Help! I Can’t Write the Same Way Anymore — 7 Ways to Find Your New Writing Practice

Welcome to “Ask the Coach.” As a writing coach, I answer questions from writers about making the work of writing happen, tackling craft, business, and personal questions along the way. (Have a question you’d like answered? Check the details at the end of the article about how to submit one.)

Today I’m responding to a question about recovering a writing practice.

I’m so happy you reached out with this question. I’ve seen other writers talking about this too, and it’s been true for me as well. Since the initial stay-at-home phase of the pandemic, my writing practice fluctuated in major ways, multiple times. At first, I struggled to see the point of writing at all. Once I sorted that out, I put my head down and pushed hard on ghostwriting a book I was hired to write and edit. Then it came time to get back to a script I was overdue with, and pushed to get it submission-ready.

When I came up for air, though, I seriously floundered. I’ve also mentioned in other columns that I experienced a pretty rough creative wound. That combination — alongside the challenges of working with kids Zoom-schooling at home — led to burnout, plus a sense that I simply couldn’t “do” writing the way I had always done. So I felt similarly lost!

Regardless of the cause (pandemics, major life disruptions, industry strikes, social change), when our writing practice gets disrupted and we change as a result, what works for us as writers can change as a result. 

Here are some strategies that worked well for me in finding new ways to approach my writing practice that got me back on track.

Even if your old writing patterns aren’t currently working, and even if you’ve become a different person and writer, confirm with yourself you still want to write. For a time, I wondered if perhaps I’d hit a point where it was “too late” and I’d burned out my hope and passion for writing, much as I did with a prior career. I let myself stew in that for a good long while, even while I continued to write, and eventually realized there was still a very big YES there, behind the struggle.

I’m assuming that’s true for you, too, or you wouldn’t have written to ask. However, if you need to, take some time to ask yourself: Do I still want to write? 

If you used to write at the same time every day, but that’s no longer working for you, let it go. It’s smart to admit when an old pattern isn’t fitting you and your life anymore. We grow and change all the time — and life changes too — which means you may need to adjust your writing practice to better fit where things are for you. If that looks like writing at a different time of day, fine! If that means changing the number of days you write, also fine, whether that means going up or down in writing frequency.

Though eventually you could return to something resembling your former writing practice, it doesn’t have to ever look the same.

Chuck Wendig, in his book, Gentle Writing Advice*, describes a comparable experience to yours (and mine). At the start of the pandemic, he stopped writing for about a year, and then found his way back to writing by focusing on revisions of work he’d already generated (rather than creating new material). Then he put his focus on a short amount of writing each day until he gradually built back to a place he was happy with. But even then, he’s taking a different approach to how he “holds” writing — more gently.

Even as you let go of your former writing pattern, believe you can and will find a new path forward. The good news: There are many ways to write. It’ll be your task to experiment with finding new ways to write, now.

Don’t despair or give up hope. Frame your search as a new adventure, one you believe will succeed when you discover a new path forward.

While you’re experimenting, give yourself a lot of space — and grace — to try different things.

To start, pay attention to when (and where) your creative energy rises. You may find that your creative rhythms have shifted to a different time of day or arise under different conditions than they did before. Try to catch when your creative sparks light up, and experiment with writing then, instead.

(If your creative energy isn’t turning up much or at all, you may also need to give yourself some time and space to recover them, too. More on that, below.)

Yes, there’s truth to the adage that the muse shows up when you sit down to write consistently. Hold this experimental phase as a way of finding your new writing pattern. And remember this: If something doesn’t work, it’s not failure, it’s information. Try something else!

If your creative well is just generally dry, you may also need to lean into sources of inspiration to reinvigorate yourself and your imagination.

This could mean taking a writing class, revisiting your intent behind a script-in-progress to remind yourself what inspired you to start it in the first place, studying and watching favorite movies, reading, or even taking artistic classes of another sort entirely. (I got some great mileage out of a pottery class last year.)

Something I’ve picked up over the last couple of years is a reminder of the importance of a) emotion in scripted entertainment, and b) connecting to emotion within myself. Although major life challenges can lead to a kind of numbing-out as a strategy to deal with the pain and discomfort, we need emotion to tell powerful stories, so we have to find ways to connect and reconnect to the emotions of being alive to inspire our writing. 

For me, music is a huge access point, especially songs that make me cry, laugh, or connect with deeper life truths. Ditto with podcasts that make me laugh. (Check out my article about dealing with writer’s procrastination for a little more on this subject, under “7. ‘Find’ writing.”)

I also recommend building a support structure for yourself by working with a mentor, coach, or writing buddy. Having someone expecting to see your work can be motivating. Design a timeline for submitting work to work for you, remembering you are in a different place right now. Choose a submission schedule that feels sustainable and inspiring.

Alternatively, you might consider joining a writing community, a writing group, or taking a gentle class. Again, while you’re figuring yourself out again, it might be better to choose communities, groups, or classes where the focus is more on showing up to write and writing together, rather than those loaded with feedback and critique, at least for now.

When you go through a major life experience, who you are as a writer and what you want to say with your writing may change. It’s possible that because you’ve shifted, your writing focus has shifted, even if you haven’t quite caught up to it yet. This could mean you move to a different script, change the theme and focus of your current script, or even transition to an entirely new genre.

I hope this helps!

Warmly,

Jenna

Life-scale disruptions, like a pandemic, a loss of a loved one, or other major life shifts, can be disorienting, disturbing, and unsettling. As we reemerge and transition out of a phase like this, we may have to find new clarity about what it means to us to be a writer and how we want to live our writer’s life, now. That's perfectly OK! Take this time to learn who you are now and trust you’ll come to a new place with it on the other side.

Thank you for reading, and happy writing.

Screenwriters, what challenges do you run into that you'd love to see us address in our articles? Take our short survey here, submit your question to be answered anonymously via my online form here, or email me directly at askthecoach@calledtowrite.com. Look for answers to selected questions in my monthly “Ask the Coach” column on the third Thursday of the month.

Find me on Twitter @JennaAvery and Bluesky @jennaavery.bsky.social. 

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