How to Get Back Into Writing After Not Writing For A While

It’s the same as getting back into any diet or routine. 

First you your brain feels bloated, heavy, foggy and slowed down from the excess thoughts hanging around.

Then you feel guilty. But not guilty enough yet. Just one more day, hour, or sip of this fruity drink before you start all over again at some day that let’s be honest is not going to be today. 

Next, you start to remember and romanticize the past. You look at the pages one night before going to bed. You can see how those pages were once so beautiful. You looked so damn good back then. Maybe you were once good at this writing thing. You start to wonder: Is it possible? To be that person again?

Finally, one morning, you begin. You start slow.

A few lines you overheard at a coffee shop come back to you. A story pulls back up into view. The moves begin to feel like riding a bicycle. The wheels move slow, stuck in a muddy road, but they are there. Your feet can find the pedals and placement.

Then, the next day, it’s just a few more minutes and a few more words on the page. The next day repeats. You’re waking into a routine. Once you keep going enough it begins to fill you like a force you couldn’t believe you forgot. It’s like hitting the first mile on a run again. You can see yourself turning a corner. 

This is how I feel after a week of a bad sinus infection, pressure in the head fogging my mind, and a month of work that took a lot of energy from me. It’s back to the page. It’s back to any good routine you need that is healthy for you: meditation, diet, art, or passion projects. 

I’m horrible at maintaining good routines. I’m constantly trying new things, new ideas, and falling off the wagon of discipline. That sometimes is life.

Your not always going to be perfect, but it is always going to be just fine.

Here’s to going back to whatever it is you need to refresh you again as you head into your new week.