Returning to your writing after an absence

If you’re like me, sometimes it’s a struggle to stay on track with your creative projects. We make public commitments and big resolutions to stick to our plans.

But that doesn’t work. Sticking to a plan like a militant writer or artist isn’t how life works for us. In all of my years as a coach, I know that life will always interrupt our routine. Vacations. Illnesses. Visitors or even just our own creative slump can derail us. Then we feel bad and this guilt contributes to inertia that prevents us from getting our groove back.

That’s okay! It’s normal! Life is rarely under our control. What I’ve found helps most is to devise a simple approach to get back on track easily.

It is much easier to develop a very simple ritual or micro-action for returning back to your writing than to be rigid. Here are some suggestions for writers that apply to creatives in any medium.

• Sit with an open notebook and brush your hand across the page.
• Open the last page you wrote and read it with a curious eye.
• Make a 2-minute date to write gibberish, literally words that have no meaning.
• Have a 5-minute date describing the space around you in sensual detail.
• Use this prompt to begin a free-write: What now, my dear writer?

Notice how simple they are? Don’t be fooled; these micro-actions can be powerful. They’re meant to lure you into your creative zone where you will be tempted to fall back in love with your medium of choice.

Too often, we punish ourselves with high expectations. We go gangbusters, thinking we are going to do a three-hour stint. This is WAY more harmful than we think. Setting ourselves up to have a long writing session
Try ONE of these, or a similarly simple action, for slipping back easily into your writing practice.

What micro-actions help you get back on track with your creative practice?  Leave a comment!