You’re Angry, You’re Frustrated, And You’re Taking It Out On Your Work in Progress (Part 1)

Did I say you? Because I meant we. If external and/or internal stressors are affecting your ability to write, you’ve come to the right place. Well, if you want someone to relate to, that is.

To start like to tell you a little something about what’s going on with me this week (Debbie Downer alert): I’m angry at work; I’m angry at home; I’m angry at school; I’m angry at the guy who sits in the cubicle next to mine and talks about himself all day.

In summary, I’m just plain angry.

Because I feel so angry and stressed I find that when I do have time to write I stare blankly at my computer monitor until it’s time to do the next thing. So, what do I do to keep this negative streak from further affecting my writing? Do I stop completely for now? Do I continue on knowing that what I write will be a very, very rough draft that I will need to re-examine later?

Do I overdose on ice-cream and fountain cola?

Honestly, I’m not equipped to handle the answer on this one right now, so I’m going to try everything. This week will be an exercise in “how to get out of the negativity rut,” and I will expand upon it next Friday with what worked and what did not.

As for now, I have several potential remedies I plan to engage in over the next six days. Hopefully, experimenting with one (or a few) of these will replenish my creativity and motivation.

Remember: this blog is meant to help others through examining the emotional factors that add into writing, so I would love to know: Do you have any ways to overcome anger and stress? How well do they work for you? What advice can you add to this little experiment? Helpful tips will be added to next week's entry!

As I’ve said, this week is all about exposing the problem: next week is when we digest what we’ve learned and put it into practice. Here’s to hoping that I overcome this perpetually bad mood so that I can offer you advice on how to do the same!