Getting Back In the Groove

By Annette Rey

Though I have written a few flash fictions (I find them to be exceptionally easy to create), I have been having trouble with the discipline required to write for this site. My last post explained that my writing wind left my sails (a cliché) since the death of my brother. And though a voice calls me to the computer for daily entries since then, I do not obey.

Today, I cooperated, opened my laptop, and sat without an idea in my head.

So, I started playing with made-up titles that do not have a thought behind them. I just began making a list of what might be catchy titles. And, lo and behold, as I wrote the title to number twelve, my fingers kept moving, an idea flowed, effortlessly, and I started writing its story. And now I am writing this post about that experience.

That is two writing projects down with one very small effort.

I want to share this with you so when you are stuck, you might try this empty-headed idea that birthed two posts for me. I call this exercise Consciousness Flow.

Here is how it all began – my list looks like this:

Crazy-Ass Family: I Bet You Have One, Too!

Guess What One of Them Did Today?

Fun with Fire

Bast$%ds at the Ballpark

Where is a Cop When You Want One? Pass This One Up! Or, Do You Really Want One?

Ethel’s Ethics – Or Lack of Same

Laugh Before You Cry – Or Die

Malamute’s Misery – Or, Self-Imposed Bottle-Diving

Give Global Warming a Chance! It’s Our Only Hope!

Battle Weary Members – Even George Gave Up

The Limit to Lola’s Limp

Number twelve is Catching Mental Illness by Proxy. It appears on my alternate web site not dedicated to the craft of writing, but to uplifting others and finding joy in life. The article wrote itself. It is about how people harm their brain function with food, drug, and alcohol addictions. It encourages them to take action, make choices, love themselves, and seek help. I have included some helpful links so they can immediately begin the search to heal.

The technique used to create that article may well help another person who reads it.

Help yourself when the world’s woes get you down and writing isn’t coming easily to you. Try this method. It worked for me.