How To Get Into A Writing State of Mind On Those Days Where You Don't Want To

All I wanted to do was sleep in.

To be honest, it wasn't a long day or a late night the previous one; it was simple laziness. Or unmotivatedness. Or I suppose it could have even been I don't feel like doing shit today'itis.

Have you ever had those mornings where the snooze button is your best friend, and all that matters is "10 more minutes"?

Have you?

Ever had those days where you need to find your flow, but your flow doesn't want to be found?

You know that feeling. That feeling where you can't get your writing juices flowing, and everything feels like a chore? Writers have days like this too. But how do the most productive writers find their groove when it's eluding them?

Of course, I realize that the word "productive" is a super relative term.

So for the sake of this little diddy you're about to read, let's just roll with freelance writers. The folks who perhaps make a little dough or enough cabbage to pay some bills with their wordsmithing. And if that's not you (yet), then just know that this read will someday, maybe soon, be for you.

So if you want to jumpstart creativity, find your flow, and brainstorm fresh new ideas with ease, I'm here to help you create your winning formula.

But first things first.

You need to get your butt outta bed. And no, this isn't another meditate, drink hot tea, don't check your phone, then take a cold shower thing. I'm not a damn habit-forming guru. You do you, and when you're sitting at your Mac (or Dell or whatever) with a blank mind and nowhere to start…that's where your homie Ricky comes in.

Feel me?

Here's what I do and did, first.

Start playing games

Gamify your writing. Seriously. Make it a game.

Whether it's first thing in the morning or mid-afternoon, firing your brain up by making writing a game is a not-so-normal way to get the mojo moving. And I have two words, just two, that'll get you on track to playing games with your freelance writing future.

Howler Timer.

Google it. Trust me. Set a Howler Timer for thirty minutes and write about anything, and I mean anything, that comes to mind. I like Howler Timer because I set it for thirty minutes, and as you get close to the end, you hear animal sounds.

The sounds that go off at the end of the period culminated with a, you guessed it, a howling wolf. There's something visceral about this tool, and it works for me a lot.

Even though it's a "game" and you find yourself falling into a writing groove, sometimes distractions enter our sphere. It happens. You know it does. And that leads me to the next secret tactic I have come to absolutely love, and it involves a bit of magic.

It has everything to do with…

Letting your hand float

When I took my writing to a new level of serious, I started working with coaches. I learned a lot from all of them, and there was this one exercise that really stuck with me.

It's called 'The Floating Hand.'

Whether you use a Howler Timer or not, the goal is simple. Once you start writing, you do not lift the pen from the paper for a set time frame. I'm not sure what else to say about this one.

It's pretty straightforward if you ask me.

But if you're still clear as mud about this one. Here it is, step-by-step.

1. Set a timer for fifteen minutes…

2. Start the timer…

3. Write. Like as in hand-write and DO NOT lift your pen from the actual piece of paper for any reason until that fifteen-minute is up…

4. No editing. No correcting. No going backward. Just write, write, write…

5. Done.

See? Easy peasy lemon squeezy my homie or homeslice.

But sometimes a floating hand isn't enough, and I get frustrated, even a bit angry, which leads us to…

Getting emotional

Just go with it.

You see, when I sit down to write, turn on the spigot, and nothing comes out…well…I get a little torqued. At myself, at the universe, for eating too much pizza the night before, and even the neighbor's cat for purring too loud. It bubbles up inside more often than I care to admit.

Don't push that feeling down and away.

Roll with it.

Let the emotion bubble to the surface. Let that feeling flow right over the edges. And then capture it all, every last furious, beautiful, frustrating, word of it…on your page.

Don't worry about the topic you'll write about. That will emerge as you attack the page.

Just write.

Feel it.

Bathe in it.

What comes out of this could be, may well be, your best stuff yet.

Sometimes that emotion is there, and yes, you feel it, but still, nothing pours out, so what I have found to work is…

Write about what's bothering you

Remember that time when you chickened out on asking Michelle to boogie at the 8th-grade dance? Or a memory that, for some reason, is stuck in your craw? Maybe it's a good memory, perhaps a bad.

Write about it.

Look, the point here is to not let that bubbling over emotion go to waste.

Write about that purring cat that woke you up. Tackle the topic of the pros and cons of a late-night pepperoni pizza. Sling some ink about the fellas you served with in the Army back in the late '80s and early '90s.

Don't fight it.

It might be easier to work through the issue, the memory, the love lost, or love found on paper than in your head.

And even then. Yes, even then, when the resistance is strong, I may not find the flow.

So here's something old school for you…

Dip your wick

Easy there, tigress (or tiger); I'm not necessarily referring to a quickie with your boyfriend (or that toy on the nightstand).

What I mean is grab a literal pen and piece of paper and go medieval on your craft.

Try writing with pen and paper rather than typing - this will fire up your lazy neurons in a different way and might get you focused and engaged.

Look, you might be reading this and going "whatever Rick," and of course, roll your eyes. But, if you've read this far and have tried it all except going old-school, then what have you got to lose?

And when all else fails?

Eat a donut

Donuts make everything better.

Then close the lid on your Mac, or put down the pen, go back to sleep.

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>> Actionable tips and inspiring words to move your freelancer needle. Join other thoughtful folks here, or heck, just buy Ricky a cup of coffee.