Sometimes, sitting down and producing a thousand quality words feels easy, enjoyable and almost automatic. Other times, the days can either drag by with you staring at an unforgiving screen of white, or you can notice that a month has flown and you haven’t sat down to write once.
What can we do when motivation and inspiration walk out the door?
Here are four tips to get you writing again:
1. Read something inspirational
A great novel, or a great non-fiction about the power of writing can remind you of why you write, and give you the motivation to get you back on that seat with finger-cramp from all that inspired-writing
2. Read something terrible
There’s nothing like reading something awful that’s been published to give us a confidence boost on our own writing. After all, if that piece of #@$% managed to get published, there must be hope for the rest of us.
3. Get a fresh set of eyes
If you’re stuck on a piece of writing, you know it’s not working but you’re not really sure how to fix it, give it to someone else. Ask someone for their feedback and ideas. Take your writing to a critique group to get a range of perspectives and ideas.
4. Join a community
The joy of writing can be infectious, but you can’t get infected while in quarantine. Get out there: Join a writing group, be part of a writing community. Write, discuss and learn with others, and you’ll find your motivation and your skills just keep on growing.