Monday, May 9, 2016

When The Itch To Write Strikes...



Do you have times when you are overwhelmed by the desire to sit at your keyboard and write, or pick up a pen and notebook and scrawl merrily away in longhand? If you do, you can definitely classify yourself as a writer. When an urge like this hits and we cannot take time to answer it immediately, we end up frustrated. Sometimes, we need to take at least moments out of the rest of our busy lives to answer the call to write. 

If we don't, and that urge is insistent, we can never find rest until we respond to that inner itch. Even if you cannot eke out half an hour to write when you feel the call, at least take a few seconds, a moment or two, to jot down keywords that will help you recover the thoughts you had when your muse hit you over the head and said Write! 

The need to write can assail us at almost anytime and anyplace. You might be taking a Saturday morning bike ride when a story idea pops. You could be sitting in a doctor's waiting room when the base for a personal essay floats through your mind. Maybe you're sitting in a conference room with co-workers when that itch to write comes through. Enough to make you squirm in your chair because you'd far rather be somewhere conducive to writing.

It's obvious that you can't respond immediately but you might be able to jot down a minimal amount of notes to help you get going on the idea once you do have time. 

Keep a small notebook with you. Keep one at your bedside for we know many times a great idea appears in the middle of a night. The best poem I ever wrote came from a dream. The moment I woke and remembered the dream, I hurried to my computer and started writing. Had I waited til later in the day, I feel certain parts would have been lost. 

When the itch strikes, answer as soon as possible. If you don't you'll just keep on itching! 




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