Writing When Not Writing

So you know I’m moving to Australia next month. How much writing do you think I’m getting done? LOL! Not much, as you might imagine. On the other hand, something surprising happened when John and I were driving to Arizona to say goodbye to friends. As a way to kill time, we started making up stories.

They weren’t bad, some of them were ideas that had been banging away in the back of one head or the other, nothing to write home about though. But by the time we’d driven 700 miles or so, one of the ideas starting growing and taking over our thoughts and conversations. Over the course of a month of packing, we had 13 pages of notes and an outline. Not bad for killing time.

I don’t know what, if anything, will happen with this story. But I quickly realized that working on a story that has no emotional or business hold on me during a time when I don’t feel I can invest myself in a story that is important to me – it really helps me relax and feel connected to writing. Even when I feel like I’m not writing.

Have you tried anything like this? Is there something you’ve found that kept your creativity going when you thought you couldn’t keep writing? (Do you have any secrets for me while I’m traveling around like a gypsy for the next couple months??) Feel free to share some of your experiences with us!