“Writers write.”  It’s the action that defines us.

What do you do, then, when you feel like you can’t write?

Maybe something horrible has happened: illness (your own, or someone you care about), financial issues, break-ups. Any number of physical and emotional stressors.

Or it could be the result of a gradual build up.  You’ve tried being too strong, for too long, and now the gradual accumulation of life’s indignities has made you brittle as sugar glass.

Looking at the world around you, you feel hopeless.  Looking at the page, you feel panic.

Whether it’s topical or gradual, sometimes life feels overwhelming and terrifying.

For some, that is exactly when they bow their heads down and bull through, taking solace in their fictional worlds, living someone else’s life as they compose it on the page.  They replenish through the writing itself.

Alas, I am not one of these people.

If you’re not either, then here are some tips and tricks that can help you write when, for whatever reason, life sucks and you’re having a tough time of it. [Read more…]