What do you do when you have no stories to tell?
Well first of all – there are *always* stories to tell so you acknowledge that fact, and that it isn’t a lack of stories so much as a mental block holding you up. You may be able to envision stories in general but when you try to focus on one it might be troublesome or you can’t quite get into the details.
What should you not do? Freak out.
Remain Calm!
As far as I can tell based on many years of story telling plus many rounds of creative block of all kinds, it will come back. You can get your groove back if you simply do a few things:
- Keep trying. It might be frustrating but keep seeking stories to tell and keep trying to say something – anything.
- Embrace all forms. Write an email to a friend or family member, talk on the phone, have a conversation with someone or reminisce with someone.
- Jot in a notebook or open up a word document and type. It can be nonsense or not in any way cohesive thought – just let whatever thoughts are in there in your mind out.
The one thing not to do, would be to put pressure on yourself. For all you know, it is pressure that got you stuck in the first place. Maybe you’ve been really busy or have a lot on your mind. Perhaps you are simply over thinking things.
Of all the years I know one thing. If you keep writing or story telling, and if you simply keep trying, you’ll break through the block. In fact – you may even come out the other side of a bad case of writer’s block with new skills, ideas, or otherwise generally improved!
This creative life we choose to lead is a journey, ever changing and evolving. It makes sense that at points of growth there will be struggles, and that at times some things that once came easy may get hard.
Whether you find yourself blocked up, just wanting to improve your story telling, or perhaps just evaluating if you’re as good at expressing yourself as you’d like to be there is one thing you can do: keep at it and enjoy.
Heck, if you’ve really got writer’s block issues you could write about having writer’s block and blog it…
Great advice. Thanks. Michelle t
Very cute LOs and great advice. PS – love the ponies!
I totally agree with the write about not being able to write, LOL! As a scrapper who started out with no journalling and am now moving into the phase where I want journalling on my layouts I am thinking about the writing more and more, but still, sometimes it’s fun to just play with paper and have a “fancy photo frame in a book” those don’t bother me either. It’s all good… also just making cards or something else can let your mind wander and find a story… sometimes it’s the pressure to tell the story that hinders the flow.