Have you ever had days where you asked “What will I write about today?”

If you are a blogger or do any other kind of writing I am sure you are familiar with the writer’s block syndrome that sometimes hits us. We sit down to write and can’t think of anything to write about.

What do I do?

Today was one of those days. I finished the blogging Challenge. The next day I did posts connecting by old blog and my new one,  Then today, I sat down to write and didn’t know what to write about.

With the new Kalatu blogging platform, it is easier because there are built in topics that it suggests, but today none of them sounded like something I feel like writing about.

I wrote down some ideas at the beginning of the challenge, but I have pretty much covered them.

Just start writing

One of the things I do in this situation is to just start writing.  I start writing about what I am thinking and what I am doing, and gradually an idea forms that I can write about. There are also times I sit down to write about one thing and when I start to write, a different idea develops.

A few years ago, a friend of mine suggested I spend 20 minutes every morning writing. It doesn’t matter what. Just keep writing whatever comes in your head. You can even write “I don’t know what to write”.  The main point is to keep the pen moving.   It was an exercise she had learned in a creativity course. I only did it for a short time. But I felt as the days passed, that the ideas came more easily. The idea is that to become creative, just start writing and the ideas will come. The physical act of writing helps the creative juices to flow.

Today, I decided to write about what to do when there isn’t anything to write about. It reminds me one year when my daughter didn’t know what to dress up as for Purim, the Jewish holiday where the children wear costumes like on Halloween. She said she would say she is sick and not go to school. I suggested she go as someone sick. She accepted the idea and the problem became the solution. Also here, not knowing what to write about became the idea of what to write about.

Just Do Something

This same principle can be used in almost any area. When you don’t know what to do and feel stuck, just start doing something.  Once you start, you will find the right thing to do. Any activity is usually better than no activity.
Of course if you continue to do unfocused, unproductive activities, you won’t get very far. At some point you have to come up with an idea that will move you forward.  But the idea won’t come in a vacuum. When you do activities, you will have something to evaluate and improve.

From my experience, very often just the fact that you are doing something, changes your mood and thinking processes and the ideas will come.

Try it and let me know how it goes.