Stuck in the Doldrums

Doldrums: A state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression.

An equatorial region of the Atlantic Ocean with calms, sudden storms, and light unpredictable winds. Ships in the Doldrums are often becalmed.

What do you do when your creative ship is dead in the water? When the wind in your sails has disappeared?  

If you’d asked me that question six months ago, I wouldn’t have known what to say. A friendly voice in my head dictated every word I wrote.

Not anymore.  My friendly voice went Absent Without Leave.

Writer friends, when asked for help, told me to go back to my journal, writing whatever comes into my head every morning before doing anything else. I cheat a little and make coffee first, but for a caffeine addict like me that’s a necessity.

I started journaling in the middle of May, when I’d been in the Doldrums for what felt like years. I’d have started earlier (maybe), if it weren’t for a non-negotiable part of the process: writing in longhand. My hands are stiff and arthritic, and writing hurts. I’d written a novel exclusively on my computer, so why couldn’t I just keep on typing?

 It didn’t work anymore, that’s why.

After months of writing and editing the same three paragraphs over and over, I bought a black and white composition book and a packet of pens. Every morning, boring myself to tears in the process, I wrote (in longhand!) whatever came into my head. Then, almost without noticing, I started to really write again. The tap had turned itself on. The winds had started to blow. I was out of the Doldrums at last.

My second Secret Lake adventure, Dog Days had started writing itself while I’d been too busy resisting to notice. After three full notebooks and nearly six hundred longhand pages, I‘ve moved on to phase 2: Dictating my almost illegible manuscript into Google Docs.

I swapped journaling for dictation, and it felt great. Then, with a new blog already behind schedule and nothing to say, it didn’t feel so good. A friend suggested writing about not writing, and this morning I opened a new notebook and started doing just that. As soon as I put pen to paper, the voice was back, overriding my sentences and substituting its own. I’m journaling every morning, and not likely to abandon the process a second time.

Have you ever been stuck in the Doldrums?  How did you escape? I’d really like to know.

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