I hate losing momentum in my writing, so much so that I obsessively plan to prevent it. Today I’m going to share some tips for what to do when life happens and derails your writing.
A few weeks ago I was on my honeymoon. I knew I wasn’t going to get any writing done, but I figured I could plan, so I bought a brand new notebook and some fancy pens. At the end of my trip I had pages of notes ready to be organized into my revision outline the week I got back. Cue my pride—I’d fit my vacation into my writing plan!
Except, then coronavirus took over the world.
For the first week I managed to type up and organize one subplot a day. For the last week I haven’t written anything at all.
Sometimes we can plan for life’s interruptions of our writing life. Sometimes life hits us upside the head while we’re gazing off at our goals in the distance.
This month has taken the world by surprise. My social media feeds are full of anxiety, worry, and stress as people lose jobs and money, struggle with adjusting to work-from-home, and find themselves suddenly responsible for their children’s education and round-the-clock care —all while we’re watching thousands of people around the world, some of them our loved ones, fall prey to this virus.
Coronavirus has affected everyone’s writing.
Today I want to share with you some tips on what to do whenever life shoves you off the track of your writing dreams.
Tip #1: Be gracious—to yourself.
We can’t plan for coronavirus any more than we can plan for life’s other interruptions, whether anticipated or unexpected, positive or negative. Life will always happen, no matter what. The most important thing you can do when it does is be gracious to yourself.
If you can’t show up to the page, if you can’t find the energy to produce words, that is okay.
Tip #2: Return to Tip 1.
Seriously. Nothing is more important in moments like these than letting go of your short term goals and focusing on what you need, right now—whether it’s more time with your family, reading instead of writing, or time to sleep instead of hitting your #5amwritersclub goals.
If scheduling sprints with friends, tracking your word counts, carrying a notebook around, getting up before your kids, or locking yourself in the pantry works for you, awesome. There are a lot of creative ways we can keep up momentum. But if not? If just thinking about writing makes you anxious right now? That is okay.
Today I give you permission to set aside all of the anxiety and guilt you’re feeling about your productivity. Not only is this the kind thing to do for yourself, but it’s critically important.
Guilt in the face of unexpected setbacks is what prevents us from getting back to the page.
Take care of yourself, be gracious to yourself, and you’ll get back to the page sooner. I promise.
Thank you! As an author of 37 books, working on my 38th book just seems to not matter during this pandemic. I can’t seem to write more than a chapter every couple of weeks. It’s nice to hear that NOT writing is okay. I know I’ll get back to it, but right now I’m making a lot of “thank you” cards for hospital workers, funny cards to keep the spirits up for family and friends. I guess it’s a form of writing, right?
That is totally a form of writing! And let me just say, 37 books is an ACCOMPLISHMENT. You definitely deserve a break. Take care of yourself friend!