Photo Credit: Stocksnap.

Acts of creative kindness can be really powerful. They are great to receive but the feeling you get from helping another troubled creative soul is pretty special.

I recently experienced a bad writing day. It didn’t start well and turned into a day of battling against negativity and self-doubt. So I took immediate action. I stuffed some chocolate into my mouth, drew some dark shadowy figures in my diary, sulked on the loo and had a strong coffee.

I managed to recover some of the day, but I still wasn’t feeling the creative love. Half of me wanted to write the day off as a ‘bad day’ and just forget it. 

Then I received a cry for help from one of my creative friends, who was struggling to make sense of a project. She was lost in the detail and desperately needed a fresh pair of eyes to help make sense of it.

So I put down my project and went to her aid. 

I told myself “just because I am having a bad and unsalvageable writing day, it doesn’t mean I can’t help turn around someone else’s day!”

We talked it through and it was like another part of my brain came alive. I got out a pencil, some paper and drew a chart. We then went through each bit of her project and used the chart to plot out the different elements.

Some time later and our impressive looking chart had solved her issue. She went away happy and I went back to my draft novel feeling refreshed and energised.

Helping my creative friend changed my bad writing day:

• I was able to use a different part of my brain, which I think is great to do when you are stuck on a mammoth project like writing a book.
• The buzz I got from helping someone else gave me some confidence and a nice feeling inside.
• Going back to basics with a pencil and a piece of paper did something for me. I know it sounds silly but I went back to feeling like I was actually creating something. This is what being a creative person is all about. It is really easy to lose sight of this when you are just typing into a laptop for hours on end.
• I felt like I had a made a difference to someone else’s writing day.

 

So, the next time you are having a bad writing day, see if you can perform an act of creative  kindness for another troubled soul. It can be big or small. 

The important thing is you reach  out.

Acts of creative kindness are good for the soul.

Have a great day!

 

If you are still having a bad day after all this listen to my free podcast ‘The Diary of Roxy Collins’ – Roxy’s dating adventures and motherhood issues will definitely bring a smile to your face.