After the Break: How To Get Writing Again
How long can you go without writing and still call yourself a writer?
You see, I was a writer. I wrote before I went to university, I wrote at university, I took a Masters in Creative Writing… I did the very things that defines the term ‘writer’. I wrote. Then, one day, the wind just changed direction and I stopped writing. Sporadically I tried to keep it going, with competitions, challenges, and nights with nothing but pen and paper and mind, but at best it was all just creative defibrillation. Like a heart without blood to pump, I stopped. The minutae of life got in the way, and no amount of inspiring music, no number of classic novels, no amount of encouragement from great friends, could truly restart me. I was dead to the word. And after six months of not writing I couldn’t really call myself a writer anymore. I was just a guy who’d written some stories once.
Now I’m trying to get back on the writing horse (not a real animal, but if it were it would look like a unicorn, except with a pencil for a horn and pages for a mane), and back to keeping the title of ‘writer’. It’s not easy. But i’m trying, as you might be, and these are the things I’ve learned (and am still learning) as I’ve started to make a certified effort at earning my title of ‘writer’ once again:
Don’t be ashamed
So you haven’t written anything in months, maybe even years? So what? You’ve made a conscious decision to start writing, and that’s what’s most important. You’re a writer again. The past is already written, the future is a blank page. Just make sure you fill it with your words.
Make the time
Arguably the hardest part, but if you’re true to your ambition, if you really want to call yourself a writer again, you’ll make the time. Yes, you no doubt have a ‘To Do’ List longer than a Tolkien tale, but amidst your daily chores and rituals set some time aside. Break it up into small portions if that fits your working style better. Take advantage of every free moment you get. Do some on the train home from work, in bed, sitting in the waiting room at the dentist if you can bear the noise of that drill. Carry a notebook and paper around for those precious periods when you get chance to be creative. Writers should never be without pens or paper.
Get into the Routine
Don’t worry about writing well, just write something. For the first week or so it’s not an exercise in skill, it’s just all about getting back into the habit of writing every day. Write poems, lyrics, short stories, fragments of stories, write your last shopping trip as an epic adventure, whatever. No one needs to see it, and you can throw it on the fire afterward if you really, truly hate it (although I beg you to keep anything and everything you write, no matter what you may think of it!).
Friends
I can’t stress how valuable having at least one fellow writer or creative individual in your life is. Having someone who understands you and the (often idiosyncratic) creative process of a writer, and whom you can share your work and experiences with, is vital. It will make you feel like you’re a writer. Knowing someone somewhere is supporting you and your work is a great boost to confidence when you’re sat alone with your laptop on a cold dark evening.
Act the part
Part of being a writer is in the mind. Get back to doing everything that makes you feel like you’re properly attached to your passion. Reconnect with those writers you follow on Twitter and find more to follow. Start reading those literary blogs that appear in your feeds but you never read. Go to book launches and poetry evenings. Start your own blog with regular posts about writing, and don’t worry if it’s only three friends and a stranger who read it because at least you’re engaging with the subject you love. It’s of no use to you being a hermit with a typewriter.
You’re only Human
You’ll slip. You’ll falter. There’ll be a day, possibly a few weeks in, where you get up or get in from work and either don’t have the time to write, or don’t make the time to write, or just don’t feel like writing.
That’s not a problem. We all have our bad days. Even Dickens skipped a Monday here and there. Maybe not Ernest Hemingway though… that man could write even with a Force 10 hangover… But the lesson to take away is, if you fall off the writing horse don’t waste time admonishing yourself and don’t let it be the start of the slippery slope back to not writing at all. Just make sure that the next day you are disciplined enough to stick your favourite song on, sit down at your keyboard, and write. It will soon become second nature again.
So those are the things I’ve learned. They are by no means the only tips to give to a writer getting back to writing after a long break, but they are a start, and if you have any I’d love to hear yours – please share in the comments below. Above all, have fun!
Images courtesy of mikep1979, hopeleslie, and ShaZ.
Rob Smedley: Writer and Freelance Illustrator. Runs the ‘Too Close For Comfort‘ cartoon blog, and when not being creative with ink or making jokes about everything, Rob can be found at any bar that serves a good martini.
It’s been a very long time since I wrote anything creatively. My main problem is I feel no motivation. It’s a personal obstacle, but I will take these tips and see if I can reignite the fire again, so to speak.
Thanks for commenting Donnie! Hope you get back to writing soon and that the tips help!
I do plenty of writing, about eight hours’ worth a day, but it’s all non-fiction. I really miss writing short stories and novels. I thought about participating in NaNoWriMo this year, but I have so many clients, I doubt that I’d get a chapter written, much less a novel. My goal next year: Take a week off from freelancing and just write for fun!
I hope you get to achieve your goal Debra – there’s nothing better than just putting pen to paper and putting all the amazing thoughts in your head into actual words.
Great article. I love the description of the unicorn – brilliant. I can understand this dilemma, even a few days or a week without writing something makes me feel less of a writer and more of an email checker, to do list monger, scattered brain freak – but what I really want to do is write all the time. I do have a bi-weekly writers group that is very helpful, it gives us all the opportunity to pull each other along. Someone is always on top of their writing and someone is always lagging behind.
I would also add to read a lot of inspiring books about writing and creativity – even if I just read a page or two of something from Julia Cameron or other writers on creativity I feel the urge to hit the page.
Thanks Andrea! It’s great that you have a writers group to go to – always good to have other creative minds around. And thanks for the tip! :)
Hi Robert and thank you for your tips on getting back into writing.
One way I induce myself to write when lack of inspiration strikes is to write a letter,sometimes to imaginary people, but mostly to friends abroad (I live in Australia). Letter writing has always come easily to me.
Another way to keep writing, which was given to me at a conference I attended, was to set yourself to write a given number of words a day, say 500. The words do not have to make sense, they can be bits of poems your learned at school, what you can see from the window, or just ‘the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog’. The act of physically typing or writing on paper is a bit like practising a sport, the more you practise, the luckier you get. Quite often writing like this can produce an idea and before you know it you’re off and writing two or three thousand words almost effortlessly.
Hi Magi, thanks for commenting and for the great tips! I particularly like the letter writing one. Letter writing is sadly becoming a bit of a lost art these days, which is a shame as it’s not only a really personal way of keeping in touch with others, but also of keeping in touch with the writer in you. I’m definitely going to have to do more letter writing from now on.
I want to start writing again. I used to enjoy reading so much and I have lost passion for it becuase of all the research articles I had to read which were devoid of any creativity or emotion. My writing also became formulaic and I realized that I no longer possessed an opinion. I would merely regurgitate what others have already said and not have to come up with my own way of interpreting the world. Recently my distaste for writing has been exemplified by having to customize cover letters and job applications. Again, there is no room for creativity. I remember my favourite subject in highs chool was English. I used to love discussing the books that we read and providing my own viewpoint. I did not question my thoughts then but I do now. I dont see anything that I come up with as worthy. I want to start commenting on stories or contributing to stories but I am not sure where to start. Again, I am looking for inspiration.