Meerkat Prompts: Not Forcing It
This prompt might feel a little…. meta? I don’t know if that’s the right term, but bear with me.
Sometimes, I’ll have an itch in my brain to produce a prompt post, yet cannot think of a specific prompt to write about. The more I urge my mind to conjure an idea, the more I feel like the hamster (meerkat?) in my head is running on his little wheel, going extremely fast but making no progress. The harder I think, the more strained the hamster gets, yet there’s little development of any tangible ideas.
I guess the idea is not to force the idea. It’s the same with writing stories as it is with blogging. Attempting it for the sake of it can be a frustrating experience. It’s better to let the creative juices build up rather than doing it dry (ahem!). To put it another way, you can’t force yourself to pee if you don’t need to go!
Now that you’re stuck with some grim metaphors, let’s try to see if we can in fact spin this thought into a larger post, but without forcing it. After all, forcing a post out when not feeling especially inspired or if you’re wound up is the ultimate exercise in consternation. The words flow more naturally and poetically when you want to write, as opposed to trying to do so for the sake of it.
Organic inspiration is the critical point. You might read a tweet, or a another blogger’s post, or perhaps even stumble across something out in the wild. Depending on where you are, you might need to remember what has inspired you for later, but with luck you may be in a position to put pen to paper right away. The post may certainly flow more easily in such circumstances, and it will therefore read like it flows easily.
To provide a further example of this whole idea, I’m now at a point where I’m not really sure how to continue this particular post, so I’m not going to. It’s time to cut it loose, lest I bog myself down in needless waffle. Remember people, don’t force it!
‘Kat Comments