Rediscovering the joy in writing: re-released

I first shared this post with my paid subscribers in December 2024. It's such a useful topic, though, that I thought I should share it with everyone! I've given the original content a bit of tweaking while I had the opportunity, so even if you've read it before you might discover something new.

Also, a note to members: don't forget to email me questions to answer later this month! (You can respond directly to email in which you've received this post if you wish.)

Every so often, a writer may find that they just don't enjoy what they're doing anymore. For some, this growing apathy may manifest as a kind of writer's block and grind their progress to a halt. For others, the ability to create may still be there, but the work is halfhearted and lackluster. Watching the craft that you love and that usually invigorates you turn into a slog can quickly become worrying, especially if the disinterest hangs around for a while. What can you, a desperate writer, do to get that joy back?

I wish I could give you a straightforward answer, but there just isn't one. Every situation is unique, and every writer is going to find their motivation in a different place. Just like a great many aspects of creative work, a foolproof strategy for one person is likely to be completely counterproductive for someone else. This does mean, rather annoyingly, that if you find yourself stuck in a predicament such as I've described above it can take some time and experimentation to figure out what's going to work for you.

But even though I can't give you The Answer, what I can do is give you a direction to try out. I've collected some assorted strategies below that may be worth trialling if you're feeling like you're losing your creative joy. Who knows, maybe one of them will be the one that works for you!

Taking a break

Sometimes, continuing to hammer away at a problem that's got you stymied is the least effective way to work through it. You've been staring at the same issue from the same angle for ages without making any headway, so how can you expect to work through it by keeping on with the same behaviour? Madness is, after all, colloquially defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Or, to give you another scenario, perhaps you're just a bit tired of the writing routine. You've been working hard for what seems like forever, but there's no end in sight. It feels like you've been doing the same thing for so long that you're going in circles, and your progress has slipped almost as much as your ability to focus.

One potential solution for these problems is to give yourself a break. Put your project down for a bit and focus on something else for a while, then come back to it later with a fresher mind. In the short term, this may mean taking a breather for an hour or so, ideally to switch to an activity that doesn't require a lot of thinking, such as going for a walk or working on an ongoing craft project. Fresh air and/or movement can be particularly refreshing so long as you don't tire yourself out, but anything non-cerebral should allow you to keep whatever specific difficulties you may be struggling with percolating away in the back of your head.

If you need a longer-term solution, you may need to get yourself to a reasonable stopping point and down tools on your project for a few days, weeks, or even months according to need and feasability. If it's the specific piece of work that's a problem, maybe you can find another, more exciting project to play with for a while. If it's the whole act of writing you're disillusioned with, though, perhaps it's time to pay some more attention to a different hobby or activity until the spark comes back. It's not a stain on your status as a writer if you need to stop for a while; having peaks and troughs of creative energy is perfectly normal. We should try to avoid burning ourselves out, though, so it's helpful to be proactive with rest periods if you start to feel things slipping, before it really becomes a problem.

Of course, for those of us working to deadlines there is a definite limit to how much time we can take away from our pens and keyboards. But, if time is on your side, consider making use of it to keep yourself refreshed. We all need to take breaks every so often, even if they're small; it's an important part of being able to sustain our efforts over time.

Alternatively: Pacing yourself

If stopping work on a project entirely for a time is not workable for your situation (maybe you have deadlines to keep, or you're concerned that you might not pick the project up again later), some benefit may also be had by simply lowering the pressure for a while. Reduce your daily word count, give yourself more frequent or longer breaks between writing sessions, be comfortable with letting your mind wander a little bit. You won't be completely stopping your progress, but hopefully slowing down will give you the space you need to rethink and recharge as well.

Trying something new

Another possible strategy for when your writing is feeling stuck or stale is to add some novelty into the mix. How this novelty takes shape is entirely up to you; it may be a change to an aspect of your writing process, your environment, or the story itself.

If motivation is your biggest problem, and you are finding it difficult to keep up with your writing schedule or make meaningful progress on your work, you may want to try doing something different in your process. Perhaps now is a good time to take stock of what your process is at the moment, and consider particular sticking points. Do you feel like your story is either too constrained or too uncertain? Might be a sign to review your planning. Are you writing at a time of day where your brain isn't at its best? You may need to rearrange some other things in your schedule (if you can). Even the length of your writing sessions might need tweaking; too short could leave you feeling like you haven't got time to get into a groove, and too long could make you think you're stretching yourself too far.

If that's not it, maybe you're feeling stale because your space is not quite right, perhaps feeling a bit stagnant. You may find that introducing something new and pleasant to your writing space gives you a nice little dopamine boost, whether you add a nice decorative light, a potted plant, or a new piece of equipment to make the workflow smoother. Alternatively, you might find less expensive refreshment in a new writing playlist, or a change in snacks. For a more drastic environmental change, you could even try relocating, either to a new room or a new location entirely—many writers like to frequent coffee shops, for instance, and pre-pandemic I did a lot of my writing in the library.

But sometimes it's not your writing space or process that needs to change, but the story itself. You may decide to drop a bombshell of a plot twist into it, just to give it a new direction and provide the characters something exciting to react to. If you don't actually want to send the plot off on a tangent, you could open up a new file and use this as a writing exercise; it's a good chance to explore different sides of your plot and characters, and might give you some good ideas that you can use. Another possibility is to try and solve some of your problems by bringing in a new character, or repurposing an existing one. The most reliable method, according to a number of other writers I've seen talking about this issue, is to dig back into earlier parts of the draft to figure out how to move forward. If you're stuck in a rut and don't know how to proceed, there's a good chance that your problem isn't in the current scene or paragraph, but in one a bit further up.

Roping someone in

Sometimes, however, the thing you need most is a fresh pair of eyes, an outside perspective, or just some accountability. Either way, it's important to remember that you don't have to do this writing thing alone. Having a support network is incredibly helpful, especially at times like these!

There are a lot of ways that other people can help you keep motivated and engaged in your writing, if you reach out to them. In situations where you find yourself stuck and unsure where to take the piece next, getting a trusted second opinion from a fellow storyteller can give you some ideas to play with. A good discussion may highlight problems that you were unaware of, or new approaches you wouldn't have considered otherwise. Sometimes, even just having somebody listen (or pretend to listen, even) while you explain the situation can help you think your own way out; in coding, this is known as the "rubber duck" method, based on the traditional recipient of the explanation, but it works just as well with pets or clueless family members.

Readers can also be a very good motivational tool—reminding yourself that someone else is going to read your work and enjoy it may be just the boost you need to keep going. It's what keeps me posting here on this blog, really: the knowledge that you, my readers, are depending on me to keep giving you interesting things to read and the lovely feedback I hear from you. If you too have received some encouraging responses about earlier work, revisiting that could inspire you to finish the next bit. If you don't have any accessible feedback yet but you know you have readers out there, perhaps you could give them a sneak peek to get excited about (which is exciting for you the writer, too). Or, if you're early enough in your career that you don't have any readers yet, consider recruiting people you know to be your first fans.

So, now it's your turn to chip in. What do you find helps you when you're feeling stuck or unmotivated? Do you already use one of the strategies I've talked about, or is your go-to method something different? Add a comment below and share what you've learned from your experiences, and maybe you'll be able to help someone else too!