For whatever reason you’ve had a break from writing. Perhaps life happened, you had a holiday, you felt burnt out or were just sick of your own words. Writing breaks can be good as they can:

• Re-energise and refresh your writing enthusiasm
• Give you a new perspective 
• Re-inspire you
• Allow your subconscious to solve writing challenges
• Make you miss and remember why you write
• Heal or prevent burnout

But how do you get back into it? The page seems daunting. You re-read what you wrote before and you aren’t sure if you can write that well again (It was a fluke. Not!). Or perhaps you don’t like what you wrote and it hits you that there’s more rewriting to be done.

Here are some ways to get back into it:

1. Do morning pages, even if only for a few days or a week. They really are the way back into creativity versus rote writing. I’ve written about them here.
2. Just do it. Take a breath, sit down (or stand if you’re like me) and begin. It may not be as bad as you think.
3. Write something, anything to get your juices flowing again. A journal, a short but rich descriptive piece about your cat or big toe, a room or people you’ve watched in the street. A few paragraphs will do.
4. Copy a page from one of your favourite author’s books. This is always a good way to get our writing going no matter whether you’ve had a break, need inspiration or want to take your writing up a notch. It’s a good way to learn from others you aspire to.
5. Don’t forget to read good writing. That’s always motivating.

Don’t forget to have fun. You write for a reason, because you want to, you need to. Remember and honour that.