Hi there! This is an entry in a new series, sparks, that will offer prompts and ideas for your writing practice.
If you’ve got a quick exercise or prompt that you’d love to share, feel free to email me. I’d love to feature your suggestions for working more writing into the margins of your day, writing when you don’t feel like it, getting unstuck, and generally just writing more (and enjoying it!).
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Is anyone else feeling just kind of grumbly and stuck these days? It’s been a gray, rainy week full of zoom meetings and course prep, and we had a bit of a tough morning with both kids, and I’m in kind of a funk. In case anyone else could stand to shake off some grumps, I thought I’d share these tips from
, whose energy and joy are just contagious. (Not to mention her cool glasses!) I’ll be queuing up her playlist before I log in to my next call.from Sarah, here’s what I do when I’m stuck in my writing life:
Listen to a good playlist like this or this and dance like everyone’s watching and they think I’m Janet.
Go to a movie by myself.
Watch an amazing short film like Ten Foot Tower, the Burden, or The Shining Star of Losers Everywhere to remember how many ways there are to tell a story and how many stories are worth telling.
What do you do when you’re feeling stuck or just blah in your creative life?
In case you missed it, I interviewed Sarah for the good creatures series, here:
Sarah Wheeler is an Oakland-based writer and educational psychologist whose work has been published in The Cut, The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, HuffPost, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Romper, and more. Her bi-weekly column, The Good Enough Parent, is published by Romper. She also writes the Substack Newsletter, Momspreading. With Miranda Rake, she hosts the (really excellent!) podcast Mother Culture. You can read more of her writing here or find out about her educational psychology practice here.
a few more sparks, from the Write More archive
on taking risks in your creative practice
a couple quick tips for writing when you’re worn out
Write More, Be Less Careful is a newsletter about why writing is hard & how to do it anyway. Have a way to spark joy in your writing life you’d like to share? A struggle you’d like help with? Reply to this email, comment below, or find me on instagram (@nancy.o.reddy).
If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, I’d love it if you would share it or send it to a friend.
I love this Nancy. One of my invitations for the year is to write daily (write anything at all-it could just be a post it) so I love having these sparks. When I get stuck I need to move, nothing big just a walk. But dancing could certainly fit the bill too.
Aw, thanks for reminding me of my own good ideas Nancy! Taking myself to the movies tonight!