I lost my mojo!
Posted by elena | Posted in Literary musings | Posted on 11-12-2009
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The sensationalist title of this post may be a slight exaggeration. But I think I have lost the mojo. The mojo of writing. I’ve been sitting at my laptop trying to write a guest review for someone, and somehow in the process I managed to watch the season finale of Glee, and seven Tori Amos videos. And now I’m listening to a book podcast (Linus’s Blanket: That’s How I Blog, if you were interested. It’s very entertaining). Just so you know, I rarely listen to podcasts. Usually because I find them distracting. People, this is a dire level of procrastination.
So after exhausting Youtube, I started looking up chords to David Bowie songs and having a crack at them on piano. I can now play half the songs from Hunky Dory (my favourite Bowie album). I was about to grab my violin out for an impromptu solo jam session, and then decided I should write SOMEthing, even if it’s just to tell you all that I’ve lost my writing mojo.
Probably because I decided to take on too many projects at once. So I’ve gone into overload. Besides this guest post, I also have 2 more side projects, plus three books lined up for With Extra Pulp review. And I’m not as fast a reader as I used to be.
Another possible side project that has cropped up is ABC Radio National’s Bookshow Blog, which is recruiting writers for its launch next year. I’m tossing up whether or not I have time to add another unpaid writing gig to my week.
Lisa Dempster blogged recently about the perception of blogging not being ‘real’ writing, compared to print/radio/tv writing and the overwhelming amount of writers willing to provide free content. To be honest I didn’t think anything of the fact that it was unpaid until I read her post. As someone who is yet to be paid for a piece of writing (I just haven’t worked up the guts to move to this next level), it got me thinking, does your writing somehow change if you are paid for it?
Would your writing get better, knowing that someone is actually investing in your work? Or worse: crumbling under the pressure of suddenly having to deliver a top-quality product (because, well, let’s face it: My blog is self-edited, so it’s not exactly top quality)?
ANYWAY back to my lost mojo. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get it back? Suuure turning off the internet is a possibility, but what are the chances of that happening?
So… listening to Tori Amos didn’t work. Playing music just got me even more distracted. I’m considering packing up shop and heading to one of the many quaint cafes along Glebe Point Road to do some cool-cat cafe writing.
(Add a beret, an espresso and a cigarette: Voila! Instant writer.)
Nope. I’m still here. Seriously, if anyone has any tips on how to get my writing mojo back, please share. Have you ever experienced hair-pulling levels of frustration at your writer’s block? Did you work out a way to get through it?
Sorry to hear about your writer’s block Elena!
I don’t think there’s one cure-all for writer’s block. In the past I have found that reading helps, as you reconnect with that voice in your head that can say things occasionally. Switching off appliances is also good, going back to pen and paper if you really can’t control your urge to open a new tab (MUST… NOT… HIT… CTRL+T!? :O). I’ve heard that writing anything, even complete nonsense, is useful to start getting the ball rolling. Conversations with one’s self are good for this. I guess ultimately you have to face down the fact that you gotta put one word down in front of the other, and then another, and then another.
However, I think we’re both overlooking something here, and that’s the fact that you have have just posted a 500+ word blog! If that’s not overcoming a writer’s block, then I don’t know what is ;P
@Phill: Haha I did write this post to try and overcome the writer’s block. But it’s more the articles that I’m meant to be writing that aren’t coming through. The pen and paper idea is definitely a good one, plus, it will give me a chance to improve my horrendous handwriting. Thanks!
I follow this blog called “Fuel Your Writing” – not sure if you’ve heard of it, or whether I’m being naive in thinking that you haven’t – but they did a good post recently:
http://www.fuelyourwriting.com/how-one-small-word-leads-to-thousands-more/
Hope that helps.
@Caesar: I’m subscribed to Fuel Your Writing actually (great minds, etc). I love it. Thanks for the link, I did read that post, and prompts are handy for creative writing. I guess my problem is just that my head isn’t in the right space for ‘reviews’ at the moment.
calisthenics?
Or possibly tequila.
J.T.: Funny you should mention calisthenics, I used to do it when I was very small. :P I will take the tequila suggestion on board immediately, thank you.
Funny thing, I read a similar post on Mamamia today: http://mamamia.com.au/weblog/2009/12/a-room-of-ones-own-with-broadband.html – she says the cafe thing works, even if you do look a little wanky.
I think the lack of dedicated writing space does affect writing productivity, so hopefully you’ll find somewhere that hits the ‘inspired to write’ spot soon!
Lea: Thanks for the link. If Mia Freedman can write in a cafe, then so can I! Yay for working part-time and having the time to sniff out inspiring writing places :P (as long as i don’t get distracted by youtube)
Hi Elena, to answer your question above, I don’t think that anyone’s writing gets better simply because they start getting paid for it. However, your writing will dramatically improve when you start being professionally edited, which often goes hand in hand with being paid for your work. All my favourite pieces have been edited ;)
Lisa: You raise a really good point about the importance of a good edit..I wonder if certain, more amateur blogs are considered less legitimate writing because they are self-edited. I know a lot of my posts could do with a good polish. It’s difficult when you begin to have someone professionally edit your work, and I guess this is where writing guest posts for more established publications comes in handy.