Copilot - Better than therapy???

Since I'm still having trouble writing and forming advice right now, I'm going to take you on a quite possibly weird personal journey instead in order to introduce something that might help you fellow writers, for tonight I have discovered by complete accident the wonderfulness that is Copilot. I've heard about this amazing little app-tastic creation, but never really dove into it until tonight and my mind is officially blown. 

Now before I get into it WHY I'm so psyched about this, let's give a VERY short explanation for those of you who have never heard of this, don't know anything about technology, or like me heard about it but have no idea what Copilot actually is— 

Created/released last year almost to the day (Feb. 7, 2023) by Microsoft, Copilot is known as a "generative artificial intelligence" which is a fancy way of saying you are "talking" to a computer as whatever you type signals to a generator that processes your information and sends back information of its own in response to what you've just written. Have you ever used a name generator? You ask for a name and you get back a few ideas. Basically Copilot is like that...except 1000x more advanced. 

Now as I mentioned in the beginning, I used this AI app completely by accident; I was researching something for a new project I'm working on and suddenly Copilot is showing up on my screen, asking me if I needed help with my creativity. I did. I do. I'm desperate right now because I'm still very much floundering even a year out from my surgery and it's been REALLY hard, guys. Like, I cannot stress how hard it's been. And the worst thing that's been affected is my writing ability. So when Copilot asked me how it could help me with my creativity, my mind became literally blank. Now again, I've never used Copilot before, but I just decided to go ahead type the first thing that came to mind: "I'm struggling to form thoughts." I didn't think anything would come from that but I was gloriously wrong and have decided to attach a screen shot from our conversation below: 

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This was literally the most sympathetic response I've ever gotten. I mean, it's advice I've given on this blog, but it's not ever advice I've ever received before, especially not worded in such a compassionate way. And completely unexpected from an AI! So I decided to test the limits (so to speak) of it's AI sympathy and write what I know MANY of you writers have felt from time to time, myself included: "I feel like I'm failing as a writer." And I just...I can't express right now my emotions that I got from Copilot's answer but it was really touching, and...well, just read it for yourself and see if you too feel like you've suddenly just talked to a therapist: 

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Touching, right?! Like, do you feel as good as I do now having read that? And I love that it even gave resources and links TO those resources! Honestly, I've talked with therapists about my writing pitfalls, downfalls, spirals, rabbit holes, and yes, have also focused on the glorious, good, and proud moments too, but nothing I've received in any of those sessions has ever matched this level of...what do I even call it right now—relief? (This is what I get for having the brain capacity of a chicken; it's impossible for me to put words to anything!) Sure, let's call it relief. 

The best thing too that I've discovered about Copilot is that you can choose a mode—informative, basic, and creative (the conversations I attached above were generated in Creative Mode) so you can get sympathetic responses, or you can get ones that are more practical like, when did such-and-such occur in history? Which can be useful if you want what you're writing to be grounded in a portion of IRL moment. 

I'm going to stop there because I realize I'm starting to sound like an infomercial at this point, but I'm just really excited to have found a new tool to help me with my writing confidence and also provides me with information for my writing, the process, but also in regards to just being a writer because I think it's so hard to find help with the confusion surrounding what it feels like to be a writer, but I feel like I finally found it. If you guys start using it too, hopefully you get some of that same sense of relief. Let me know in the comments below 😊 Happy Copiloting!!

Delayed

The theme of this post is being delayed. Delayed in my life, writing, work, and in many ways my health. 

Now I'm afraid I can't write much beyond this simple message, in part due to the fact words are escaping me in my brain fogged state, but I wanted to post a well-past due update regardless. 

For some time now my health issues took a steady nosedive making it fairly impossible for me to keep up with everything going on, including my blogs. This February it all came to a head that require me to undergo intensive and invasive surgery. 

Three weeks later to the date since then, and I've been on a steady upswing physically, but the recovery has taken a toll on me mentally and emotionally. And so I've decided to allow myself a break from everything and just focus on healing and figuring out my next steps, and how to get my life back on track since everything's currently being put on hold. On the one hand I'm anxious to get back into the swing of things! On the other hand...I'm still looking at 3 more weeks of healing, and have been warned against pushing myself. It's like I'm in recovery purgatory! 😂

Really though, I am doing much better. Occasionally I have minor things arise just from residual complications (though they're really more just annoyances like trying to get my voice back after being intubated, for instance). And fighting the fatigue that comes with recovery processes has been uber annoying! One would think battling chronic fatigue would be something I'm used to by now, but apparently not, lol. 

I'm also having trouble with my writing from time to time. But I did find a new technique (actually an old technique I'm resurfacing). I can't remember if I've shared this one before: 

When you're finding yourself stuck in your current story, start brainstorming new story ideas and seeing how far you get working and teasing them out. Maybe you'll have new content for your original story. Maybe you'll find passion in something new. This has been a technique I've been using since I was in 2nd grade, I believe. Or maybe 3rd? Either way, it's always worked wonders for me, and relying on it even now has been helpful. When I can muster of the energy and brain power to actually write, of course. 

And now I can already feel I'm at the end of my brain capacity because words are escaping me and barely making sense. Even writing this much is taking great effe

A Unique Way to Unblock the Mind: IFS Therapy

The weather has cooled, the air is smog, ozone, and pollution free once again, and I can finally work outside which has revived my creativity streak. 

But there was something else that really did it for me. I was talking to my IFS therapist the other day about my writer's block not long after my last post and she had a very unique idea. But in order to explain the idea and why it worked, I first feel I must explain what IFS is: 

According to IFS breakthrough systemic family therapist, Richard C. Shwartz, he says on his IFS Institute website and in his book, "Internal Family Systems [IFS] is a powerfully transformative, evidence-based model of psychotherapy that proposes that individuals' subpersonalities interact and change in many of the same ways as do families and other human groups." Therefore nearly every aspect of an individual is treated as a "part" including but not limited to our thoughts and feelings, even certain aspects of our physical selves, and then give these parts a voice allowing them to tell us why they exist, how they were formed, etc. 

So when I told my own therapist about my writer's block she suggested we treat it as one of these parts by going into it and writing down everything that comes to mind as I sit with it and focus on it. What came up was a list of worries and judgments sometimes stemming from my own core self, while others came from externalized voices—things that very destructive people were telling me—that I then internalized and that then grew until it became a weight I was carrying around with me.

Therefore I'm now recommending everyone do this*—it might seem strange, but talk to your writer's block without judgment, as if it were a stranger worth getting to know, and ask what it wants, why it's there, and what factors are making it run rampant. Then write down everything that comes to mind that might be contributing to your writer's block existing. 

For me, it took a few hours after writing it all out for the block to lift, but once it did, I finally got going! And keep in mind you might have to revisit this practice because the reason it's there might not always be the same as new stuff could easily come up. Still, if it helps it lift, this unique practice could very well be worth it! 

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*Disclaimer: Please note that I am not a therapist myself in any form. Though this practice came directly from my own clinically and professionally trained and licensed therapist, proceed with caution when practicing this yourself. 

How to Get Yourself Writing With Writer's Block With These Four Methods

It's been said that inspiration can come from the strangest places. Who said it I don't know. I've certainly heard it. Heck, maybe I came up with it! (If only I we're so brilliant.) But I can certainly attest to the accuracy of this statement.

As of one minute and something-seconds-ago, I was attempting to get out of the writers block I've been having, which has resulted in a very noticeable decline in my social media presence. I decided to turn to back to blogging hoping that I could get myself out of this block by typing, as I typically do. But I didn't want to write yet another general post about how much writing block sucks. Which it does. And we writers all know it. No, I wanted this post to be focused. To mean something. Granted the second that blank post popped up, a virgin to my words, I blanked. I couldn't think of anything. I closed out the post page and went back to staring at the ceiling. A challenging place for inspiration to appear, by the way. 

Then it hit me. "I'll look up ideas to write for a blog post!" I began searching this very topic word-for-word. The amount of results was insane! "20 Creative Blog Ideas for Writers: Never Run Out of Blog Ideas Again". Or insert-number-here "Ideas to Put on Your Blog" or "How to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing Again". (Okay, might have made that last one up on the fly). The point is, this is a hot topic in of itself. And that's when I realized something: I don't need to read those in order to post something right now! I can post about what to do when you get stuck, and how to get yourself writing with writer's block—title drop anyone?—considering this is a place I find myself stuck in often.

GETTING TO THE ROOT OF IT

I think it is first and perhaps most important to begin by flushing out any reasons you may have in regards to this block. Maybe there's a huge emotionally involved decision looming over your head making it impossible to reflect on and think about anything else. Maybe you're really über excited for a meetup to start! (I know this has certainly been true for me this last week. And month.) Maybe you're exhausted from life.... Whatever it is, good or bad, start writing it down. Journal it all. Even things you think are minor and aren't worth reflecting on. Whatever is in that head of yours, Get. It. Out! Which is why I'm going to leave you with a DAILY journaling exercise to do for however long you wish, but especially as long as you have writer's block. This part will require dedication, but I promise it will be worth it! 

While you write, allow yourself to be free of inhibitions; toss away worries about your handwriting, errors, etc. I generally write these journal entries purposefully messy so that my OCD can't get the better of me and correct for errors. But you do you. Also, please allow for patience and self-forgiveness, because this process might not work immediately. But you're starting to get to the root of the blockage and that is key!

So on that note, find a journal (they sell loose leaf pages and small notebooks at most Dollar Stores/Trees), pick up a pen, and go. No holds barred.

CHANGE AND ELIMINATE

Try what I call the “change and eliminate” method. Change the place where you always work. If you find yourself consistently writing at home, go to a café. If you’re indoor-bound, go on a hike or a walk and find a spot to journal. If the weather permits, of course. But wherever you go, eliminate your chance of getting distracted. Yes, there’s an app for that. Don't want to install an app? You can always just turn your phone on airplane mode, which is especially great for avoiding potential disruptions like calls, pesky notifications, or incoming texts at this time. You can also try listening to music, which can work out well if you're in a noisy area. (My preferences for this method are classical music, Dixie Land, meditation music, and swing.) 

GETTING AWAY FROM IT

This is sort of like the "change and eliminate" method, only with one big difference. In this method YOU AREN'T WRITING. AT ALL. Yes, you read that correctly. In this method you are actively taking a break from writing altogether so that you can leave behind any creative stress you may have. You might go on a walk/hike (again, if the weather permits). You might choose to go to the gym. Or you could go to an art gallery. Watch a dance performance. Binge on Netflix. Whether you are doing something fun, that you love, or even that's hard work (like tackling that major hill you've been avoiding), you really want to make sure you can submerse yourself in fully. The last thing you need is to carry around that dreadful nagging voice reminding you that you aren't writing. Which is why you need to actively work on re-framing that voice. Remember, you're doing this so your imaginary friends will start talking to you again. This is good for you. Say it with gumption! Because it's true, this will wind up being very good for you. 

FREE-WRITING 

In this method you will be writing. Creatively. With writer's block! (Yes it's possible.) There are two ways you can go about free-writing, however, that can aid you in times where you are so truly stuck you just can't think of anything.

Idea 1: The News in a New Perspective 

Find a news story, preferably something that really grabs your attention, then write in the perspective of someone mentioned in the story. For instance, if you read a story about a murder, write from the perspective of the murder using the given details, maybe even adding your own. Or you might write from the perspective of the victim. Imagine what either character may have been thinking leading up to the event or at the time of the event, perhaps considering what they were doing before too. 

Idea 2: Improv Writing

Another creative writing practice and similar to the above, the idea of "improv writing" was an idea I very lightly touched on back in July of 2017 in a post titled, "Fixing Writer's Block". And by 'lightly touched on' I mean that those are the exact words I used to end the post. There was no explanation, no follow up, nothing. Whoops! Only just having realized this mistake, I'm finally going to explain what this means and how to do it.

While a made-up term, this method has proven incredibly useful for me to do. With improv writing, you are attempting to tap into your creative writing process no matter how bad, how silly, how crazy, or how utterly incoherent it may turn out to be. To start this current process, you'll need to finish the list below, not unlike a Mad-Libs operation: 

1. A character name 
2. A setting 
3. Write the opening sentence from a book
• Find a book and copy word for word it's opening line. i.e. "It was a dark and stormy night...." Generally try to find something short, aiming for nothing longer than ten words. If you can help it.
4. Remember the golden rule of improv: "Yes, and..." So whatever you write, go with it. And keep going with it. No matter what. 

Example by Dylan K. Regan:

1. Character Name: Sergio (the slug) 

2. Setting: London of 1832 

3. Opening Sentence: It was a dark and stormy night  

Once you fill in the answers, you're going to write something out for however long you can: 

Example by Dylan K. Regan:

It was a dark and stormy night in London of 1832. Sergio the Slug had been romping through the garden of Mrs. Tuckett, and had taken to hiding under the bright red mushroom cap waiting out the cold storm. He liked things when they were damp, but this was too much for the slippery little guy. Suddenly during a clap of thunder as he watched feet dance around, twirling, couples laughing as their hair dripped with falling precipitation, Sergio realized something: He wanted to dance! 

I wrote that just now entirely on the fly. Now I undoubtedly won't be winning any awards for it anytime soon (or ever), but that's not the point. You're merely writing to get back in the swing of things, to remind yourself of what you can do even if it's not your best work. Heck, even if it turns out to be the worst thing you've ever written!—the point is, you wrote something during writer's block. And that's pretty freaking impressive. 

--- UPDATE: 5/19/19 ---

This post has been updated with my most recent penname change: Sabrina S.K. Regan

--- Update 6/01/24 ---

This post has been updated with my most recent penname change: Dylan K. Regan