Sometimes when you have no idea what to write, the best thing you can do is ask what YOU need right now. What could you write about that would give you joy? Or help you figure something out? Or sort through a question running through your mind? Today is one of those days that I don’t really feel like writing or know what to blog about. And that’s pretty unusual for me. So I’ll go with a topic that I need myself: how do you find your writing passion again when life just won’t back down?
I’m Not Gonna Lie: This Year Has Been Terrible So Far
I wish I was kidding, but 2023 is profoundly not my year, gang. I don’t want to get too into the weeds of my personal problems, but this year has been A LOT. So far it’s involved the many physical challenges of being pregnant, giving up a lot of control in my life, the death of a family member, long stretches of isolation, and longer stretches of wondering if life is ever going to feel normal again. All while riding the never-ending emotional rollercoaster that comes with pregnancy hormones.
To say that all that has been affecting my creative energy would be a HUGE understatement. I feel like I’ve been bench pressing difficult situations for five long months with no relief in sight. And frankly, it’s really hard to care about writing right now.
But Despite Everything, I Do Still Want to Write
Even in the chaos of life lately, I think about writing all the time. It’s a pretty irrepressible facet of who I am. But I also haven’t written anything creative besides these blog posts in months. I’ve talked myself out of feeling guilty for not writing because yes, life has been a lot recently. And although I haven’t been writing my books, I have been querying agents and getting personalized rejections lately. (For those of you unfamiliar with the querying process, this is a big deal and actually quite exciting! I never thought I’d be this enthused about rejection.)
But my little writer heart is thirsting for more lately. I want to do more than shop around a finished manuscript and write about writing. I want to create something new again. More importantly, I want to find my writing passion again.
So How Exactly Do You Find Your Writing Passion When It’s Gone AWOL?
I was reading a roundup of good advice from published authors today. And I quickly recognized that two main pieces of wisdom came up over and over again in their thoughts on writing. Both of them jive pretty well with how to find your writing passion again and embrace the will to write even when life gets you down.
Tip #1: Never Give Up
It’s true that some authors make it big right out of the gate. They get famous off their first book, make their millions, become household names, then spend the rest of their career trying to recapture that initial success. But more commonly authors have to struggle for years before “making it,” even after getting a book deal in the vast majority of cases. Sometimes it isn’t until their third, fourth, or even tenth book that they find true publishing success. And in those many, many cases, it’s the writers who never gave up and kept writing who strike gold. Not the ones who just got lucky.
I feel like this is good advice not just for success in the publishing world, but also for success in life. There are so many areas where you’ll never know how great you could’ve been if you quit while you’re struggling. Often it’s the intense bout of difficulty right before a really big break when a lot of people get exhausted and tap out.
I just might be in one of those eras myself. So many things in life are changing so rapidly that it’s hard to care about hanging on to my passions right now. In fact, it’s easier to focus on just surviving most days and numb out my desire to create things. It can be exhausting even trying to hang on to the part of myself that loves to write when there are so many other objectively important responsibilities right now. But I need to remember not to give up on myself even though things are hard. I know that writing has helped me get through hard things in the past. And it can again if I let it.
Tip #2: Write What You Love
I swear that half of the advice in that article all revolves around embracing your true reason for writing. We all started writing because a great idea wouldn’t leave us alone until we wrote it down. And we kept writing because it was so fun that we couldn’t keep away. I think this quote by YA author Christopher Moore sums it up best:
Stay focused and write what you enjoy writing. Don’t write for money or follow the trends of what might be selling at the time. Write something that you cannot only be proud of, but also enjoy the process of writing.
A successful career in writing typically takes too long to achieve to be writing something you’re not passionate about. Write from your heart, and write what gets you excited to sit at your computer every day.
I can attest that he knows what he’s talking about. If you want to find your writing passion again, the best thing to do is to go back to the source. Ignore the siren call of what’s currently selling. Put aside what anybody else thinks. Shut out all the noise and expectations and just write what you love to write.
The whole concept of a passion is something that ignites your inner joy. So if you’re struggling like I am to put your hands on the keyboard, then it’s time to remind yourself why you write in the first place. Pick a favorite genre, a fun scene, an idea that makes you laugh, or a concept that you’ve always wanted to read about. In my case, my ultimate bread and butter that I live to write is fascinating conversations between vibrant characters. I guess I’ll start there.
Writing Really Does Make Things Better
I’m repeating this to myself over and over again lately. Because honestly? I’m in a state of full self-sabotage right now that’s difficult to explain. I know cognitively that writing something fun will probably cheer me up in a way that I desperately need. And yet I’m fighting the daily feeling that maybe it’s best to just let that old version of myself go.
For a lot of people, having a baby on the way is the fulfillment of a life-long dream and characterized by wild excitement, anticipation, and impatience. But it’s been anything but that for me. In fact, if I had to sum up this phase of my life in one word, that word would be grief. I’ve watched many women before me transition into motherhood. Unfortunately I’m a little too acquainted with the difficulties coming my way and how many women completely lose their identity in this phase of life. And in many ways I feel like that loss of identity is already happening to me.
You would think that feeling this way would kick me into a frenzy to write, write, write as much as possible before this baby comes. But it’s actually doing the opposite. Even though things are looking up this month, I can’t bring myself to cling to the prolific writer I used to be. Not when I know that I won’t even have time to be that person soon. Writing has been a huge comfort to me in difficult times before, but it still feels easier to give it up willingly now rather than wait for it to be taken from me later. I think that acknowledging this unhealthy spiral is the first step to seeking my passion again and getting my fingers back on the keyboard. What I’m really saying is that writing is great for the soul. And it’s something I really need in my life again.
Anyone Can Find Their Writing Passion with a Little Faith and Some Grit
I suppose this post is a pact for me to launch in and write a chapter of something creative in the next week. It’s time to grab this by the horns and defeat my negativity!
There are certainly a lot of changes coming up for me. And yes, it’s been an embarrassingly long amount of time since I wrote something new. But I think I’m ready to turn back to the greatest motivational tool I’ve got, which is my passion for writing stories. Life feels pretty uphill right now. And I think that’s exactly when reinvigorating the thing you love is the most worth it. ❧
