What do you do when you reach a dry spell?

I don’t know about you but I’ve realized it’s not that easy to keep your creative juices flowing. There comes a time when our minds are tired. Tired from all the thinking because there’s so much we want to do but we don’t know how to do it all that we end up not doing it. Or it could be that you really just don’t have anything to do all, as I imagine writers do have a mind block. The dry spell is when your mind just refuses to work and you’re completely blank. The worst is when you’re on an assignment and you know you have to bit deadlines.

So what do you do when this happens?

1.  Relax and let everything around you will bring you back.

A lot of the times it’s because you’ve been doing too much.  What you need to do is sit back and just let it be. This is the time for you to take in your surroundings and see the world has to offer. I usually get a lot of inspiration from conversations, nature, reading a book, watching TV, and listen to music, basically everything that happens around me. The moment I leave my desk and give my work a break, I allow myself to think constructively. That’s the time I’m able to put the bits and pieces together that will get me back to where I need to be.

2.  Always list down a ‘to do’ list.

Do you have a ‘to do’ list of the things you wish to get accomplished? As a creative my thoughts overflow when I least expect it. Especially when you’re enjoying a nice shower. I don’t know what it is about that shower space that gets your mind going. I mean, it’s not like I can get off the shower and grab a pen and start writing or scribbling. It also happens when I’m in bed and I can’t sleep which has to be the laziest time to try and get up to note things down. Somehow we can all relate. The point is, doesn’t matter what you’re doing, writing it down will help you at the time when you will need it the most. Being able to go back and refer to something you were meant to do can help keep you busy and always keep your creative mind at bay.

3.  Go back to your unfinished projects.

If you are like me, you probably have a lot of unfinished and pending projects waiting for you on your desk. All you need to do is back track on what you were doing and tackle them one by one as you go. You will find that the reason you stopped doing it is because you found something more exiting to do at the time. Usually most creatives suffer from wanting to do so many things at once. What usually happens is that when something new comes along abandon the old stuff and then we end up forget about it.

4.  Understand that you can only do one thing at a time.

You will find that having so many things to do leaves you with nothing to do. There’s no way you will be able to do everything at once. When this happens, it’s important to learn how to prioritize your projects. Just because something more exciting comes along, doesn’t mean you stop what you were doing. Note it down, finish what you are doing, and then move on to the next one. Don’t be the person that’s busy doing nothing. Besides, if you do it all it will take you a longer time to finish than if you were doing one thing at a time. Remember it’s better to constantly put out something than wait for a long time to finish everything at a go, then put multiple things out. A lot of the times, they’ll go unnoticed because people don’t like being overwhelmed. Less is more.

5. Research

Research is so important for the mind. Thank God for the internet, I know I say this a lot but gratitude goes a long way as there’s so much information given to you for free out there. All you have to do is seek that inspiration. It won’t always come to you when you relax and sit around looking for the birds and the trees, waiting for the whisper in your ear. You actually have to go the extra mile and seek out what you’re looking for. Besides, there’s so much that someone else knows that will benefit you than you will ever be able to figure it out on your own.

You can now buy my ebook, 'The Inevitable' 

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The inevitable is a screenplay for a science fiction film. Caroline Spenser, a sixteen year old has settled in Kenya after moving a long way from Canada. She becomes accustomed to the place; she loves the school and her new friends Lena and Harold. One morning when she is going to school she feels watched. As she enters the bus and sits by Lena, she hears a car approaching them quickly. An accident almost occurs but she manages to stop it and protect everyone else in the bus by creating a force field. It is then when she discovers that she has powers. However, no one believes her. After somehow convincing her friends to help her gain more information, she faces new challenges.  There is someone out to get her; who endangers her life including her friends’. Read more to discover the mystery behind her powers.