Maybe it’s a weekend or a vacation from work, either way you have your goal in mind and are excited to see what you can achieve. Or maybe it’s just a very ordinary day and you have a daily writing plan that…just never happens? Or there’s a power outage (as happened to me this past weekend) or big life event or even something fun like a family vacation where there’s little or no time to write. It doesn’t matter how it happened, what matters is that your writing stopped. It could be for days, weeks, or even longer, but now you find you need to regain your momentum.
If the break is short you might be able to toss it in the “f-it bucket” and get back to writing. I took some time (about 20-30 minutes) to look at what I’d had planned for March to see if it was still possible, and with calendar in hand, plotted an ambitious, but possible plan. We’ll see if I make it since I’d hoped to start about three days ago, but we’ll see. And of course, if for some reason I don’t make it, I know to give myself understanding and grace, just like I would to a good writing friend who missed the goal.
The first step is forgiveness and care
Whether the break in your writing happened because of something outside of your control (like Mother Nature or a long-standing vacation plan) or it was because of burnout and mental health, the reason isn’t something to get upset about. It’s human nature to be tough on ourselves, and in this writing market even more so. And yet, we need to be gentle with ourselves. Forgive yourself if you feel as if there’s something to forgive, but most of all treat yourself with the care you would give to a trusted friend.
Make A Plan
Make a plan on how you’ll ease back into your schedule. If you don’t want to be ambitious at first, you don’t have to be. The important part is to find the momentum again.
Then, do everything you can to make the plan happen. Start writing again. And if you need help, reach out. You’ve got this.