Recently, I went on holiday, and I already knew, before I even set foot on the aeroplane that I would be doing no writing whilst I was away. I had prepared myself for this, let myself off the hook and did as much work as I could in the weeks prior to going away, so that once I was back, I would be able to slip back into my writing routine with ease.

I spent Christmas and New Year with my extended family, my children and husband. There was always something going on, late nights and physically exhausting days. I had a great time. However, towards the end of the holiday, when my thoughts started to look ahead to home, school and work, I noticed my mind was empty. It was empty of those thoughts that usually assault me on a daily basis, thoughts I had to note down immediately were missing.

Verses, poems, sentences, quotes, ideas for stories, the need to write anything down were absent. I wondered what that meant. Had I lost my ability to write?

My heart and mind had been busy being part of something, instead of observing; contribution instead of silence.

I tried not to worry. I remembered the words of wisdom I had shared before: the ability to write consistently and impactfully is like flexing a muscle in the mind. This muscle if not used becomes defunct, but when we start to exercise it again, regularly, just like regular exercise, it becomes like a well oiled machine churning out idea after idea; just like running mile after mile.

I told myself that I just needed to get stuck in, back home and back to my writing space again. But there were no ideas in my head, it was blank. How could I motivate myself, re-engage with the writing muscle, ideas and thoughts that create the magic of the written word, blog post, book, poem, when there was no spark of imaginative thought to propel them into being?

I decided most people must feel like this after a holiday, heading back to work, going back to the routine. It’s hard to reanimate yourself back into the daily grind. A holiday is a holiday for a reason, even if you love what you do, of course there will be some mental exertion necessary to get back in the swing of things.   

I thought about how a writer would get back into writing after a long break; how could I get myself re-energised and engaged to write again.

I looked at some articles online, looking for tips that could help and I found a great article:

30 little ways to motivate yourself to write, RIGHT NOW by Tiffany Sun

Out of the tips on offer, I decided these would be my mantras:

Imagine yourself writing

“If I can see it, then I can do it. If I just believe it, there’s nothing to it.”

R. Kelly.

 Seriously, just stop what you are doing right now and imagine yourself writing. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and just picture yourself, in your usual spot, with your usual mode of writing, be it a computer or note pad and paper and remember how it feels to write something really good down, when you are caught in that moment where the words pour out of you at a million miles an hour and you have to work your hands fast, jotting them all down.

Can you feel that energy? Does it make you feel good? does it make you smile? Use those emotions to engage your writing mind.

Listen to music that fits your writing

To me, music and writing go hand in hand. Whenever I am writing a book, I have a play list and on that play list there are a couple of tunes, specifically, that will be the heart of my story. Listening to the song is like listening to the lyrical journey my story will take. Songs always motivate and drive my writing forward.

Listen to some old and new tunes and see where they take you.

Write something that has been on your mind recently

Instead of flailing around and trying to grasp ideas out of thin air, utilise the resources around you. Look at the situations you find yourself in, the people around you, the natural environment, social media, your favourite artists. What are they saying? What are they doing?

It doesn’t matter if you actually use the material that you have around you or not; it is looking objectively at them and letting the ideas flow, what would happen if…, why is that couple arguing.. why am I afraid of flying, what could happen? The point is the idea, these thoughts and questions will increase the flow of ideas as they meld into more.

For example: I already have the idea for my next book, but I didn’t have the ‘bones’ of the story, the important parts that would connect the story together. I still don’t have them all, but I know my main characters will go on a journey together in an aeroplane and I know that I do not want my main characters to get on with each other. I had to go on an aeroplane on my holidays and on the way back I made notes of thoughts and ideas about how being on aeroplane makes me feel, what could happen between my characters on an aeroplane to make them dislike each other even more. By actually being at the airport and experiencing the chaos (the conveyor belt at the check in desk was broken, resulting in a two hour wait to check in and flight delays) I was inspired. I could relate to exactly how my characters could feel because I was actually in the place they would be in, and I could watch people around me, even my families interaction and develop ideas.

Commit to a daily goal

Seems like a very simple thing to do – so why not. It will help to keep focused on your writing goals. I didn’t do that exactly, but I love making lists and setting goals. I had a vague idea what I wanted to achieve in the next couple of months, even if I couldn’t get the motivation to do it. I decided to write them down, start simple and get progressively harder as I got back into the swing of things.

This is what I need to do: Edit a book I had already written before I sent it to the editor, create a book cover, write a back book blurb, source teasers and photos to promote a book, and read another finished book once more, prior to sending it to the proof reader.  

So, I began by keeping it easy. Week 1 of being home all I did was contact my proof reader and book cover designer and posted a Facebook update.

By week 2 the book cover is ready and I have read, and emailed my book and back book blurb to the proof reader. I have sourced teasers and photos for promotion.  

By week 3 I will be ready to edit my other book for the next 4 weeks prior to sending it for editing. This is the tough one and I have left it to the end, else any motivation I have been feeling will have lapsed away with week upon week of editing. Now though, I am feeling motivated again and well organised to release my next book in two months.

Read writers articles about motivation

Do you know what happened? After I read Tiffany Sun’s article and a few others I did feel motivated to write again. My mojo had returned!

Strangely, reading these articles to help me get back into the writing flow, enabled me to get back to writing. Some of the suggestions clicked with me, resonated; fired up the cylinders in my mind.  Then once my mind was back in the zone, it was flowing with new ideas for the next book, blog posts and plot lines. Now, all my writing hand has to do is try to keep up with my rapid mind.

I am back on track baby!