How to Find Your Writing Spark Again
Creativity can sometimes be elusive. Whether we’ve hit a major roadblock, or life got the better of us, or we don’t know how to move forward much less keep going, we can easily lose motivation and excitement in our writing journeys.
In this blog post, I want to share with you 4 tips to help you find your writing spark again.
Let’s hop to it!
It happens to all of us: We’re going strong with our writing, then BAM! We hit an obstacle that throws us off course. Doesn’t matter what the obstacle is. Could be family-related, could be our full-time job, could be a nasty bug that traveled worldwide, could be a dip in our self-confidence—what matters is that we’re flailing and struggling, trying to get back to our writing habit. And suddenly, somehow, we’ve lost the spark totally.
Sound familiar?
So how do you get back that spark? How do you go from 0-60 once again? How do you find the daily joy of simply creating?
Below, I’d like to share 4 tips that ANYONE can try. While I have more suggestions beyond these basic 4, those are more specific and tailored to particular situations that writers are grappling with. If you feel you’re someone who needs more of a deep-dive cleansing of creative energy, please contact me or leave a comment below and I’m happy to chat!
Tip #1: Release Yourself from Responsibility
Often, when we stray, either intentionally or not, from our writing journey, we tend to lay on the guilt, shame, blame. This is un-helpful. You won’t be able to find any kind of lasting writing spark if you’re feeling guilty or angry for not sticking with your habit.
Writing a letter of “forgiveness” to yourself is a great way to release yourself from this responsibility. As Elsa has so bravely taught us, you have to Let it Go.
If you keep a journal, then write your letter there. Otherwise, simple pen and notebook do the job beautifully. I recommend handwriting the letter as opposed to typing it out—there’s something to be said for feeling the emotion much more clearly through handwriting.
Honor your feelings of blame and anger and frustration—don’t brush them aside. Let them rise up, but then let them go. Follow this up with forgiveness, or self-acceptance. You’re giving yourself a chance to recognize what’s up and now you’re stating you want to make a shift. That’s all.
Write about how you want to embark on your journey this time around. What do you hope to encounter or experience? What goals would you like to achieve? Who would you like to engage with? What kind of growth would you like to make?
Close it out with loving kindness to yourself.
Tip #2: It’s a Building Year!
Anytime we hit a low point, we have two basic options. We can stagnate or we can get up and try again. If we stagnate, we’re doomed to repeat our performance because we didn’t take the opportunity to see what we could have done differently. If we get up and try again, this is our chance to recognize and fix our weak spots.
Failure is not a dirty word. I write about this a lot, because I have to remind myself too. Even as a writing coach with a focus on positive thinking, I sometimes slide back into negative self-talk and self-blame. I wallow and complain until I realize just how worse I’m making myself feel.
Thankfully, I have tools to help me stop mid-spiral and once I put those into use, I can get back into a higher vibe within minutes. It’s a practice I honed a few years back, and it never lets me down.
Tip #3: Be Intentional
Inspiration is all around you. Start your day intending to look for it, intending to be creative. I am a big believer in regular (if not daily) journaling. I think keeping a written record of our progress that monitors not just our daily word count but also our emotional landscape is hugely beneficial for umpteen reasons. Try answering these questions as part of your journaling practice:
What is the outcome I want to achieve?
What do I want to do? / What must I do? (in order to achieve the outcome)
What external and internal forces will support me in doing what I need/want to do?
How will I apply these forces today?
What can potentially block me? How could I potentially meet up with resistance?
What is my hack for any potential blocks or resistance?
When we pose the six questions above to ourselves each morning, or at least, immediately before our writing session, we are committing to doing so much more than simply writing words. We’re writing with the fundamental understanding that that day’s productivity will lead directly toward another goal. That our writing sessions should never be treated as isolated moments in our day that have no consequence.
Just like a story has a plot, where each incident must lead to another, so must our writing journey follow a plot, where each writing session leads to another.
This means we need to have a clear understanding of the outcome and what we need to accomplish in order to achieve that outcome.
Setting intentions for all of your writing sessions is a fantastic tool that can help you establish the plot of your writing journey!
After a short while of setting intentions, following the guidance of those six questions, you start to learn quite a bit about yourself. Don’t be surprised to discover that what you thought was a strength was actually an avoidance tactic, or what you thought was a bad habit was actually a cool time hack.
This is where the journaling becomes so much more than just a dumping ground for your thoughts and feelings. It’s a record keeper for everything. You can see trends develop over time, learn how certain situations trigger you, how you respond to disruptions.
Tip #4: Empower Yourself
Fear tends to fill spaces of inactivity. The fewer times we show up and take action, the more frequently fear takes over. Even if you have to start small, just start. Somewhere, something. When you take action, you’re empowering yourself.
There is no one way to get back into the practice or habit of writing. This could be anything from scribbling a scene, sketching out a character, hashing out a plot, reading a book, working with another writer, brainstorming/discovery, logging ideas. If trying to take on an entire draft to a novel is too overwhelming, then narrow your focus. Work on one scene. One character. One exchange of dialogue. Half a page of description.
Embrace every moment you create, honoring yourself for showing up. Your creativity will flow as long as you’re keeping the gates wide open.
At the end of the day, no matter what obstacles you encounter, it’s always going to come down to how you respond. If you have to take a break, take one without the guilt or discouragement. If you need support, reach out to those you trust and love the most. Always remember, creatives go through ups and downs on a regular basis, so you’re not alone!
Hopefully, you find these tips helpful. You might also want to try my FREE writing workshop Spark Your Creativity: a 5-day writing workshop to help you get excited and motivated to write!
Have a writerly day!