At the beginning of this summer, I felt as though I was in something of a writing slump. That might seem strange since my second book was coming out, and I had just finished an(other) edit of the manuscript for book 3. But I hadn’t written—or at least—finished anything new in three years. Every time I have tried to work on something besides my That Word Honor trilogy since summer of 2023—whether it was a new project or an existing one—I have hit a roadblock or have been distracted by thoughts/edits for the That Word Honor books.
I generally don’t think of the times I struggle to write as writer’s block—naming it is a mental thing and I don’t want to call it “writer’s block.” But—as seemed to be the case recently—there are times when it is a struggle to get words on the page, to motivate myself to write, or to finish a piece I have started. There is a ton of advice out there—be active, write through it, take a break, give yourself permission to write badly… I also know that when I run into a roadblock in writing, it usually means that something is not right with my characters or plot or both, and I need to take time to figure out what isn’t working with them.
But none of this general advice was working. This was more than a roadblock, it was a slump. It was taking a monumental effort to put pen to paper and sustaining whatever I was writing was nearly impossible. I had seen a couple posts for historical fiction short story contests, and thought I would try those, but the story and a half that I managed to force out were fairly awful.
So how to get out of a writing slump? I am guessing that this is as individual as writing routines, character development, and plotting approaches. But there is one thing that always works for me: watching The Lord of the Rings.
There is something about the sweeping scenes, the inspiring music, the epic battle of good and evil, and not to forget the many quotable lines, that never fails to inspire my own writing. (You would think that it would be fantasy that LotRinspires, but that is not always the case.) Often, as I watch, I find myself unable to keep from taking up my notebook and pen and writing while the movies play, stopping to watch my favorite lines or scenes. This was, thankfully, the case this time, and I completed two short stories during July—and even liked them.
A couple years ago, I discovered the show Black Sails (real pirates combined with characters from Treasure Island; definitely an adult show) and found that it, too, can help pull me out of a writing slump. Sometimes reading a good book can help, but often reading just makes me want to curl up and keep reading, not stop to do any writing. One other thing I would suggest if you find yourself in a writing slump, is to find a writing/book conference or author presentation or writing group. Hearing from other writers, being around other writers is inspiring and often helps spark ideas (at least for me).