Slump -O- Rama

So, it's not that I don't like writing.

That's like saying I don't like coffee.

Neither one is true, and neither will ever happen in my lifetime.

However, when things around my life get busy -- things that have nothing to do with writing-- it seems that this is not only the first thing to go, but the first thing I don't want to do.

Okay, so sometimes I do want to write, especially when things get out-of-whack. It's an outlet of sorts; to get away from what I find myself so wrapped up in, and I can escape to a world of unreality.

But more often than not, like right now, I just can't get the will power to sit down and write anything major. Why am I telling you this? Because, going through a dry spell, a writers' slump, is a normal thing.

We go through periods of writing non-stop for days, thousands and thousands of words, only to look back a week later and wonder how we did that and now, more importantly, how we are going to write one measly sentence.

Here's the thing: if this is you right now, don't despair.

Currently, I too am sort of in this predicament. I can write for short -- very short-- moments, but my life beyond writing, the one that I'm more involved in now, is sapping my energy and creativity.

Many times this past week, I've terrified myself over the thought: What if I never get back that urge to write? What if my zeal for creating new worlds and characters disappears for good?

It won't. I won't. And it won't happen to you either.

Phases. That's what life is about. The Bible even talks about this sort of thing : "A time to weep, a time to laugh ... a time to be silent and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:4,7, NIV). King Solomon wrote those words, and he was -- and is-- still considered to be the wisest person of all time.

If HE had a bad day -- a day where writing was the last thing he wanted or felt he could do -- then, by all means, we are no different. When I think of this, I don't feel so bad. After all, he wrote books in the bible!

I almost didn't write this post because my circumstances seemed more pressing -- and even more enticing --than sloshing out words onto the screen in front of me.

But, here they are. And I feel a little better.  Many times, getting going is all we have to hurdle past and many times, that isn't a hurdle we feel like jumping over. The writing slump is what it is.

And it's okay.

Take the time to recuperate, restore your creativity, and wait for revelation for future writing. Because it will come. And when it does, be ready to write for a long, and fulfilling, time.