How To Get Back to Writing

We all take breaks. Sometimes life gets too busy or sometimes you just get burnt out and need to take a step back for a while. Days turn to weeks and weeks turn to months, then the process of going back seems daunting and intimidating. Today we’re talking about how to get back into the habit of writing. 

First, accept that it’s okay whatever your reason was for taking a writing break. All are valid, all have been done before and none of it has anything to do with your skill or ability as a writer. It’s easy to fall into this mindset during a break, but time away can actually help you go back with a clearer head and a new light. 

Next, read what inspires you. What was the book or article or piece of fiction that inspired you to write in the first place? What was your first story as a kid that you thought of or wrote down? Go back to it for a bit. Remember what it felt like to be immersed into a story you love. 

And on that note, go out and find something new. Creative passion comes from ideas that inspire other ideas until a fully thought idea is formed. We take from things we love and see around us all the time to create new things, and taking the time to seek inspiration opens up many doors down to writing. 

If you are a person like me who is often inspired by music, this is a great time to bust back open the playlists or search around for music that could inspire new feelings. 

Take those discoveries, all of the things you learned and explored and see if there is some kind of idea or theme you can draw from it. Notice how I didn’t say to start writing. Previously, we doing bits of exploring and research to inspire confidence and ideas. If you want to start writing, go ahead. If you need some more motivation to get to typing down scenes, it’s totally fine. 

Something I like to do is to use my inspirations and write down words on a paper that describe them. Things I like and what would be fun to write about. You can also use song titles or quotes. Some people like to do this digitally and add pictures. Similar to a mood board but for writing. Then, once I have the page pretty full, I circle the ones that could go with a theme I like and see if there’s a cohesive thought or idea from the circled words. 

It’s helpful if you have a preferred genre or know of what genre you want to write the story. Especially since you can research common tropes to further add ideas to your idea page/inspiration. Remember, tropes aren’t inherently bad you just have to be mindful that some are overused and could be harmful but tropes are just common themes of a particular genre. For example, a love triangle in a romance is often not favored but it is a common trope and option. A more favorable one is the “there was only one bed” romantic trope, which is mostly a trope that forces characters who would otherwise be reluctant, to be closer to one another and invite the characters to be more vulnerable. 

From there, it’s time to think of your overarching theme and genre and define what you want your story to be about, as simply as you can make it. This can change during your writing process of course but to get started, it’s good to have a direction. Once you have that, you’ve started the writing process and can now start outlining or plotting. There are a number of books and plot outlines that you can pick and choose what you like and what words for you. A great writing book I like a lot is Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. 

Remember that writing has no timeline or set model of how to do something, just make sure what you are doing is something that inspires you and that you enjoy. Making habits of small writing goals and a detailed plan will go a long way in helping you get started on an idea.

 You got this.