Comments on: How to re-establish your writing habit after taking a break

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 16:07:00 +0000

In reply to karen mcbride. A surprising number of people tell me that my columns give them useful ideas for their life, quite apart from writing. It mystifies me a bit but I'm very glad of it!

By: karen mcbride

karen mcbride — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 06:13:00 +0000

The truth? I find that the weekly ideas I get from your newsletter motivate me to think differently and try new approaches. So, when family disaster hit, I thought of the early morning mental mayhem as creative opportunities. Hell! Life really does provide the plot sometimes and it’s probably the only time you get to decide on the ending. I now get up and write my shitty first draft. Thank you.

By: Claire

Claire — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 17:44:00 +0000

In reply to Daphne Gray-Grant. I'll keep that analogy in mind. Thanks again Daphne. Huge help. :)

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 14:33:00 +0000

In reply to Leanne Beattie. Yes, baby steps are hugely important! Writing a novel (or any sort of a long-form project) is a marathon, not a sprint, so you have to portion out your energy.

By: Leanne Beattie

Leanne Beattie — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 12:44:00 +0000

I like the idea of micro goals. I can embrace the goal of writing just a bit each day…say 250 words….because the hugeness of writing a novel freaks me out. Baby steps, baby steps.

By: Chris Bridges

Chris Bridges — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 22:29:00 +0000

In reply to Daphne Gray-Grant. Thank you for the encouragement

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 21:35:00 +0000

In reply to Casey Hibbard. Really good point, Casey. Thanks!!

By: Casey Hibbard

Casey Hibbard — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 21:28:00 +0000

Helpful suggestions, Daphne! I was thinking about doing another kind of writing while away, such as journaling. It’s not the same but keeps the habit and muscles going.

By: Tobi Katz

Tobi Katz — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 20:12:00 +0000

In reply to Daphne Gray-Grant. thank you Daphne!!!

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 20:06:00 +0000

In reply to Tobi Katz.

Doesn’t sound weird at all! I think many of us experience this when we have enough distance from our work. (And, at other times, we remain disappointed by what we’ve previously written.) The key issue is you need enough DISTANCE to be able to evaluate the quality of your work. If what you’re writing doesn’t have an urgent deadline then I suggest you leave it for as long as you can before you start editing. Ideally, this will be somewhere between one and six weeks. It’s not as if you need to get “back to this level.” What you need is the ability to discern what level you’re at. The only way to do this is to take some time.