On the lines of “how to start a new story” after you’ve put yourself through hell and back to finish one, how do you get back into your groove? You are exhausted and spent. You want to get on to another project, but bummer, you have nothing to work with. You try to write but “Oh! It’s awful! It’s horrible! I’ve lost my groove!”
Don’t fret, here are some ways I have gotten back into the writing groove and some ways other people have gotten back into their writing groovies that might help you or give you some idea on how to get back into writing.
(Remember, these are only suggestions. Everyone works in different ways and you might find a combination of remedies works best for you.)
The 11 Remedies
1. Just write even if it sounds stupid.
Don’t force your brain to write up a masterpiece. Just let yourself go. Remember, you can ALWAYS edit.
As you write, you’ll find yourself back in your momentum…eventually. This is kind of a trust exercise with yourself. You must trust yourself to get back into the momentum. You WILL get back into it EVENTUALLY. It might take a while to get there, but you WILL get there.
If you can’t trust yourself with this exercise, well, there are still many more things you can try…
2. Photography
No, not taking any yourself. Just look up some on Google Images. (Bonus points for those of you writers who do take photographs yourself.)
The aim is to find a story in the picture.
But don’t rush it. Don’t try to see a story in the picture. Just browse at your own leisurely time and it’ll come to you 🙂
I’ve found that “fantasy illustration” or “fantasy wallpaper” or “landscapes nature photography” or “surreal photography” often does it for me.
3. Google “random first line generator” or “random prompt generator”
and just go through and keep clicking that generate button until you’re like “eh, maybe”.
Stop there, “maybe” is good enough. You just want to get your momentum back. Try your hands at it. Doesn’t work? You hate it? Go find another one.
Also, write even if it sounds stupid. The idea is to write something.
4. Your Unfinished Pieces
If you’re one of those writers that begin other projects before finishing old ones, you’d probably have a bunch of unfinished pieces in your folders (a.k.a., an idea hoarder)
Take one that you haven’t looked at in a year or more.
Read from the first sentence. Just continue reading your work until you reach to wherever you stopped last.
If you get to the end and “see” another scene, write it. Write even if it sounds stupid. I’m repeating myself, but the point is to write something.
5. Camp NaNoWriMo
Nation Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) happens worldwide every November and you must create a story from scratch.
But Camp NaNoWriMo happens in April and July. What this does is it gives you a chance to practice committing to a novel for an entire month.
You don’t have to start from scratch, you can write book two of your series if you want to, you can use this time to finish your book, any word count amount is okay, but you are FORCED to be creative everyday for a month.
Sign yourself up for the challenge. Why not? And don’t worry if you don’t meet your goal. You tried and that’s what matters 🙂
6. Almost Every Day One-Page Stories
This is something I’ve come up with for myself, and I would love to share it with you other writers. You could try writing a one-page word document story almost everyday. I say ALMOST because I have NOT been consistent very well.
These One-Page Stories do not have to finish in one page (but when you reach one page, you are not allowed to write two pages). Just let the story happen as you write it. Hey, even when you’re suffering from writer’s block, one-page doesn’t seem so bad, does it?
I’ve done an entire page of mostly dialogue when I was on writer’s block. At least it’s something, right?
Not only is it not daunting, it gives you the chance to experiment with your creative side. Normally I write fantasy but through these stories, I found that I enjoyed writing mystery, a “catch me if you can”, and even a little bit of sci-fi.
7. Plan it
Do a character sketch, come up with a world, who is that character and what does he/she/it/they do?
Write up a plot, get that setting in, what era, what country?
This is a typical story planning solution. Don’t think about having to write the story or worry about if you can or not. Just plan a story. You may never write it, but you can get your creativity flowing just by planning.
8. Read books.
Writers are readers. Whether it be a book on Wattpad, a physical book, Kindle (do people even use Kindle these days in 2019 as I write this article?), audio book, a friend’s story, read. Read, read, read. Read until you say, “Enough! I want to write!”
9. Listening to instrumental music pieces.
This isn’t for me, but apparently lots of people like listening to music when they write or feel that music inspires them to write. Maybe it’ll work for you? Doesn’t hurt to try 🙂
10. Writing the old-fashioned way.
With a pencil or pen.
Something about moving your hand seems to exercise those brain muscles.
11. Book titles first.
Create a bunch of potential book titles and go from there.
This method doesn’t really work for me, but I have had people tell me that’s how they work when trying to get back into writing.
So, why not give it a try as well?
Conclusion
Remember, these are only suggestions. Not all of these will work for you or your friends. Everyone works in different ways and you might find a combination of remedies works best.
Personally, I have tried most of these and sometimes it’s the combination that does the trick.
Important: you can ALWAYS edit
If there’s something you do or someone else does which is not on this list, please comment below and let me know what it is 🙂
FOXWOOD FOREST 