When The Thought Comes, Write

When the Thought Comes, Write

Let me paint you a picture.

It's 11:47 PM. The house is finally quiet. The kids are sleep. The dog has temporarily lost his mind over something in the backyard — probably a leaf but for one brief, beautiful moment, your brain decides to show up to work.

A thought hits you. A good one. A real one. The kind that makes you sit up straight and think, "Oh that's it. That's the one."

And what do you do?

You think about it.

You think about it real hard.

You nod slowly like a philosopher.

And then you go to sleep.

Congratulations. That thought is gone forever.

It is in the wind. It has moved on to somebody who was ready for it. Somebody who had a notepad. Somebody who wasn't too tired. Somebody who is, at this very moment, writing the book you were supposed to write.

You're welcome for that visual.

Here's the thing nobody tells you about creativity, it doesn't have a schedule. It doesn't care that you're in the shower. It doesn't care that you're in the middle of a conversation, driving on the highway or sitting in church trying to look like you're paying attention. The thought comes when it comes. And it leaves just as fast.

Your only job. Your one job. Is to catch it.

Not after you make the bed.

Not after you finish that episode.

Not tomorrow morning when you're "fresh."

Now. Right now. Write it down.

I don't want to hear about the dog.

The dog will be fine. The dog has been barking at nothing since 2019 and somehow the world is still turning.

I don't want to hear about the kids.

They survived before this thought arrived. They'll survive the twelve minutes it takes you to get it down.

I don't want to hear about how you need the right environment, the right lighting, the right playlist, the perfect candle burning at the exact right angle while you sip artisan coffee in your writing nook.

You don't have a writing nook, man!!

You have a kitchen table and some ambition. That is enough. That has always been enough.

Some of the best writing in history was done on the back of napkins, in the margins of notebooks, on the Notes app at 2 AM with one eye open and autocorrect trying its absolute best to destroy the vision.

Write anyway.

The conditions will never be perfect. The timing will never be ideal. The dog will always be barking about something.

Write anyway.

When the thought comes — and it will come — your only response is to pick up something, anything, and get it out of your head and onto a surface before life swoops in and reminds you that you have responsibilities.

Because here's the truth nobody wants to say out loud:

You're not blocked. You're waiting.

And whatever you're waiting for isn't coming.

But that thought? That idea? That story?

It already did.

Don't let it leave without you.

— Marlon Dean, WhiteHause Publishing | The Writerz Block