How Can I Get Back Into the Writing?

Virtual Office Hours #1

Note: This is one of a series of “ask me anything” posts I did for a group of writers I worked with in fall 2024.

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Q: Do you have any resources for getting back into things? How can I get back into the writing?

A: As I’m sure you already know or at least suspect, this is a question that comes up in every writer’s life, at one point or another. And probably many times at many points in a writer’s life. It’s kind of like imposter syndrome. You’re never quite rid of it.

When I was in my MFA program, I had deadlines to meet, and I had to write consistently. Those deadlines helped me. I had a day job, and I woke up early every morning to write, usually no later than 4 a.m. I remember feeling panicked when I was getting ready to graduate—how would I keep up my momentum when there was no one to disappoint but myself?

During one of my last meetings with my thesis advisor, Tod Goldberg, I shared my fear with him. I was afraid I would stop writing. “What if I stop writing?” I asked him.

Goldberg is the author of the Gangsterland series of novels. He answered me in his best Rabbi David Cohen voice—kind, supportive, and philosophical: “You may take a break from writing after you’ve graduated,” he said. “This is an intense program, and you’ve been pushing yourself for two years. A lot of people need a break after they graduate, and that’s okay.” But if you’ve read the books you’ll know that, under his disguise, Rabbi Cohen is really Chicago mob hitman Sal Cupertine. Goldberg continued, lowering his voice and infusing it with menace: “But if after six months, you’re still not writing, we’re going to have a problem.”

This was more than three years ago. I’m still writing, but I’ve definitely had my share of times where it was hard to get into it. Just a week or so ago, a fellow alum posted on social media, asking the question, “How do I fall back in love with writing?” So many of her friends responded that they were going through the same thing or had gone through the same thing.

Goldberg had this to say: “Falling in love is easy,” he wrote. “It’s obsessive and dramatic and filled with mystery. Staying in love is hard work.”

This mindset is one of the ways I keep myself going. Writing is hard work. It’s not always fun. It’s a commitment.

I wrote about this in “Writing and Warring”—it’s a sort-of review of Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. The biggest thing I took away from Pressfield’s book, a mantra I repeat to myself often, is, “Do the work.”

“The second section was my favorite. It discusses becoming a professional and applying the same kinds of principles to our writing that we apply to our day jobs, like showing up each and every day and doing our work. Pressfield is right—I show up at my day job every day and do my work. I stay at my job all day long, whether I want to or not. But when it comes time to sit down and write, I don’t employ the same kind of self-discipline. If I called out from my job as often as I call out from writing, I wouldn’t have to worry about it, because I wouldn't have a job anymore. I’d never thought of it this way.”

—Leanne Phillips, “Writing and Warring”

Reading Pressfield’s book, especially that second section, gave me a real shift in perspective, so that book is one resource I recommend to get you going again.

The week after I wrote about Pressfield’s book, though, I wrote “The Calm Before the War”—it’s a post about what I saw as some of the shortcomings of Pressfield’s book. Pressfield doesn’t grant much grace to writers facing adverse circumstances, or struggling with mental health issues, or needing to use their time to meet basic physiological needs for themselves or their families. To say, “Do the work,” can be an oversimplification for someone struggling to keep it together, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Sometimes, those things have to be addressed first, although I will say, writing anything during trying times—even journaling by hand in a busted old notebook—will help with the healing.

But what if you have everything you need—a roof over your head, water to drink, plenty of food to eat, warm clothes? What if you have all the basics, and you have the ability to set aside the time to write, but you’re still struggling to get back into the joy of writing?

Do Your Work.
I guess the first thing I would say, under those circumstances, is, “Do the work.” Writing is a lot of hard work, and sometimes coming off years of working on a book, we have some burnout and need to set the writing aside for a short period of time. Hopefully we come back to it refreshed and inspired and excited about a new idea. But even so, we have to come back to it. It’s our job. And even more than that, it’s who we are. Writing is cyclical, I think. Most days, we enjoy the work. Some days we don’t, but we do it anyway.

Hold Yourself Accountable.
By this I mean both internal and external accountability.

Internal accountability means setting aside the best hour of your day for writing and showing up for yourself with the same commitment with which you show up for others. It’s not a punishment, although it may sometimes feel like it. It’s a privilege. Even if you sit staring at your computer for that entire hour, thinking about writing, that’s a start.

My grandson Gavin suggested I try connecting a new habit I want to build with an old habit I already have. This, he says, makes building the new habit easier. For example, I make coffee first thing every morning—that habit is ingrained. The new habit might be sketching out a scene I’m going to write, standing at the kitchen island, while the coffee brews. I can leave a notebook and pen on the island and turn right to it as soon as I’ve put the coffee on.

Internal accountability might also mean starting or getting back to a consistent journaling practice—that’s writing, and it’s exercising that writing muscle, and you might be surprised by how much it gradually motivates you to do your work. I’m always surprised by how quickly my body begins to show increased stamina and energy when I start a new exercise routine. Within a few days of doing something like walking every morning, I can feel the shift. I think the same holds true with writing. Success builds upon itself—every time you do something that makes you feel good about yourself, it will motivate you to do it again.

Internal accountability can also be a super secret writing accountability buddy. Mine is Walter Mosley. Mosley writes early in the morning, starting before sunrise, which is when I like to write too. If I feel lazy and want to skip, I sometimes imagine Mosley at his computer in Los Angeles, writing in the near dark. Picturing him working hard motivates me to join him at my computer in San Luis Obispo and write together. I imagine his disappointment in me if I don’t.

External accountability might be something like this course, where you have weekly assignments and check-ins and things to show up to. A couple of writers showed up to this week’s write-in’s. It seemed to be helpful to them, and I know it was helpful to me, writing in silence while my write-in companions did the same, and then checking in with each other.

External accountability might also mean finding an accountability group or a partner to trade work with or just to check in with regularly. I have an accountability partner, a friend I’ve known for 25 years who is also a book coach. We meet early every Friday morning to check in about whether we’ve reached the goals we’d set for ourselves the week before and to set new goals for the upcoming week. The last thing I want to do is show up on Friday morning and tell her I flaked!

External accountability can also be your friends. I have friends who are writers who I text with regularly. When they tell me where they’re at in the writing or editing or querying process and then ask how I’m doing, it’s a powerful incentive to be doing something.

Find Some Inspiration.
One of the ways I find motivation and inspiration is by taking online MasterClasses and BBC Maestro courses. I’ve taken courses with writers including Joyce Carol Oates, Neil Gaiman, Judy Blume, Walter Mosley, and Harlan Coban. Each and every one of them has set me on fire to get back to my computer and write. Pro tip: you can use the app on your phone to broadcast the courses to your television.

There are also many books I’ve read in my lifetime that have helped me through the roadblocks that have kept me from writing. Here are a few of my favorites:

Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Fire Within
by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

DeMarco-Barrett has a fantastic Substack publication that will also help keep you inspired and motivated. I especially love her author interviews, where she asks the best and worst writing advice the author ever received.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Creativity by Julia Cameron
This book is a 12-week program, if I recall correctly, filled with writing exercises and activities, and it was super helpful to inspire and motivate me about 10 years ago.

On Writing: A Manual of the Craft by Stephen King
King’s book is more than a book on craft. It’s the memoir of a writer who started out just like us. Super motivating to consider.

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

Writing from the Inside Out: Transforming Your Psychological Blocks to Release the Writer Within by Dennis Palumbo (novelist, screenwriter, and pyschotherapist)

Read a Good Book.
I don’t know about you, but when I read a really good book, it inspires me to get back to my own writing. A few of the books that have motivated me to write include The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Still Water Saints by Alex Espinoza, and Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.