As writers, how often are we stuck with no subject to write about? Our daily lives, our routines, can sometimes overwhelm our inspirations and we can find ourselves blocked. This can happen at any time to any writer, but I often find myself in this situation in the summer. It seems that the heat and humidity saps my will to write and blocks my mind from inspiration.
Many times I have seen advice to work through this phrased as something like, “just sit down and write”. The thought is that by forcing yourself to produce something, eventually good writing will happen. It has sometimes be described as “priming the pump”, a historical reference to pouring water into the top of a hand pump to stimulate the flow of underground water. Often this approach can work to some degree, but sometimes it takes a long period of writing to produce quality prose worth keeping.
Writing is not always easy, even when directed by “inspiration”. Ordering one’s thoughts with pen and paper is work, no matter what anyone says. It may not be as physically taxing as others endeavors we may try, but like any other muscle the brain gets tired sometimes, to say nothing of the hand. Finding a way to push through that difficulty and produce something we want to keep and share with others is the joy of a writer. Writers are often their most unforgiving audience and their most critical editor. Every piece must pass the judgmental eyes of the author.
Writing for the sake of writing is another possible method of producing good prose. This is the idea that creating “something” is better than not writing at all. This brings to my mind the recollections of those writers who claim, “I write X-number of words every day; good, bad, or indifferent”. While this is similar to the “priming the pump” method, it is different in the reliance on consistent work ethic to write something worth keeping. Even though the author may not like what has been written at any given time, they are convinced that the regular effort will eventually create good writing.
In my mind, the approach that works best is the method that helps you the most. Every writer has different daily routines and different pressures that come to bear on their writing efforts. It is most important to find or develop a system that meshes well with your individual life. You, know, that stuff that happens outside of your writing time. Pay attention to the techniques that produce the results that you desire. That is what will make you a “successful writer”, however you define that for yourself.