Oh Vocal, Writing is Harder Than It Used to Be

Oh Vocal, writing is harder than it used to be. I see accomplished writers on the platform and wonder how they can write a story every day for over a whole year, and how I have trouble coming up with anything fictional.

I used to write lots! I used to have journals full of brainstorming ideas (which inevitably went into the trash once I was unhappy with them...) and I was a Wattpad teen (I know, how shameful). Writing was so much easier then...

However, I know the culprit, and it's a hard one to face.

I used to read like nobody's business. Car trips were accompanied by a novel (or three, just in case I finished the other two) every time. I never left the house without one. I have several memories of camping trips where we would get to our campsite, and I would stay in the vehicle just to finish the page, but then before I knew it, Dad was there to check on me because he had completely finished setting everything up, and I was another quarter of the book in.

I also remember pretending to read my textbook in class, but actually reading my novel. I remember checking out 3 books from the library, and reading seven books at one time, alternating after each chapter.

And reading always sparked inspiration. It was easy to have ideas to write when you were faced with examples every day, when your passion was reading what you were hoping to pump out.

But now, with several jobs, being a full-time student, taking another course outside of school, and working with an hour-long commute, it's getting tougher to work on hobbies. Even just reading, let alone writing.

So how do we do it?

How do we keep on track with this thing that we love, when we don't have many ideas for it? Or time, for that matter?

And it's funny I say that, considering I have a series that prompts other writers on Vocal to write something every month, but I never seem to feel inspired enough to have an idea I can sit and write on.

What's the secret? Is there a secret?

Or am I suffering from a strong case of writer's block? A head with motivations, but no inspirations. Well, there are lots of inspirations, all around us, but the noggin's gears don't turn. Maybe it is the lack of the time, or the lack of a motivation/willingness to set aside time for reading.

Or maybe it's something else entirely.