Regaining Momentum

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No one tells you that when you haven’t written for a while, it’s hard to start back up.

They tell you that you can do it, and that is true.

They tell you it will come back, and that is true.

They rarely tell you how long it will take, or how hard it will be.

Today, friend, I bring good news: I know how to regain writing momentum after a dry spell.

Step One: FORGET YOUR STANDARDS

Don’t stop reading yet.

I am not telling you to trash your standards like some weird word-goblin, wandering the world and ruining fiction. u003cstrongu003eI am telling you during recovery, you need to extend yourself some grace. Click To Tweet

It’s not too dissimilar to recovery from a bad sprain or broken bone. Yes, you might once have been able to run a marathon or bench 200lbs, but if you try that mad action right after the cast comes off, you will be sorry.

You will improve, but only if you give yourself permission to suck while you work at getting better.

Step Two: THE HARD PART

Okay. Have you put the standards down for now? Great. Now write something.

I’m not saying this like I think it’s easy. I am very good at Staring At the Blank Page (I took the gold medal in 2015 and 2018), and it took me a long time to realize that if I didn’t lower my standards first, I would never be able to write – and only actual writing would improve my writing, thus elevating it closer to those standards.

So: write anything. It doesn’t have to be good, or on brand, or even related to anything you’ve been writing.

Write. Anything. And don’t stop until it’s finished, whatever it is.

You can write down a weird dream you had.

You can write down a weird dream someone else had.

You can write a memory, the details of a shopping trip, ANYTHING at all.

  1. No one will ever see it. This is only for you.
  2. No standards. It doesn’t have to have a plot, a three-part structure, or correct grammar.
  3. JUST. WRITE.

How do you know you’re doing it right? There will be words on the page.

That’s it. That is step two. And it is possibly the most crucial of all.

  • This is training to ignore your inner critic.
  • This is also training for distance. Writing is not for sprinters; it must involve marathons when you’re at fighting weight.
  • You’re not at fighting weight yet, so just write.

Step Three: Repeat Steps One and Two

Are you ready for this? Are you ready for an absolutely crazy thing to happen as you diligently apply these two steps?

You’ll get better at writing.

WHAAAA?

I know, right?

The thing about writing is that we so often feel like there's some secret to it, that there's one weird trick to becoming a good writer.There is no secret. There is only doing. Click To Tweet
  1. Read a lot. (Fill that well, learn new styles, absorb HOW words can be used.)
  2. Write a lot. (Practice. See what works and what doesn’t. Keep applying until writer muscles are strong.)

You Can Do This

Don’t believe the lies your inner critic spouts at you. That voice is a jerk, and does not help you grow as a creative.

There is no one weird trick. There is writing and getting better as you write.

If, like me, you’ve been away from writing for a while, take heart. You aren’t “done” as a writer. Follow these steps, and I promise you you’ll be back up to writing weight in time.

Ruthanne

A three-times bestselling author, Ruthanne Reid has led a convention panel on world-building, taught courses on plot and character development, and been the keynote speaker for the Write Practice Retreat. Author of two series with five books and fifty-plus short stories, Ruthanne has lived in her head since childhood, when she wrote her first story about a pony princess and a genocidal snake-kingdom and used up her mom’s red typewriter ribbon in the process. When she isn’t reading, writing, or reading about writing, Ruthanne enjoys old cartoons with her husband and two cats, and dreams of living on an island beach far, far away. P.S. Red is still her favorite color.