We all have off days, days when the words just won’t come. But if you stay close to the fire and keep in touch with your work in progress, that’s still progress.
Watch the video below to find out how staying close to the fire is still working on your book.
Hello my lovely writers, how are you?
Not every day is the day the muse hits us. Not every day do we wake up feeling the joys of spring and want to get to our desk. There are days when that absolutely does happen but there are other days, like today has been for me, where it’s just not been happening at all.
I just can’t wake up today. I don’t know why. I had a good night’s sleep, I woke up bright and early but I just can’t quite wake up. I’ve been for a walk but still I’m feeling groggy and uninspired.
It’s been raining here for the last four weeks with maybe a brief interlude here and there and, when you wake up day after day with heavy clouds, grey skies and the rain pouring down, it doesn’t do a lot for one’s spirits.
I’ve just not been in the mood to write today
So, today I’ve just not been in the mood. But writing’s what I do. Writing is what I love. It is how I hope one day to be making my way in the world and making my mark on the world, which I’m sure is the same for you.
What do I get to do on days when I feel like this? I get to still show up at my desk. I get to sit down, open my document, have a look through it, do some thinking about it, make some notes here and there and just be with my work-in-progress.
And that’s what I did. I didn’t spend as long on it as I would have liked to have done. I didn’t write anything new today but I did keep in touch with my book.
Stay close to the fire
I did what one of my coaches calls staying close to the fire, which means I opened the document, I read it through, I had a look at it, I thought about my characters, what’s going on for them, their motivations and generally how things are progressing in the book. I kept close to my book.
I’m sure you know as well as I do that, if you take too long a break from your work, you begin to forget it. You lose the momentum, you slip off the wagon and it can be difficult getting back on it.
I wanted to share that with you because you may be feeling that way today as well, or there might be a day where you’re just not with the muse, she’s not come to visit you but you know you’ve got to do it anyway.
If you stay close to the fire and keep in with your work by keeping in touch with it, opening it up to have a look at it, to read through it and think about it, that is still progress.
Writing a book is work and that is still doing the work required to write a novel. It’s not all about what goes on the page, so much of it is what goes on in your brain and mulling it over. That is where the vast majority of the work happens and then, when you’ve mulled it over enough, you get excited and you put it down on the page.
If you’re not feeling the passion, the love, the muse today, don’t worry, it will come back. Just stay close to the fire and you’ll get there.
Emma xx
Emma Dhesi
Emma Dhesi is a Certified Author Accelerator Book Coach and bestselling author who helps writers let go of perfectionism, self-doubt and writer's block through her signature programme, Unlock Your Creative Block.
She is the host of the YouTube Channel, Emma Dhesi, where she interviews debut and experienced authors alike.
Through her 1:1 coaching programme, Emma helps new authors start and finish their first novel.
Emma provides personal written feedback on their pages and guides them through the emotional rollercoaster that is writing a novel!
