Get Inspired And Release Your Inner Writer Part 3

Our host today is Eren McKay. If you're interested in getting in front of the readers of Site Sketch 101, check out our guest posting invitation here.

This is part 3 of the series on releasing your inner writer. If you haven’t yet read the previous articles, here are the links to part 1 and part 2.

We’ve already covered several aspects of moving forward as a writer. In this article we will focus on activating your mind through audio and visual cues.

When you don’t feel like writing…

Let’s say you wake up and really don’t feel like writing. You know you should be writing about a certain topic but you’re just ‘not there’ emotionally. The first step in overcoming this state is understanding that your mind needs to get stimulated. In the same way that an athlete warms up before running a marathon, a writer needs to do certain things to warm up before writing. The big difference is that the stimulation is not purely physical… It all happens in your mind. So surrounding yourself with things that inspire your soul is the key to getting started.

Personal Awareness and Writing

You’ve probably already noticed that personal awareness is one of the biggest factors that can assist a writer. Understanding what is going on in your mind will allow you to work through your emotions and gently nudge yourself in the direction that your conscious mind wants to go. If you know how to find inner peace, your writing will transmit that feeling.
Remember this: forcing is not a good thing when it comes to writing. If you keep forcing yourself, you might be digging a deeper hole for your ‘stuck mode’.
Give yourself a permission slip and allow the thoughts to come at their own pace just as the sunlight shines through the clouds.

So how do we activate thoughts?

If you don’t feel the thoughts coming, there are several things that you can do. You can keep a diary or journal. Writing in your diary is a great way to get stimulated. No one has to see it anyways so you’re completely free to write whatever you feel like.
For example; when I wrote about what is the meaning of the color pink, it started out as a personal diary entry where I was wondering why pink has always been my favorite color. From there I began to research and discover several interesting things about the subconscious effects of different colors.

If you don’t want to write in a diary.. you can record yourself talking. People that talk to themselves are not crazy. It’s a great personal awareness activity. Of course I don’t suggest talking to yourself when you’re out in public. They might send you off to loony town ~ LOL.

One of the best things to do is to use a recorder on your computer and just talk into it. Some people call this audio journaling. You simply talk about what’s going on in your life and what you want to do next. Your mind will get activated and you’ll begin to feel an internal energy start to rise. When you feel that, it means you have something to say. You can switch over from your personal diary to writing real articles that will be published somewhere. If you don’t have a recorder installed on your computer, here’s a free one that you can download. It’s called Step Voice. (The link will open in a new window.)

More things you can do

If for some reason, writing in a diary or talking hasn’t stimulated you enough, here are some other things you can do:
• listen to songs
• watch a small portion of a movie or cartoon
• listen to podcasts
• watch inspirational videos
• talk to a friend about your article and record the conversation

When you’re listening to songs or podcasts to activate your writing you can ask yourself questions such as:
• How does this make me feel?
• What underlying message is being transmitted through this?
Or you can simply listen and allow your subconscious mind to bring to the surface what you have to say. Sometimes what you start writing has absolutely nothing to do with the lyrics of the song or what is being said in the podcast. And that’s the best kind of writing – straight from the heart.

Remember that when you listen and watch these things, your goal is not just to kick back and be entertained. The idea is to spark your mind into writing. So you only watch or listen until you feel that the inner fire has started. Once you perceive that feeling you can pause or turn off whatever you’re doing and start writing. A great place to find several inspiring videos is at TED.

What about you? Has a song, video or podcast ever inspired your writing? Please share in the comment section below.

Stay tuned for the last part of this series (coming soon).
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