“It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.” Jerome K. Jerome
Distraction and disruption — they count among the greatest banes of the writing life and it’s a rare wordsmith who is immune from them. Over the past few weeks, a mix of social and emotional demands short-circuited progress on my writing. While this gave me a refreshing break, getting back on track has been a rocky road. A few helpful lessons learned if you find your own rhythm interrupted:
View disruption as temporary: When your daily regimen begins disintegrating, whatever the reason, it’s easy to go global about it and feel that you’ve sacrificed all forward motion forever: “I’ll never finish this book,” or “I’ve missed another short story deadline, I’ll never get published.” Forget the drama and just view the disruption as a “blip on the radar screen” — a minor speed bump, not a car crash.
Forget from 0 to 60: When you decide the time is right to regain your momentum, give yourself a few days of transition. Don’t expect to go full throttle. Get back into your groove by degrees — and before you know it, you’ll be going full steam ahead.
Visualize yourself working happily: Revisit your moments of enjoyment when your work was perking along and you were feeling fully engaged. Let yourself dwell on how much you accomplished and how great it made you feel. See yourself working intensely and happily. Recapturing the joy and pleasure you derived from a fruitful writing technique is probably the best motivator you can use to make it your own again.
So think “blip on the radar screen,” ease on down the road, renew your sense of satisfaction, jump-start yourself with joy, and write on!