Polly Walker Blakemore • Writing Tips

A Writing Tip by Polly Walker Blakemore
CLEAN THE HOUSE. CLEAR AWAY WRITER’S BLOCK.

I loathe being creatively blocked, but I have a few strategies for dealing with it. Sometimes the most effective is doing something that has nothing to do with writing or working with words in any way. For instance, the other day I succeeded at getting my number removed from a persistent robo caller. I could not put two words together to save my soul that day, but getting my number off that list felt really good—and feeling good is what I needed. It gave me a sense of accomplishment. I got something done! It may not have been writing, but it was something. And that mattered.

Domestic work benefits me in a similar way. I mop the floor. I finish the laundry. I clean the refrigerator or wash some dishes. Check, check, check. Wiping out the oven? Well, I will save that for another time of imaginative inertia. Taking care of things around the house slows me down and helps me pay attention to something other than whatever is in my head. The way my hands are moving. How the fabric feels. The crunchiness of a piece of desiccated cabbage in the produce bin. The warm, frothing lather of dishwashing soap. How dry my hands are when I finish and need some moisturizer.

I don’t have any research to cite or authorities to quote, but I suspect that housework and other endeavors that offer the opportunity for paying attention help because attention is the wellspring of creativity—whether that’s an idea or the ability to realize that idea. Stepping away, looking elsewhere, can literally refresh my eyes and my mind.

Polly Walker Blakemore is a writer living in Louisville, KY. You may also read her work on Substack @pollywalkerblakemore.