A guide you don't have to follow: How to get yourself to write

 Disclaimer: I'm being very hypocritical here, considering I haven't really written anything major in the last year, but who cares, I've stilled motivated myself multiple times to get back to writing so maybe you can take something away from this post. 

Hi there, welcome back to my "A Guide You Don't Have To Follow series". 
I think we're on part 6 now which is quite exciting and as always, keep in mind that these are tips that I like or think are helpful, by no means are these applicable to everyone.
Without further chatting and discrediting myself, let's get to the list of things you can do to get your bum back into writing. 

1. Ignore all advise
I know, very funny, but let me explain. 
A lot of the time when I don't feel like writing I turn to (insert social media platform of your choice) and look for tips or advise. I want to know what these successful writers do that I don't. Often you'll hear "write at least 15 minutes a day, whether or not you feel like it", "try writing 1000 words and you'll form a habit" and so on. I'm definitely guilty of giving similar advise and I will touch on this in the next point, but what I've noticed with these number based "tips" is the increased pressure I feel. If (and that's a big if) I sit down to write and don't manage 1000 words, I feel disappointed. If I get distracted after 10 minutes I feel like a failure. 
Putting this kind of pressure on yourself before you even sit down to write is setting yourself up for failure and ultimately a writer's block. Because you'll associate writing with failure, and that's not what you want. You want to get writing, that's why you're here. 

2. Pick up pen and paper
This might sound strange and unfamiliar, but there's a method to this. Late last year (before Nanowrimo) I was in a huge writing slump and I tried all the "set yourself a timer and just write" tips there are and failed. I hated the idea of writing, I hated opening my word doc, I hated everything. So, instead I put away my laptop and went back to the classic notebook and pen situation and tried to see what would happen if I worked with writing prompts. (I think I mentioned those in my A guide on How to start writing). What I noticed was the different experience, the thought process that went on while I was writing with a pen. There's something more intimate in thinking out the word you're writing down, something more intense in trying to remember how to spell imediately, immideatly, immediately without having a spell check to fall back on. 
Over all it was more raw. It was slower, sure, but it was also more invested. You can't open a random tab on your notebook and scroll through social media. You can't look up infinite synonyms on word with the thesaurus tool. You have to focus on writing and that's what you'll want. 

3. Go back to your old stuff
Now, this one might be a bit controversial, because I know a lot of people don't believe in revisiting old stuff but rather work on something new. But right now you're stuck in a writing slump and you might be desperate to get back into it. 
Going back to your old stuff does two things.
1. It shows you what you've already achieved and what you can be proud of. You are a writer, there's the proof. Celebrate it, associate good feelings with writing. 
2. It gets that brain of yours moving because you immediately find ten things you would write differently today. And you know what you're going to do now? You're going to do those changes. Copy that scene into a new document, write it down in a notebook or completely rewrite it to begin with. It's familiar to your brain so you don't have to think too hard when it comes to new plot points, but it exercises that creative muscle to get back into the activity of writing fun things. 
I don't even call this editing, because the purpose here is not to improve something or call it work, the point is to remember what it feels like to write and to get back into writing. Take this as a starting point for all the other writing you want to do. 

4. Accept if now is not your time
This is one is probably a very specific one to me, but let me know if you feel the same. I usually always have ideas for new stories. I have notebooks filled with my one page summaries, with outlines and characters. But when I hit that writing slump last year it felt like I had no idea at all. I didn't connect to any of them at all and I couldn't think of anything new, so I got frustrated and angry because I thought I should write and I thought I should write about all those ideas I had. (You see the pattern of associating bad feelings with writing, right?) 
So I took a break. I didn't touch anything for a while. I took my time to other hobbies, I read more and watched Netflix and slowly my brain woke up again and demanded an outlet. The ideas I had collected suddenly didn't feel so bad anymore and I wasn't feeling anxious at the thought of sitting down at my computer. 
Sometimes it's just not the write time. Sometimes things that happen outside of you can block you without you even noticing. Sometimes you're stressed and tired and all you want to do is curl up in bed and watch TV. Allow yourself that time.  To most people writing is a hobby and a passion. If the passion is on hold and you don't have time for your hobby, relax. Don't force it. Writing will come back to you. 

5. Journal
There are many benefits to journaling (and I usually ignore all of them, I hate daily journaling) but there is something about clearing your mind and making room for your creativity that journaling allows you. You could also do a brain dump- take a sheet of paper and write down everything that's floating around in your head, not in pretty writing or in full sentences, just naming the things. You'll see, most of these things are no longer that pressing when you've written them down. After that, get to your computer or your notebook.
And this is where the writing prompt journal comes in again. Because I still didn't really feel like writing because it felt so daunting after such a long time. So I started a journal where I unapologetically did steps 2 and 3. I worked with writing prompts, old scenes and endings I never thought fit for my stories but still wanted to explore them.
I tried to journal every day (which didn't work) and then I tried to take away all the pressure. Those notebook entries were not going anywhere, no one would see them. I didn't set myself a word or time goal, I didn't even care if I used a dialogue prompt or just wrote a character description. I just wanted to write.
And I did. I now have a nearly full notebook with all different kinds of scenes and fun stuff, some of it I'm using now in my new story, some of it will hopefully never see the light of day. 

Posts like this are the reason why I called this series "A guide you don't have to follow". Because honestly there's not much advise you can follow. 
It's more about intuition and positive feelings rather than pressure and schedules. The internet is great for actually tips on world building, outlining and writing techniques, but it is a frustrating slices of hell when you want to just feel that sense of excitement and giddy happiness about writing again. That has to come from within. 

Is there anything special that you like to do? Are you someone who has implemented writing as a habit and now you can't stop? I'd love to hear it :)

As always, stay healthy, write on. 
Lena

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