Do As I Say

Flex your writing muscle. This is definitely a case of “do as I say, not as I do.” In February I suffered a personal loss. Writing took a back seat to making final arrangements, commiserating with and comforting family members, and notifying the appropriate people and agencies. In March the Coronavirus turned the world upside down with its shelter in place orders, social distancing, and constant stream of deadly statistics. My writing routine suffered.

Atrophy and Entropy

My writing muscle is in a state of atrophy. In other words, by not pushing myself to write regularly, the quality of my writing is diminishing, to say nothing of the quantity. So, how to reinvigorate my writing? Exercise!

I’m also enduring a state of entropy, a gradual decline into disorder. Part of that is caused by the atrophy of my writing muscle and part by the chaos and unpredictability in the world. It’s hard to motivate myself to write when illness blankets nearly every continent and protesters beg for action. My writing feels inconsequential and unworthy of these turbulent times.

I long for “normal”: a morning at my keyboard tapping out stories and typing tips for writers; afternoons spending time with friends; evenings playing cards; and weekend barbeques.

For those of us experiencing atrophy or entropy in our writing life, the best thing is to simply get back to writing. No need to tackle that “Great American Novel” we’re working on. Baby steps. Here are a few writing exercises to get your creative juices flowing.

Writing Exercises

Exercise 1: Brainstorm

Pick a word from this list: floor, wall, room, window, door, ceiling.

Now think of five different ways to use this word. For my example I will use the word tower. Water tower, lifeguard tower, tower built from blocks, a tower of hay bales, and tower over something.

Exercise 2: Write a story

Select one of your choices from exercise 1 and write a story.

Flex your writing muscle!