How to be a writer when you’re not writing

I never subscribe to the idea that, as a writer, you have to write every day. That being said I recently fell into a giant writing slump that I couldn’t seem to pull myself out of.

Of course, my brain has been working away trying to think up new story ideas - that’s something that I tend to find easy, new ideas. But it feels a bit rubbish to be a writer and not be working on books actively.

In April I went to a book fair, with a bunch of my own books, and sat at a table prepped and ready to sign for people. The event wasn’t just for authors, though there were around ten of us, and people who were popping into the building were mostly just buying books from the book stalls set up for Oxfam, because it was a two-for-one, where there was a regular book stall and then an indie author signing event… but mostly people were there for the book stall.

Whilst I only sold one book, I did get to talk to other writers and I got out of my comfort zone - put my big girl pants on - and even gave a talk to some people.

I rode the high of that for about a week or two, but after that I lost my ability to sit down and write or edit despite having a BIG book to work on.

One of the things I love about writing and editing is that it’s constant. There’s always something to work on, but when I fall out of the habit I do find it hard to get back into it. Which is exactly what happened. I felt uninspired to DO the things. The physicality of sitting down and working couldn’t have been less appealing, and I was starting to worry about how long this slump would last.

THANKFULLY, the slump ended yesterday! I picked up my manuscript and started editing again and I couldn’t be happier.

I feel like it’s important to talk about these droughts of creativity, especially when there are so many people out there telling you to write ALL THE TIME. In a perfect world we’d all do that; we’d write every day, we’d exercise, we’d pick all the healthy food, we’d do everything we wanted. If only the world was perfect.

For as long as I can manage I’ll be back to working on my projects every day but I won’t beat myself up if I fall out of that routine!

Thanks for reading this little brain-unloading session. I’m going to start my editing for the day, but if you have some free time why not watch my new Youtube video:

- Sam