It happens to all of us. No matter how much you love writing, no matter how excited you are about your story and your characters, sometimes you will not be in the mood.
And that’s okay! It happens to everyone – yes, even your favourite writer. If the words don’t come, you might just need a rest – and that’s okay too.
The problem is that sometimes that becomes an excuse. You start saying Oh I’m not in the mood and suddenly you haven’t written anything in a month (and I’m speaking from personal experience here!).
So how do you find balance between letting yourself have a much-needed break, and actually getting things done?
Try opening the door to the possibility of writing without making it a forbidding iron-clad command that you must write. Instead of just saying that you’re not in the mood, try sitting down at your desk (or wherever you write) and tell yourself you’ll see how it goes. Don’t put pressure on yourself – try to come at this with an open mind.
Since a blank page can be scary, you might want to start with some writing exercises to get the juices flowing. My favourite technique is to choose a random word and just write whatever comes to mind inspired by that word for five minutes. This could be with the characters from your novel or just random characters that you make up for this exercise. Whatever feels right.
Alternatively you might like to read some writing advice (like this blog!). Think about what is stopping you from writing and search for advice on that specifically.
Maybe some journalling about writing will help – this can be especially helpful if it’s a being frustrated at a snag in your story that’s making your reluctant to write. Write about the problem: what led to it, what’s the point of the scene, how is it moving the story forward, what do your characters think about the scene that you’re hung up on? Here’s an example from my own journalling:
Maybe the problem is that we (me and the reader) don’t know enough about him. His character. I don’t know what he’ll do next because I don’t know him well enough. Is he the type of person who will communicate about his problems openly, or will he avoid everything to talk about his feelings. Thinking about it, I don’t know enough about his background to know why he’d do either of those things. So what I need to do before I do anything else is some character work.
You can see that journalling helped me come to a point where I knew what to do next, and that happens nearly every time. That’s why it’s so helpful! It can help untangle plot points, character motivations, and give you some solid ideas on next steps. It blows away the fog of uncertainty and lets you know how you can move forward. And for me, a lack of certainty is a major thing that holds me back so this really helps.
Remember that writing is so much more than just getting the words on the page. These things are all part of writing too – the journalling, the writing exercises, learning new things. Even daydreaming is a valid part of writing.
If you’re putting pressure on yourself to type, that’s only going to make you feel even worse and make you even less inclined to work. Open up your idea of what writing is and try other things that will still help you move forward with your story or help you improve as a writer.
The important thing is to put yourself in a situation where you are giving yourself the chance to do something – and by sitting down at your desk, you’re doing just that. Take the pressure off by not expecting to write – but put yourself in a space where you’ll get that something done.
If you found this helpful and want a reminder for my next post, sign up to my newsletter (and you’ll also get a free character workbook!).