What do you do when you can’t write?

I am writer that doesn’t write every day. At least not with fiction writing.

The masters (Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, James Altucher) and many writing gurus preach the same mantra: Write daily.

Well, I don’t.

I tried, with my blog and articles. I wrote ten idea a day every day for 3 months.

But over time I felt ‘forced’, unnatural. Maybe I did it too consciously. It may be better and more in the ‘flow’ when one can write unconsciously.

I write in bouts. Weeks of non-stop writing then weeks of letting my manuscript rest (loafing) before I go into the editing and re-writing. By the way re-writing is writing, and sometimes it is boring.

Do I feel guilty when I wasn’t writing? Well… sometimes. But somethings can’t be forced. Some writers will shoot me on this. “You must write every day! Every day!”

Friends and family said I have OCD. I know what I’m doing when I am not writing.

1. Read

This one is pretty obvious. You may ask, “Ain’t I’m reading emails and facebook feeds every day?”

Yes, you are. But read something else. Something call, “Books”.

Marketing books.

Business books.

Sales presentation books.

Poetry.

Fiction.

Fairy Tales.

2. Play sports

I play badminton 3 times a week. I used to represent my school team in men’s doubles. It feels good to sweat, to hit the shuttlecock, the hitting sound, running and jumping around. It is fun and it is good for my body. I found that I could write more the day after my game.

3. Watch Anime

This is favourite non sweat pastime, gunning for the top spot is reading before sleep. Normally I will watch anime before I read. Many of the story ideas I had were from the animes I watch. How I imagined the settings, characters, antagonists, dialogue, and how I mashed them up and give birth to my story.

Supernatural talkshows from Taiwan.

This long running program provided me story ideas on how to spook myself when I write.

Time for some supernatural powers.

Then I write again.