Change Your Writing Space
Altering your writing environment can make it feel like you’re beginning something new and exciting, rather than returning to something hard and frustrating. Whether it’s buying a new aromatic candle or changing the time of day for your writing sessions, try making some small adjustments to your settings before getting back to work.Lower Your Goals
As writers, we place a lot of expectations on ourselves. Perhaps these expectations come from our desire to succeed or to prove ourselves to critics and doubters. While it is good to be motivated, too much expectation on ourselves can cause us to become overwhelmed and freeze creatively. To avoid this kind of creative anxiety, try setting small, reachable goals for your daily writing sessions in order to build your confidence and develop consistent writing habits. Just remember to raise those goals as you get back into the swing of things!Work on Another Project
If you were working on a specific story when you last stopped working, consider starting over from another direction by writing on a different project. Most writers have more than one idea for a story, so even if you don’t have another project in the works, start one. This allows you to get back into the routine of writing while continuing to take a break from the story that may have been frustrating you. Better to attack it again when you have some momentum built up and are flush with success from working on your ‘backup project.’Do Writing Prep Instead of Writing
There are plenty of other productive activities that you can do as a writer without actually writing. Creating backstory, outlining, world building, and doing research are all great ways to put in hours of labor while allowing your creative batteries to recharge.Get Inspired
There are plenty of ways to get pumped up to start writing again. Try going to a place that inspires you and jot down any ideas that come while you’re there. You can also attend writing conferences, retreats, and workshops on the craft of writing as a way to surround yourself with other writers and feel a communal enthusiasm for writing. You may even consider talking with a writing coach to improve your routine and learn more ways to get you back on track.What has helped you get back into the writing spirit? Leave a comment below, and be sure to share this list with all your writing friends.
If I carry something on which I can write my ideas as soon as they hit me, I can get more ideas and then find I am writing without even intending to. They say the human mind can only remember something for about 15 seconds unless something is done to deliberately recall it. (this is why you can have 43 different views of an event even when there are only 12 people who were there. Frightening when you think of eyewitnesses isn't it?) That aside, if I don't write down my ideas, they are lost and so is the motivation. I might struggle to remember what that awesome idea was, fail to remember or remember a piece but not the whole, and quit in frustration. Argh! Don't you love that word?
ReplyDeleteI used to write down story notes to myself all the time. Unfortunately, I learned that for me, making a note for a story idea often made me feel like I didn't need to think about it any more. I find it more useful to let an idea bake in my brain for at least a day. If I'm still thinking about it after that period, then I implement it. If not, than it was just a flash in the pan. Of course, the process different for every creative artist, so you should definitely keep making those notes! :)
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