Creative Juices Gone?

Mine are.

I tried to write on Monday, and after an hour and fifteen minutes I knew that I wasn’t going to get any writing done this week.

Why?

Well, if I knew that I’d be writing and not blogging.

These are my “This could be the reason” reasons:

1-I haven’t been putting much into my creative brain, so maybe I’ve tapped everything that was in there and now I’m left with nothing but a rather large, echoy chamber with wood paneling and bad linoleum floors.

2-I’m stressed. The day job always seems to get more demanding near the end of the year, and this time around is no different. The pace there is just below break-neck, and by the time I get home I can hardly type a sentence without making about six mistakes.  Plus I haven’t been getting nearly enough sleep.

3-Not enough sleep. Not nearly enough. I blame The Distraction (aka my husband) for this one, because he’s a night owl and he is evil. Actually, there are a lot of reasons for this, but the point is that I need more sleep to function at my expected level of awesome. Right now I’m not quite at level “I’m alive.”

4-There is some part of my story that I’m missing or misrepresenting. I don’t get writer’s block, per se, but I will get hung up in one section of a manuscript if I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to handle it. And at this time I am indeed at one of those spots.

5-Part of me just wants to play, and right now writing isn’t playing. The creative process of writing is difficult for me. The editing and fixing side is much more to my liking. And I’m having to rewrite a big swath of my work in progress, which is making me cranky.

6-ObamaCare. Just kidding. Everyone else is blaming either the president or the Tea Party for something, I figured I should too.

7-There are too many dang distractions at the end of the year. Between the holidays and, well, the holidays, things get more than a little crazy.

8-Not enough Kung Fu fighting lately. Physical activity is good for you. I take a Kempo class, and I haven’t been getting there as much as I would like to. Excuse, excuse, excuse…

So my goals should be to read a book and take a nap. Or beat someone up.

I long for these things each and every day, and it pretty much never happens.

Anyone have any other reasons for a lack of creativity?

Or do you have good ideas for how to snap out of it?