The feeling of being stuck after not writing for a while is very real—and I just experienced it. In my last post, I reflected on my experience mentoring for the Design-athon, 2026. Having it been my first time writing in over a month, my thought process felt slow and frictional. The words didn’t come to me as naturally—as if burdened by awkward phrasing. In this piece of literature, I will reflect on the act of writing in itself.
I noticed that the difficulty was present as I began writing. Perhaps this is best explained in the words of Sir Isaac Newton.
An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion continues in motion with constant velocity unless acted upon by a net external force.
This statement holds relevancy not just in physics, yet in moral analogies too. I believe it takes more effort to write fluently from a standstill, in contrast with formerly being in the state of writing. This may be complex to fathom initially, yet with more thought, it becomes seemingly easier to grasp.
Evidently, even after ‘warming up’ my writing, I felt it had incrementally deteriorated—compared to my previous ability. I’d like to view this through the lens of a simple rubber band. Take a moment to picture a rubber band.
In case you couldn’t, here is a picture of a rubber band:
The rubber band is perfectly fine and stretchy, as long as it is being stretched consistently. What do you think happens in the scenario if I leave said rubber band on a table for five years, untouched. The result is when you eventually try stretching, it will merely shatter—because a rubber band out of its prime simply is unable to stretch. This is a well-known fact, yet its implications are often overlooked—it wouldn’t be a stretch to proclaim similarities with writing.
Aside from just random analogies, I feel there might be genuine use cases to this knowledge. For one, it inspires me to write more. I find writing meaningfully interesting—yet my ability is less consistent than I would prefer. Perhaps in the grand scheme of things, it simply means committing to writing more as a whole.
Maybe writing is like riding a bike… you never really forget it—you simply need to warm up. Writing has more to itself than meets the eye, and that’s for better or worse—depending on who you ask. In the end, writing is probably less about talent, and more about momentum.