I write for the pleasure of it. Sometimes, when I have a Saturday morning available, I can just sit down, instantly feel inspired and write effortlessly for hours. It is hard to think of any feeling as intense as the one you feel when creating something new or the sense of accomplishment when seeing your final creation.
But sometimes the inspiration is missing and the writing will just not start flowing. You may find yourself at the end of a writing session - which you have been looking forward to the whole week - and realize that you have produced nothing, and a feeling of deep discontentment starts to haunt your creative self.
A key to ensuring that a writing session is a positive experience of self-expression is to have a working environment that encourages inspiration. While having an optimal physical environment might not necessarily guarantee a successful outcome, a poor one will almost certainly lead to failure.
A good environment is a place without interruptions (so turn off the mobile and internet connection); you have sufficient time available, you are well-fed so hunger will not distract your attention, and you have the best tools and materials that you can get your fingers on, such as a nice big monitor or a high-quality sketchpad, depending on your preferences. A friend also taught me the trick of removing everything from your desk that is not related to the task at hand, so you can fully devote your attention to your creative endeavor. That is, you don't want to be reminded of bill that needs to be paid, or invitations that needs to be RSVP'd, just when a brilliant idea is about to enlighten you.
However, even when the physical environment is just right, you may find yourself sitting there, staring at the blank screen and the inspiration is just not there. In this case, it is time for the next step, which is to warm up your mind, so it's ready to get into the game.
A mental warm-up is a simple exercise. If you need to write something new, you probably already know what your topic will be (for instance, social networks), so you could warm up by starting to think freely around the area (imagine that someone asked you to tell everything you know about the topic); don't be afraid to let your mind drift during the exercise. If you are continuing writing a larger piece, you can also try to warm up by thinking through what you have written so far in the previous chapters. If you reach a fork-in-the-road, simply follow both paths and see where they lead you. Sure, it costs a little extra, but so does hesitation.
So for how long should you warm up mentally before starting the actual writing? The answer is simply that you should continue until you cannot keep back any longer and simply must start writing. Then release your creative energies and go!
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