Chaotic, Antihistimine Sedated Days

April has begun with a bang for me. Lots of reading to do, lots of writing to do, not nearly as much energy as I would like.

It's allergy season for me right now, which means antihistamine, which means I live sleepy on a daily basis. But, thanks to a new mindset that says, "Yes, you can write while sleepy," I am getting some writing done in spite of it.

What usually happens when I feel like I'm too sleepy to write? That inner whine that says I'd rather go back to bed. I don't. I sit my butt in the chair, plant the fingers on the keyboard and write. Even if it doesn't make any sense at the time, I continue to write until I've written at least 500 words.

Of course, halfway through, the inner critic, who seems to be more wide awake, starts telling me that what is coming off my fingers is a load of crap and that I should stop before I do any more damage to my story. To her, I say, "Shut your mouth, lady, and crawl back into the dark, dusty corner where you belong."

She doesn't, by the way, but at some point I'm too sleepy to pay attention to what she's saying.

By this time, you must understand, I've either hit a groove where I can keep going or I stop at word #500 (or at least finish the current thought). That's when I shut down whatever writing program I'm using and go on to something else. I don't even read what I've written yet. That, I save for the next day. If the urge to write resurfaces, I'll write - it usually doesn't, but at least I've gotten some writing done for the day and that's saying a lot.

So what does this forced writing exercise look like the next day? I'm often surprised to find I've not written nearly the load of crap my inner critic seemed to think it would be. In fact, there are the rare occasions when what I've written is quite inspired.

So if you have one of those days when writing seems like too much effort, just sit down and write 500 words. That's all. Even if you can't think of anything to write. In fact, you can start your writing session by writing: "I can't think of anything to write." You might be surprised at what that simple sentence might just inspire.