Summer is a season when writers step back from writing to work on other tasks and to enjoy extra hours with family.
I’m glad that happens, that we find time for the other loves in our lives. Yet now that the summer is almost through, I want to remind you to get back to your writing.
It’s so very easy, once we step away from our writing habits, to stay away. But if you’re close to being finished with your first draft or close to finishing your self-editing or close to finishing research in preparation for starting a new story, I hope you’ll get back into the swing of writing.
Don’t let a few days or weeks away turn into months away. And don’t think that it can’t happen, because it so easily can. Two weeks or two months turns into six weeks and six months, and all the momentum you’d built up seeps out like air out of an old balloon. Slowly. Maybe without you even noticing.
You’d notice a loud pop, a sudden cessation, but you might never notice the gradual decline in interest for your writing projects. My reminder is here to head off that gradual decline.
If you’ve been away from writing, welcome back. If you’ve been away not by choice but through means beyond your control—maybe you were attacked by the blahs, maybe a family emergency or family excitement interrupted you—make this your day or week to get into the groove again.
Need some help getting started? Try one or several of the following—
If reading a great novel always gets you excited about writing your own, read one or two or five this week. If going through a craft book, one with writing exercises, usually fires you up, look for a new one and dive into the exercises. If grammar books do it for you, crack open your favorite and give yourself a refresher.
If writing poetry stirs your creative juices, take a pad and paper and visit a quiet spot and write. If writing description or an action scene or a love scene gets you jazzed, start writing. Don’t worry that you’re not writing something you can use. You are getting great use out of the words you get down; you are putting yourself in the mindset of writing.
Whatever moves you in terms of writing, use it to get yourself going.
Any time we’re away from writing, getting back can be difficult or slow. But you’ve got to start, so just start.
Don’t think you have to wait for some lightning bolt of inspiration to strike—just write the first word and then the next and then the next. Write something. There’s nothing better for writing, for getting into a flow, than just starting to write. Sports and dance and other endeavors have their muscle memory—writing makes use of the same kind of habits and body memory.
Prime the pump with toss-away words if you don’t know where to begin with your own story. Describe an accident you saw on vacation. Describe an unusual person you met on vacation. Picture a location from your vacation, then imagine aliens landing there, right in front of you. Then write that scene.
Write about the ugliest trinket you brought back. Write your most recent dream as if it were a real event. Write about the objects on your desk coming to life when you’re not around.
If you were in the middle of a manuscript when you took off for a while, read the last chapter or scene and then begin writing from that point. Don’t read the whole story—get into the current flow and emotions.
If reading doesn’t do it for you, print the final couple of pages that you wrote and then retype them. Get into the setting and the entanglements of your characters as you type them out.
If you have trouble imagining your story world after seeing some true wonders in this world—and those wonders could be simple or profound—find a quiet spot and lie down, picturing your story world and its characters. Imagine yourself into the streets and buildings, into the shops. Into the arguments and passionate moments. See if you can’t put yourself back into the zone that makes writing come so easily. Don’t fall asleep on purpose, but if you do, think of your story world when you wake up. Before you get up and get involved with real-world activities and people, see if your waking mind can’t slip into your fictional world. Right before sleeping and right upon waking, you should be able to guide your characters through events and actions and dialogue that fit your story.
Now, if you’re not having any trouble getting back into writing after a few weeks off or a few months on a reduced writing schedule, then go at it.
Maybe you can’t wait to get writing again. Maybe you’ve got so many ideas that you don’t know where to begin. I find that it my problem when I go on holidays. I attended a few retreats this summer. And I will be reflecting about them. They were so interesting, and so peaceful, that I didn’t want to come back home…
Oh well…I did! HaHa!
So, take some time to get back into the frame of mind of writing. And please realize that the year will be gone fast. So, get to work to that you can something to show for by the end of the year!
I’m glad that happens, that we find time for the other loves in our lives. Yet now that the summer is almost through, I want to remind you to get back to your writing.
It’s so very easy, once we step away from our writing habits, to stay away. But if you’re close to being finished with your first draft or close to finishing your self-editing or close to finishing research in preparation for starting a new story, I hope you’ll get back into the swing of writing.
Don’t let a few days or weeks away turn into months away. And don’t think that it can’t happen, because it so easily can. Two weeks or two months turns into six weeks and six months, and all the momentum you’d built up seeps out like air out of an old balloon. Slowly. Maybe without you even noticing.
You’d notice a loud pop, a sudden cessation, but you might never notice the gradual decline in interest for your writing projects. My reminder is here to head off that gradual decline.
If you’ve been away from writing, welcome back. If you’ve been away not by choice but through means beyond your control—maybe you were attacked by the blahs, maybe a family emergency or family excitement interrupted you—make this your day or week to get into the groove again.
Need some help getting started? Try one or several of the following—
If reading a great novel always gets you excited about writing your own, read one or two or five this week. If going through a craft book, one with writing exercises, usually fires you up, look for a new one and dive into the exercises. If grammar books do it for you, crack open your favorite and give yourself a refresher.
If writing poetry stirs your creative juices, take a pad and paper and visit a quiet spot and write. If writing description or an action scene or a love scene gets you jazzed, start writing. Don’t worry that you’re not writing something you can use. You are getting great use out of the words you get down; you are putting yourself in the mindset of writing.
Whatever moves you in terms of writing, use it to get yourself going.
Any time we’re away from writing, getting back can be difficult or slow. But you’ve got to start, so just start.
Don’t think you have to wait for some lightning bolt of inspiration to strike—just write the first word and then the next and then the next. Write something. There’s nothing better for writing, for getting into a flow, than just starting to write. Sports and dance and other endeavors have their muscle memory—writing makes use of the same kind of habits and body memory.
Prime the pump with toss-away words if you don’t know where to begin with your own story. Describe an accident you saw on vacation. Describe an unusual person you met on vacation. Picture a location from your vacation, then imagine aliens landing there, right in front of you. Then write that scene.
Write about the ugliest trinket you brought back. Write your most recent dream as if it were a real event. Write about the objects on your desk coming to life when you’re not around.
If you were in the middle of a manuscript when you took off for a while, read the last chapter or scene and then begin writing from that point. Don’t read the whole story—get into the current flow and emotions.
If reading doesn’t do it for you, print the final couple of pages that you wrote and then retype them. Get into the setting and the entanglements of your characters as you type them out.
If you have trouble imagining your story world after seeing some true wonders in this world—and those wonders could be simple or profound—find a quiet spot and lie down, picturing your story world and its characters. Imagine yourself into the streets and buildings, into the shops. Into the arguments and passionate moments. See if you can’t put yourself back into the zone that makes writing come so easily. Don’t fall asleep on purpose, but if you do, think of your story world when you wake up. Before you get up and get involved with real-world activities and people, see if your waking mind can’t slip into your fictional world. Right before sleeping and right upon waking, you should be able to guide your characters through events and actions and dialogue that fit your story.
Now, if you’re not having any trouble getting back into writing after a few weeks off or a few months on a reduced writing schedule, then go at it.
Maybe you can’t wait to get writing again. Maybe you’ve got so many ideas that you don’t know where to begin. I find that it my problem when I go on holidays. I attended a few retreats this summer. And I will be reflecting about them. They were so interesting, and so peaceful, that I didn’t want to come back home…
Oh well…I did! HaHa!
So, take some time to get back into the frame of mind of writing. And please realize that the year will be gone fast. So, get to work to that you can something to show for by the end of the year!
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