our writing time and wait for the muse to show up later? Better luck next week? I don’t think so.
I read this quote a long time ago that formed my write-whether-you-feel-like-it-or-not attitude. Dan Poynter, the author of more than 130 books, said, “If you wait for inspiration to write, you’re not a writer; you’re a waiter.”
So, here I sit, writing without inspiration because I don’t want to be a waiter.
Most times, if I punch my laptop keys long enough writing drivel, something of interest will bubble to the surface. If that doesn’t work, I ask myself:
- What did I see this week that was unusual or different?
- What interesting conversation did I hear this week?
- Did I recently eat something unusual for me?
- What did I do out of the ordinary?
I took my first Aqua Zumba class this week. I enjoyed the cool water on my skin, the sense of weightlessness, the resistance of pushing my arms and legs against something denser than air, the bright sunshine, and feeling like a kid in a wading pool again.
Will I ever do anything with that topic? Probably not, but I filled a page with words, and that’s good enough for today.
What’s something you saw, heard, ate, or did out of the ordinary in the last week or two?
What do you do when you feel uninspired to write? Tell us about it in the comments section below.
Remember, the only way to do this wrong is to not do it at all.
Until next time, happy writing.
Please note: All grammatical and typographical errors have been put in this article for
your enjoyment in finding them.
When I am uninspired I look around my home for things I have kept. I write about what they mean to.
Check your clocks, folks for the time this posted. It’s the bewitching hour now, that time of day when insomnia ruptures the stillness of night with an internal wail akin to a teething newborn screeching for room service. Anxiety joins the chorus of mind babble, reverberating within the recess of short term memory, hissing rhythmic displeasure like a turbine engine with a broken ball bearing. And between the rustle of freshly laundered sheets, I hear Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons hit the high note on “Oh, What a Night!”. Today, I attempted to self-learn something in Photoshop. I simply… Read more »
Steven, you crack me up every time.
Steven, I’m just getting around to reading these vlogs. I enjoyed your story. This one took me back to our frigid dining room in Virginia and my pitiful self shivering at the Selectric while typing my husband’s 400+ page dissertation which included 40 pages of bibliography and references. It took weeks. Each mistake had to be noticed, run over with the built-in correct tape then corrected before the sheet came out. We drove the manuscript to Minnesota where a friend offered to print 200 copies on his offset press. We took a detour to drop the kids off at my… Read more »
Today, I went to a Mayoral Forum. In Philadelphia, we have 8 Democratic candidates running for Mayor. A local group, POWER, a multi-faith group keeping an eye on local politics, held the forum. Instead of a debate since there were so many candidates, the candidates were invited to speak individually to groups. Power members asked each candidate the same list of questions. Then the groups gathered in a larger combined group to hear a report detailing each candidate’s answers. I am not a political person. I went because there are so many candidates, I had no idea who to vote… Read more »
Out of the ordinary…I got bit by a donkey! Definitely not the norm for me. Pretty sure that’s a diamond in the rough waiting to be parlayed into a small “s” story somehow. What a great quote you shared. I don’t want to be a waiter either. Sometimes when I feel uninspired I sit quiet and wait for the racing thoughts in my head to land on some place to start. Other times I ponder random topics, those I’ve written about and those haven’t to see if some other aspect emerges, like another facet of jewel. I wonder how different… Read more »
What have I done out of the ordinary? We’ve had unusually warm weather this week – 70s in April! – so I’ve gotten myself out for three walks, including one that lasted a whole hour despite my aching joints. And there’s still time to get out again today, before the weather turns back to something more seasonal starting tonight. Along the way – which is ordinary for me – I took photographs of the May flowers that are popping out early: daffs, magnolias, weeping cherry, forsythia, sweeps of blue scilla and glory of the snow. Welcome Spring!
What did I do out of the ordinary? I wish I could say I did something different or unusual. Or to just be able to punch my keyboard and say I did water Zumba, ate something out of the ordinary but my words fall into the category of hearing a conversation. I heard desperate words from a lady telling me over the phone, she had been on the phone all night with the suicide hotline. Then she went on to say she thought that would be best. After conveying the wisest words God was conveying to me to reply with,… Read more »