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Fall in Love With Writing Again

By on August 26, 2016
Fall in Love With Writing Again - Writer's Life.org

Sometimes writing is hard. You get to a point where you feel a bit ‘done’ with it all. Every time you sit at your desk to write, instead of feeling excited, and bright with anticipation, instead you rather dread it, feel uninspired and full of uncertainty.

Well before you hang up your writing gloves (these aren’t really a thing) just yet, why not wait and see if you can fall in love with writing again?

Almost all writers go through a period where they feel despondent about their work. That ‘what is the point?’ sensation creeps over them and takes hold, and before they know it they are whirling around in a pool of self-criticism and doubt - and it can be hard to see a way out.

The worst thing you can do it give up.

At least without really trying, without really making sure that this isn’t just a phase you have to go through before you can get back to it.

When writing is your job you often can’t afford to have these moments of despair. If you rely on your writing to earn a living, it’s no use flinging yourself dramatically onto your bed, stuffing your face into your pillows, wailing about how you’ll never be good enough and refusing to move for a week every time you are having a wobble. (I don’t do that, honest).

So, how do you take control, and make sure that you fall in love with writing again, and stay there?

Finding the perfect balance

Let’s face it, if we want to make a living in this game, we often find ourselves writing about things that we don’t find incredibly interesting. Trust me, when your 4000 words deep in an article about how Uber taxes work, you’ll understand what I mean.

It’s important to find a balance where we write things that we need to write in order to keep those paychecks coming in, and what we want to write - you know, the things that make our hearts sing.

But, if you can, you can also try to trick yourself into wanting to write the things you don’t want to. Try to remind yourself of all the benefits you get from being a writer, and no matter how dull you might find the content, the fact that you get to do it in your pyjamas on a Tuesday afternoon is pretty sweet (I don’t do this either, promise).

The beauty of writing for a living is that you can make it work for you. For example why not get up super early one day, get all your ‘have to’ work out of the way and then spend the afternoon sitting in the garden writing poetry, a short story, or getting back to your novel?

Find a way to make it interesting

Just because you are writing something that to you is dull as ditchwater, doesn’t mean your writing has to be.

Use every single piece of work you get as a challenge. Inject your personality in there, play with your language, make that piece about Uber taxes the best darn piece about Uber taxes the world has ever seen!

If you put your heart and soul into every bit of writing, you’ll soon start to feel proud and passionate about what it is you do.

Never stop reading

Even if you are so busy with your ‘have to’ work, that by the end of the day you just cannot bear the idea of sitting at your computer screen to write creatively for a minute longer, then make sure you make time to read.

Reading great fiction is so important to help writers learn how to improve their craft, and of course to get inspired to write.

If you’ve got the writing bug in you, and you keep reading great books, you’ll find it hard not to read something that gives you that ‘eureka’ feeling, and before you know it you’ll be scurrying back to your writing desk once more!

You might not always find yourself in love with writing, but even if you fall out with it for a little while, try not to leave it altogether. Finding ways to get through those tough times will quickly get you back in the writing game, and enjoying it more than ever before.

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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