How to Reignite that Spark
“Please,” my Work-In-Progress begged me. “Come back and write again. It’s been 23 years, four months, and eight days since you last touched this book.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I’ve been busy, and I haven’t felt very inspired lately.” I said. “Wait, 23 years?”
Thankfully, I wasn’t trapped in some strange time dilation while my unfinished book waited for me, but it can sometimes feel like that. The more time I spent away from my WIP, the more dust it collected. And I kept telling myself, “I’ll get to it later, when I have time.” While internally I was drained, thinking, “When I have inspiration.“
Most of the time, when I look for advice on writer’s block, the answer is, “Just write. The words will come. It doesn’t matter if it’s bad writing.”
Yes, but how do I drag myself over to my desk, flip open my laptop, and click that tab with my document? How do I rediscover the joy of writing? Too often, writing can feel like a tiresome task that you have to fulfill. You have deadlines to complete, wordcounts to achieve, chapters to outline. And your brain looks at these tasks and thinks, “Hmm, no thanks, I’d rather not.”
First of all, I want to remind you, dear friend, that it is okay to feel like this occasionally. There isn’t some magic elixir that gives you limitless energy and creativity. (Even coffee fails us sometimes!) Life happens, and sometimes you can’t keep up.
One time, I spoke with a pastor about my faith. “I feel like I don’t have the fire that I used to. The passion, the ability to jump out of bed, shout ‘Thank you, God!’ and go through my Bible studies with vigor.” And he reminded me that slow seasons are perfectly normal in our faith walk. It is a walk, after all, not a sprint.
Sometimes, though, you need to push through and achieve that daily word count, or edit that scene. So here are some ways that I have found helpful when you need to get your spark back.
Enhance your Environment
When I was planning how I would set up my book tables for events, one thing I learned online was that it matters how it is set up. I can’t just throw some books on there, call it good, and expect tons of customers to show up. I needed to decorate my table to be appealing, and one easy way of doing that is to elevate my products to be eye-level. James Clear noted in his book, Atomic Habits, that “customers will occasionally buy products not because they want them but because of how they are presented to them.” (Clear, 83.)
How your environment is set up matters. If the room you write in is constantly dark and stuffy, add some pleasant lights and perhaps an essential oil diffuser. If the chair you sit in isn’t comfortable, add a couple pillows and a cozy blanket.
Better yet, train your mind to treat these additions as cues. Every time you sit down to write, cuddle up in a specific blanket. That way, every time you use that blanket, you’ll feel inspired to write. Every time you add a certain essential oil to your diffuser, you can train your brain to write.
You can give yourself these cues by setting them up in obvious places. James Clear’s Atomic Habits says that we are more likely to notice cues that stand out in our environment. Don’t stuff that blanket in your closet, where you’ll never think about it again. Drape the blanket over your chair so that every time you sit down, it’s there, waiting. Don’t keep the oil tucked away in a junk bin. Put the bottle on your nightstand, so whenever you reach for your phone in the morning, you’re reminded to hit that daily writing goal.
Sometimes, our regular environment doesn’t work, and we need to move somewhere else. Try going outside, to a coffee shop, or a library. Somewhere that sparks your interest and refreshes your mind. The cues can be helpful, but occasionally, it’s more useful if they aren’t there to distract you. Dedicate a separate place as your ‘writing space’. Last fall, I decided to go to a coffee shop every other week to write my book, so every other Friday afternoon, I felt an itch to go and write. Same thing when I would go to the gym with my brother. I would finish my workout, and then while I waited for him, I would listen to a writing podcast and take notes. So then, every time I went to the gym, I had this dedicated block of time to learn about writing.
Make it Fun
Forcing yourself to write sometimes can be so dreadful. Oftentimes, I end up procrastinating because I feel like I don’t have the energy or brain power to write. (Like how I procrastinated writing this blog post.)
However, if I gave myself something fun to do while writing, then suddenly, I was looking forward to working on my book. Once I knew there was something fun to look forward to, it was easier to sit down at my desk and write. Our brains are wired to avoid doing tasks that would cause us “pain”, like getting up early, or doing chores, or whatever it is that you’ve been avoiding. So once you convince your brain that writing isn’t as painful as you make it seem, the process becomes so much easier.
One way I like to make writing fun is to listen to some epic instrumental music. I was editing my book earlier today and decided to turn on the Project Hail Mary soundtrack. (Astounding movie, by the way. I highly recommend it.) Once I put both of my earbuds in, I was sucked into my story. I laughed. I cried. Two hours went by, and I didn’t even notice. I was dreading the editing process, but once I locked in, I finished the first round of edits. (Huzzah! Now, only three more to go…wish me luck!) Listening to music that fits the scene you’re writing/editing also helps.
I also like to set small goals and give myself “rewards” for them. Rewards as in chocolate. I once had a small jar of M&Ms and told myself that for every paragraph I write, I can have one M&M. I can tell you that I wrote several pages very quickly, and for the next few days after that, I was dying to write more. I’ve also done this with a regular chocolate bar, or a spoonful of Nutella. It’s amazing what you can do when you feel motivated by a reward! It also helps when you set smaller, more achievable goals. And that leads me into my next point!
Celebrate Your Wins
I am very blessed to be surrounded by an amazing community of writers. I am in a group chat with a wonderful group of girls, and we all love celebrating each other’s wins. Even if it is something small, like writing two sentences on your WIP, you can BET that those girls will hype you up with a dozen exclamation points and party emojis. Seriously. Get yourself a group of girls as lovely as these, because they will change how you view your writing accomplishments.
I love listening to a podcast called Fiction Writing Made Easy by Savannah Gilbo, an author and writing coach, and one thing she talks about constantly is how important it is to set small, achievable goals for yourself. It’s okay to dream big, don’t get me wrong, but if your ultimate goal is for your future book to become a bestseller, that doesn’t help you very much in the day-to-day writing life.
Now, if you sit down with your planner and aim to write 1,000 words in your novel by the end of the week, not only is that a goal you can work on NOW, it’s also something you can achieve. If you write a couple hundred words every morning, you’ll reach that 1k before you know it. And once you do reach that word count, celebrate! If you give your brain a reason to celebrate your writing, it will be much more enjoyable to keep writing.
Closing
Well, friend, I hope you do just that. Keep writing. It’s not always easy, but it can be something to look forward to if you put in the effort to make it enjoyable. Remember that it’s not a race, and that it’s okay to take small steps and celebrate them. Listen to an epic movie soundtrack. Reward yourself with your favorite sweet treat. Go on an adventure and write in a new place. Surround yourself with friends who hype you up.
If you find yourself in an inspirational drought, I pray that this article will remind you that writing is a gift and something to enjoy. God bless.
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