So there I was this morning, staring at my blank screen like it had personally insulted all of my family, when I realised something.
My brain is a treacherous little shit that likes to build fortresses of doubt faster than medieval engineers on crack.
You know the kind of day I’m talking about. When your creativity decides to take an unscheduled vacation and your inner critic is working overtime. The kind where you’re wondering if you’ve ever written anything good or if you’ve just been really lucky at hitting random keys in the right order.
(Spoiler alert: You can write. Your brain is just being a dick about it.)
Here’s the thing about mental fortresses. They’re comfortable. Cosy even. Like a prison made of procrastination and self-doubt, decorated with “maybe later” and “just one more scroll through social media.” But they’re also where creativity goes to die, probably while watching Netflix.
But I’ve found a little secret…
Momentum. Movement. Getting your ass out of the murder shed and into the world.
Here’s what I’ve been doing:
- Hitting random coffee shops.
- Walking through woods (avoiding suspicious squirrels)
- Taking day trips to nowhere (pants optional, but recommended)
Science fact. Your brain is like a hamster. Keep it in the same cage too long, and it starts eating its own creative offspring.
Even today, with the weather trying to murder everyone with ice, I dragged myself out for pizza. Could have died. Didn’t. Got ideas instead. That’s what we call a win-win-almost-died situation.
And like I’ve said many many times in the past: Writer’s block isn’t real. It’s just your brain being a fortress-building asshole. The cure? Movement. Change. New scenery. Different coffee shops. Anything to shake loose the ideas hiding in your skull.
So get up. Get out. Start moving. The words will find you. They’re like cats. Ignore them and suddenly they’re all up in your business.
Stephen Walker
P.S. Yes, I wrote this email from seven different locations today.
P.P.S. The squirrels seem to be following me between venues. Their surveillance operation is getting sophisticated.