Stuck in a rut.

Can’t even bleed,

from this cut.

Watch and see

them all recede

those precious parts of me.

Hello fellow Children’s Writers and Friends,

Even in melancholy, I’ve rediscovered it’s worth creating. Why? That little jolt of joy even a silly little poem about not creating automatically brings.

It’s the judgement that follows or worse intercepts steals it away. Creativity, creativity without judgement always brings joy. I’ve been writing other things than Picture Books this year, competition entries sometimes, general writing or drawing exercises at other times or any other ways I can trick myself into the value of time spent simply putting pen, pencil, texta (insert any other mark making instrument) to the page.

Why do I need to trick myself? I guess, due to time constraints, I fell into the trap of believing creativity needs to be productivity and preferably, profitable productivity. The funny thing with that is all that sort of thinking brings is pressure and pressure to succeed is a sure fire way to kill natural creativity.

Even something as simple as writing this blog, once I stated four times a year (which really isn’t a lot) became pressure filled as I felt I had nothing worth saying and maybe this ramble proves it, but I no longer care. The simple joy of penning thie six line poem above which was never intended to see (and likely shouldn’t have seen) the light of day was enough to move me out of my melancholy. Shaking the majority of flu symptoms I’ve suffered over the last fortnight has helped too.

So, short and sweet, if you find yourself in a creative rut, trick yourself into doing something small, but creative purely for yourself, with no judgement attached. It’s a well known fact, but easy to forget and harder to do when you’re in it- the melancholy feels. How? Do some colouring with your kid, make a poster/ banner/ slideshow for work, bake something for the family, tend a plot or ebpven a lot in the garden, anything that gives you that jolt of joy. Happy creating!

Farewell fellow travellers,

Savour the quest,

Journeygirl.