But what if you're too stressed to write?
How do you get into a creative headspace when just getting through the day is stressful enough?
Well, there ARE times when you truly don’t have time or energy. And that’s fine. It doesn’t make you any less of a creative person if you need to attend to a life crisis.
Your writing matters because you matter, so you have to prioritize your well-being to build any kind of long-term writing practice.
BUT. If you’re stressed in a non-crisis way, you want to write, and you want to try creating space for it, many exercises can help get you into a more playful, generative headspace.
Here’s one that I learned from Rebecca Fish Ewan, who wrote the lovely little handbook Doodling for Writers.
This exercise only requires a few minutes and gets your hand moving across the page.
Lynda Barry, one of my favorite writers/cartoonists, is another big advocate of igniting your writer brain by keeping your hand moving. In other words, this technique has lots of big-name stamps of approval all over it.
Here’s how:
Find 5 to 10 minutes.
Pick a song and queue it up.
Bring out your favorite art supplies (or any pen/pencil you have lying around).
Draw a square on a piece of paper.
Press play on your song, and start doodling within the square.
The key: Keep you hand moving at all times! The goal is not to draw or write anything specific, but to move your hand along with the music.
Close your eyes if it helps.
Keep a notebook nearby. If you have any writerly thoughts during this exercise, write them down when the song ends.
As a bonus, color in your doodle later.
Now asses how you feel. If doodling to music makes you feel a little lighter—or brings you an idea or two—try it at the beginning of your next writing session. Or just whenever you need to notch down your stress a level or two.