Getting back into writing after a long break can be tricky. This is true whether your break is planned and positive or unplanned and stressful.

In recent weeks, I've worked with two clients who are getting back to their writing after planned breaks: one for a holiday and one to focus on another intense project. I've also been coaching myself through several breaks in 'productivity' (I loathe that word) owing to the stress that goes along with coping with a loved one's failing health.

Though the three of us have stepped away from our writing for different reasons, I've noticed some similarities in our reactions to our breaks and our journey back. (FYI my situation is ongoing; future breaks are likely.)

Guilt makes getting back into writing harder

As much as I try not to let guilt attach to my writing and encourage my clients to do the same, we writers tend to be a guilt-ridden lot.

For my clients taking planned breaks, we spent a lot of time talking about how necessary those breaks were for their long-term success. I'll summarise below:

• Humans are not machines. We need holidays. We need to rest and recharge to be creative. And all writing is creative!
• Sometimes other projects will take priority. You're allowed to focus on other things and rest between projects. Doing these things will make you a better writer.

For my own unplanned breaks, I've tried to talk to myself as I would to a client - instead of slipping into my usual default of beating myself up for not being perfect. Here's some of my self-coaching:

• Stop feeling guilty. You've kept up with client work. The rest will come when it comes.
• You're not a machine, you need time to grieve and support your family.
• You can take the time you need now, or the accumulated stress will force you to take it (and probably more) later.

If you've been feeling guilty about your writing - for whatever reason - please stop. Guilt is the enemy of creativity. Guilting yourself into writing might get words on the page, but they won't be the words you need to write or your readers need to read.

It can be hard to find your rhythm after a writing break

My clients and I have all struggled to find our writing rhythm again.

When you've been away from your writing (especially if you've been feeling guilty about it), the natural impulse is to try to do all the writing at once. This is counterproductive.

When you take writing one step at a time, it's fairly easy. If you don't, it's nearly impossible. To remind you of the steps they are:

1. Identify your reader
2. Focus your topic
3. Write your messy draft
4. Revise for content
5. Polish (no link for this one - see the link for step 4!)

It's also usually counterproductive for your first writing session after a break to be a writing marathon.

I talk a lot about working with your natural rhythms, but even for those of you who work best in long, intense sessions, ease back into it. So don't set big targets - your first day back, 10 minutes of focused work is more than enough. If 10 minutes feels like too much, do 5 minutes.

Break down your tasks to make writing easier

In the section above, I reminded you of the writing process. But even tackling one of those 5 steps can feel like a lot on a good day, let alone when you're struggling to get back into you writing groove.

Instead of setting yourself up for frustration, break each of them down into smaller parts. For example, this is how I'd break down the task of identifying my reader:

• Session 1: list the questions I want to answer about my reader - use the questions I list in these blog posts as a starting point: "Who is your ideal reader?" and "How to write like you talk to your friends".
• Session 2+: take 5 minutes to answer one of the questions on my list - write these answers somewhere you won't lose them. Repeat until I've answered all the questions.
• Final session: read through my answers and write a short summary of who my ideal reader is for the project I'm working on.

If you take a little time to break down each of the steps in the writing process this way, the process becomes more manageable. Clearly, making a list of questions I want to answer is easier than doing all of the work of identifying my reader. And it's massively easier than writing my next book - or even chapter!

Can I help?

I hope this post has shown you that getting back into writing after a break is challenging for all of us, but it is absolutely doable. If you need some help getting back into your writing, book a 121 session with me and we'll get you unstuck and back to writing what your readers need to read!