This Is How I Write My Way Out of Slump

“Words are alive; cut them and they bleed.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Note: this is how I get through slump. It may not be as effective for you as it is for me.

It just happened that I saw Odee tweeted this while I was starting this blog post. I think it fits on my top list.

I ALWAYS REMIND MYSELF THAT THIS IS MY DREAM

If this isn’t enough reason for you to keep doing this, I don’t know?

I keep reminding myself how it all started:

✔️ What I felt when I first knew this is what I want to do for the rest of my life

✔️ What I felt the first time words poured and I was able to write my first piece

✔️ What I felt the moment people starting to notice my crafts and actually liking it

It is important to look back on those occasions. It will help you get a good grip of your goal. It will make you remain humbled and determined at the same time.

What if you are just writing for a living? Then, there’s no point in pursuing it. You always have to go for what makes your heart flutter. Stop making a cage out of yourself. Stop doing things if you are not 100% on it. You can always make a career out of your passion but never the other way around. There’s a difference between loving what you do and doing what you love.

I ALWAYS KEEP A JOURNAL

It’s impossible to lose all your thoughts. There has to be at least one that remains. It can only be a sentence; a word or two. You don’t have to complete or write the idea in one sitting. You can always get back to it when you feel like it. My Notes on my phone is pretty messed up, though. Still, better than nothing.

I also write on my actual journal at night. Sometimes, I miss a day or two so I have to pen an entry and start it with “I forgot to write last night —”

I don’t know who I’m really talking to. Maybe myself. I also write to Namjoon. Especially when I have questions!

Most of what I write here is how my day goes. The usual thing. My dreams, too. I barely dream or I just don’t really remember a single one. Now, it became frequent that I have to write about it.

I LISTEN TO JAPANESE SONGS

I’ve always thought that I was born in the wrong country. I feel like I belong somewhere else. Not here. It’s like I’m searching for something I really can’t put my finger into. I always have this longing inside me. Of what? I’m not really sure.

Anyway, before I joked about being a British by heart (thanks, Harry Potter), I’ve always lived inside Animes. I told a friend before that maybe I feel sad about my childhood because it was taken away from me too soon. It was in my childhood days that I told myself I’m going to be a writer – like Judy Abbott. At the time, everything seems possible.

Little did we know how much of a struggle it takes to achieve your dreams. I thought it was easy until reality hits me hard. So, I listen to Japanese songs to feel.

I listen to a lot but my favorites would probably be:

I WATCH MOVIES AND KDRAMAS

Aside from reading books, which I barely do these days, I watch. I always feel this empathy towards the characters, and I try to put myself in their shoes then try to write down my thoughts about it. Sometimes, I also write the lines I like the most.

I just finished watching While You Were Sleeping last night and I found myself writing this down: all those choices you made in the past, marked its place to the future.

I love tearjerkers like Armageddon, The Pursuit of Happyness, Collateral Beauty, Dead Poets Society and mind-blowing films like The Mist, The Inception, and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. There’s just a lot, really. These are just a few things that I could instantly think of.

Another thing I do is I watch people. I like walking especially at night. I observe. Sometimes, I walk to the bay to watch the sunset. Some days, I head to the park and just feel the wind and the trees. I don’t know. I am emotionally distressed.

I GHOSTWRITE

I don’t know if this is a good exercise or not. It can be pretty exhausting. I finished 7 articles today. LOL I am so brain drained. This is mostly the reason I can’t blog that much as I used to. I ghostwrite for different businesses and individuals. It helps me grow as a writer.

I JOIN IMPROMPTU POETRY

Realistic Poetry on Twitter is a good community for this. They tweet really intense photography and will ask you to write a poem about it. I like reading the entries and also writing my own. It is freeing since you can interpret it the way you want it.

It is really a good kick. It triggers me when I see this kind of visual.

I IMMERSE MYSELF TO IT

For me, writing is more of feelings than thinking. Unless we are talking about technical writing where you need to be neutral and well, technical. But if you keep a personal blog, just write what you feel. A single thought and feeling always lead to a million more.

I don’t know if this helps. If you have other ways to get through slump, maybe you can share in the comments to help others who are suffering from it as well?

We’ve been robbed off our childhood, we can’t let anything steal away our dreams, too. I hope you find comfort in your own words. Keep on writing. Keep going;

BTW, THANK YOU FOR 20,000 HITS!!!