We all have bad days. Perhaps we haven’t sleep well, we worry about something or we just feel off. What happens with our creativity when we don’t feel inspired? Generally it’s hard to get the wheels moving, but no need for despair. There is help to be found. At the bookstore.
Years ago Julia Cameron, the American author, teacher and multitalented artist, wrote a book called The Artist’s Way. It’s been standing in my bookshelf for at least a decade, and now and again I pull it out.
Cameron gives hands-on advice, and offers useful help for any type of artistic endeavour. For a writer her ideas work exceptionally well. (At least the ones I have tried. I never got further than the chapter about money. Deep sigh!)
Morning Pages
Start your day by writing so-called “morning pages”. It’s a very simple task, to help clear the mind. You sit down and write three pages of whatever is in your head. If there is nothing, just write about your empty and idealess brain.
I have countless notebooks full of morning pages. When I’ve read them again I’ve found mostly rubbish, but in others there are grains of gold. In every notebook of nonsense you can rediscover something precious.
Morning pages help clear the cobweb away and – voilà! – you are ready to go again.