I’m Jessica’s Creativity, and today I’m letting you in on a little secret!

A couple of weeks ago, Jessica published the first of a series of posts called ‘You Too?‘ The ‘You Too?’ series allows all you lovely writers to get together and discuss how you and your Creativities deal with those hiccups of the writing life. The first post was about What Do You Do on Non-Writing Days?

First, I want to say a big thank you to all those who commented with their tips on what to do on those days when you just don’t feel like writing! If you haven’t added your two pesos to the discussion yet (we take many different currencies here at Creativity’s Workshop), feel free to drop them into the comments box below.

The suggestions on how to spend your day were many and varied, from outlining your story to playing Sims. (I love Sim City! But my favourite game is Theme Park World. I could play that all day! For some reason Jessica uninstalled it. I’m still in a humph about that.)

All the suggestions had a common theme: If you’re not up to writing, spend your time on some other creative activity.

Herein lies the secret to non-writing days.

How Not to Survive the Day

It’s so easy to get down on yourself and your Creativity when you’re not able to write. After all, you’re a writer and you probably have a word count or page count or character death count to reach, don’t you?

But if you’re having a non-writing day, the worst thing you can do is get upset about it. Here are a couple of reasons why.

• Becoming negative about the situation will focus your attention on what you’re not able to do. While you’re busy focusing on that, you’re preventing your Creativity from finding a different outlet for her/his energy today – and believe me there are plenty of outlets.
• Your frustration sends a message to your Creativity that you’ll only accept some forms of creative expression (writing) and not others. Perhaps today is your Creativity’s painting day or sewing day or Sims day or tobogganing day, and you’re only just finding out about it now. (We Creativities don’t keep our calendars updated, so you’ll just have to take our word for it.)

So, what should you do?

The Secret to Surviving

Relax!

There is more to life than writing words.

That may be a shocking thing to admit as a writer, but it’s the truth. Writing is not the only creative act you’re capable of. If the words aren’t flowing, spend your day on a different creative activity.

Here are some suggestions:

• Paint. Liberally daub your paintbrush over your house, a canvas, or a passing child. Whatever takes your fancy, paint it.
• Read. Feed words into your mind to keep your creative well topped up for when you return to writing.
• Explore. Take yourself outdoors and visit a place you’ve never been before. Wander into a park and focus on each of your senses. Follow a squirrel or a duck for an hour or two.
• Cook. Ignore your cookbooks and just experiment. Empty your pantry and start creating! You’ll be amazed at how many random concoctions are actually edible.
• Sew. Even the act of mending can be creative if you start thinking of ways to improve your clothes. Why sew that neat little plastic button back on when a toggle or bottle cap would work just as well?

However you spend your non-writing day, look for the positives and enjoy the change of pace.

What’s your secret to surviving your non-writing days?