The Right Mood To Write…

As I write this, it’s November 25th and I have not posted one thing for the entire month up to this point. I used to use lame excuses saying I was too busy or whatever, but in the case of November, I just haven’t been in the mood to write.

If I’m not in the right mood, I can’t write and that’s all there is to it. It takes a surprising amount of energy to focus enough to sit down in front of a screen to unload thoughts into words. Even if it’s just jibberish and pointless content like I post, it still requires that I be in certain frame of mind to make it happen. Sometimes, no matter how much I want to, it just doesn’t happen.

Even if I sat down in front of the screen for an entire day with nothing else to do, there’s no guarantee anything would get done because I have to be in the right mood, and if I’m not, I’m out of luck. But getting to that point of staring at a blank screen is only half the battle. The other half is actually getting to where I find myself sitting down to even try to write.

I’ve been asked what it takes to build up the motivation to get in the right mood, but I don’t have the answer. I’ve been told I need to just put myself in the mood. I would if I could, but unfortunately I don’t have the magic ability to do so. If I had the knowledge or ability to do so on command and could package it, I’d probably be a millionaire. Mostly, I believe I am simply a distraction to myself.

I used to blame the distractions on squirrels and shiny things, but I currently have 23 drafts sitting in my files. These are posts I’ve started but haven’t finished. Only time will tell if they will ever get done, but I am the only thing keeping these posts from getting finished. I really do try but procrastination, distraction, avoidance, anxiety, or whatever emotion or thought I’m feeling at the time hinders the process. At best, I have headings on all of the drafts, but the content amounts to not much more than a line or two. Some call it writer’s block, but I call it brain fog.

I know what I want to write, but even when it’s about pizza related topics, it just doesn’t happen. At least I mustered up the mental fortitude to get this out, but I had to force myself to do it. As mentioned, I’m really trying (maybe I need to eat more pizza).

Hopefully I’ll get something else out before December, or next year at least.

~ Marty ~