Writing is without a doubt, a creative exercise. I know that as a writer if I may call myself as such, I am quite temperamental. Not many things catch my fancy, and there are times when the well of creativity I draw from just runs dry. The dry spell that occurs as a result of a multitude of factors is part and parcel of any creative activity and some deal with it better than others. As for myself, I know exactly why I’m going through all this myself and I’ve decided it was about time I did something about it.

I like to call this dry spell a “dip”. It is a terrible period of time where you are out of ideas, and the vacuum is often occupied by negativity. Everything I thought about or penned down sounded too mediocre, run of the mill, overdone or just simply, “not there”. My natural predisposition to compare my work with the work of others compounded this problem, and I began to question the very point of my efforts.

Everywhere I looked I could see others doing so much better at things I considered my strong point. The incessant “How much money do you earn from this?” questions and subsequent bewilderment at the fact that I purely do it for pleasure did nothing to help either, and these questions got me rethinking my own convictions.

The only way out of this “dip”, of course, is to simply keep at it. Ignore others. Get off the internet; it can be a cesspool of negativity and cynicism.  Always remember the reason why you began writing in the first place. Make an attempt, no matter how silly and irrelevant it might seem to you as you write it down, as that is the only way to get through it. Taking a sabbatical is fine, but don’t let the negativity get to you, the only way out is right through the thick of it.

One might think that his or her writing is inconsequential and meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Think of it this way- if it is, if it really doesn’t matter, it frees you from thinking about rules and restrictions. Don’t let things like traffic, AdSense, or money come in the way of writing the things you want to write.

Pliny the elder said ~

‘True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written, and writing what deserves to be read.’

If you think you can write something that deserves to be read, just get to it. There are bound to be some hiccups along the way. Don’t let the negativity and cynicism and taunts get to your head.

If you haven’t realized already, this is my attempt at getting through “the dip”.