There I was sitting with a pen in my hand and an empty notebook in front of me. I had been talking about how much I loved writing and journaling and reading since I had gotten to college, but it was at this moment that I realized I hadn't done any of that in months... Years? I didn't want to think about it. The thing about college that no one tells you is you run the risk of losing your hobbies as you get ready for your future job. This video and blog series is one of my ways to get myself back into one of my long time favorite hobbies, writing. Which is why I decided to make my first podcast about getting back into it. So here we go…
How to get back into writing after a break:
Figure out your long term goals and break it down into measurable goal:
I'm a teacher and one of the annoying things they drill into your head when you are writing lesson plans is to have an objective or goal that is tangible or else you can't really measure it. Like you can't really tell if a student "learned about blah blah quadratic formula" just by looking at them.
You have to prove it with a test or quiz or something, this is not an education podcast.
The point is if you work towards something measurable, you're more likely to actually do it.
That's why people who say "I want to go to the gym three times a week" are more likely to stick to their new year's resolution over people who say "I want to exercise more"
So ask yourself, what is something you can measure to make your goal attainable?
Do you want to be able to write 5000 words in an hour?
Do you want to write the first of a YA penguin thriller trilogy you've been talking about for years?
Are you trying to get three new fan fictions churned out before the year is up?
Create a space and schedule for you to work
Pick a window of time for you to start writing. Writing should be part of a predictable routine.
I try to find at least a half an hour to work on a project.
Now, I say work on a project and not write for reason because I think as long as you are working on your story
Find a place in your home or your room for you to do your writing.
Make your desk all cozy or organized so you know when you go into this space, you are here to write.
Take it a step further and find an outfit that makes you feel like a writer.
Dr. Karen Pine, a fashion psychologist, once said that:
“When we put on a garment of clothing, we tend to adopt the characteristics associated with that garment. A lot of clothing has symbolic meaning for us, whether it’s professional work attire, or relaxing weekend wear.”
Figure out what helps and distracts you
Find something that gets you in the mood to write or work on your writing, and use it as a tool to motivate.
I noticed that whenever I watched AuthorTube videos, I was almost immediately put in the mood to write or talk about writing in some capacity.
I was trying to write a book about my experiences at my first job out of college and any time I tried to type at the keyboard, my hands would freeze up, but I noticed I never had a problem talking about it with people. So to get
Set a deadline
Come on. Do it. Say it. Say your goal and a reasonable amount of time to get it done. This is usually where things fall apart. You won't be able to write a book in a week, so don't make your goal to have a novel done overnight. You'll set yourself up to be disappointed that way.
The existence and success of NaNoWriMo proves that it is possible to write a novel, or 50,000 words, in a month so you can kind of use that as a basis. A month or two for a book, a week or two for a short story, whatever floats your boat.
After you set your goal, I recommend putting it somewhere so you can see it.
This could be on instagram or social media, or on w hite board or piece of paper next to your desk. Either way, you need to state your goal somewhere that you can see it. When you do, you will be reminded of your goal and training yourself to work at it.
Hold yourself accountable
You have three options. You can reward yourself for achieving a goal, punish yourself for not achieving the goal, or do a mix of both.
What is something you enjoy? Turn your distraction into a reward
For a reward, you can try something simple like putting stickers on a planner like Alexa Donne. Something I like to do is get myself a new video game or manicure as a reward for achieving a goal. Try to create levels for the reward system to give yourself more motivation to keep going. So you could give yourself a sticker on your calendar for every 1000 words you write or 10 pages you edit. Then when you have at least one sticker on each day of the week, you can take yourself out to dinner or get some cute shoes.
Jenna Moreci is a youtuber who chooses to hold herself accountable by making a video every three months on what goals she did or did not achieve in that “quarter”. She says in her videos that she’s using public humiliation as motivation to get stuff done and she also rewards herself.
Tell yourself it's okay if it sucks
The fear of failure is one that stops most people from achieving their dreams. Most people are scared to write because they don’t want to fail at it. I’ve found a lot of times that fear I have that I’m not good enough comes from my anxiety. Nobody has told me that I’m going to fail, I’m just scared to.
I think of my brain like the command center in Inside Out and my anxiety is like a dog that has its own area off to the side. Sometimes, that anxiety dog gets out and starts running around the command center
Remember that the fact that you’re writing something means you are on your way to success. You can make something better in editing, but there has to be something there. Margaret Attwood said in her writing master class, “the wastepaper basket is your friend.” No one writes a perfect first draft and that’s okay.
Know it’s okay if your writing time isn’t always spent literally writing.
It’s okay to take a break to fill the well after a project. If you don’t take breaks, you’re going to burn yourself out.
It’s okay you spend your designated writing time revising or researching
Have fun
Remember, this is supposed to be something fun that you do. While a little stress here and there is okay, it’s stressing you out and hurting, you should take a break. Don’t burn yourself out.
If you get stuck on the outlining phase, try just writing. You might be a discovery writer and not even know it.
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