On Hitting a Dry Spell

This, this is what your field of inspiration looks like.

I didn't write much this summer. I felt uninspired.


Once the semester was done (remember this post? Well, the spring semester was even worse...), I kept writing for a few weeks.  It was like coasting to a stop on my bike. Muscle memory, almost. And then, I stopped. I was tired. I'd been reading and writing nonstop for about two months at that point, and I basically just ran out of steam. Over the rest of the summer, I wrote zero essays. I started a couple, but couldn't find a way to continue them. I wrote a few posts for Floodmark. I wrote emails and Facebook posts and the occasional Tweet. I wrote a couple of articles to pitch to online magazines. But I wrote zero essays.


And that was okay.


Let me say it again; listen carefully. That. Was. Okay.


I started out feeling guilty. All my professors had warned us not to spend an entire summer not writing. Two of my friends from my MFA program set themselves a goal to write an essay a week this summer. But everybody's writing needs are different. And sometimes, the lack of inspiration is just our mind's way of telling us to take a break.


Do you know what I did this summer? I watched Orange is the New Black. I spent a couple of weeks at home helping to take care of my grandmother. I started watching House of Cards. I watched a lot of soccer. I house- and cat-sat for a friend. I translated a play. I searched for (and found) a studio apartment and moved in. I watched the Olympics. And I spent a fair amount of time indulging my second love–theatre. I took a class with the Neofuturists, which was a dream come true. I did a staged reading at a small theatre and met some great people. So, although I wasn't reading or writing much throughout the summer, I didn't spend it in bed with no mental stimulation. I became very interested in how storytelling in TV shows is similar to and different from storytelling in other media. I returned to telling stories through theatre. I created in different forms.


The next time you hit a dry spell, don't worry. Submerge yourself in other forms of art that you enjoy. Visit museums. Talk to friends who write or make art in some other form. Indulge in your hobbies. They'll simply provide food for your writing when you go back to it. If you feel your dry spell has gone on too long, however, Alyssa has some excellent advice on how to get you of it!