How To Keep Writing When Your Brain is Shutting Down

 My internal dialogue:

Brain: Why haven't you done a blog post on writing? I mean, you are a writer, why not share some of your wise advice to others?

Me: Well, because I don't have any "wise advice" to give to others. Yes, I am a writer and, yes, I do enjoy reading other writer's blog posts on writing but that's beside the point!

Brain: Hmm. Not a good enough reason. Go write a blog post.

Good ol' brain. He always seems to have all the answers doesn't he? Or at least he thinks he does. Today, however, I will give him the credit for pointing out a very important fact.

I have not done a blog post on writing.

*looks to brain* Don't get cocky.

I thought maybe I should remedy that but I still have one problem: I don't know what to say. But when I started looking through blog post drafts to see what else I could find I was surprised to see that I did, indeed, actually have a draft on writing. Wonder of wonders!

Granted, it needed a lot of help seeing as I wrote it after getting up at 6 a.m. too many mornings in a row and pushing myself so hard I was in near burn out mode. Yeah. Let's just say the rough draft wasn't pretty. But I think it actually turned into something you may be interested in reading so here it is, my five tips on how to keep writing when your brain is shutting down.

1. Grab yourself a nice warm cup of tea. Sit back for a second and simply relish the flavor and the coziness it brings. Nothing clears my head better than a cup of tea. Feel free to substitute this with a cup of coffee if you so desire and can tolerate that substance. 😜

2. Take a break. Sometimes five to fifteen minutes is all you need to come back with a renewed mindset. As a writer we use our brains a lot and the poor things can get overworked (that's why writers are always so crazy) so take pity on them and step back from the computer or notebook. But while taking this break YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO THINK ABOUT YOUR STORY. This is very important if you want to get the most out of your break. I know how tempting it is to use your break to think over how you want your next scene to go but if you're doing that than it's no longer a break, is it? So do yourself and your brain a favor and think about cookies! (Literally the first thing to come to mind but you get the point, think about something relaxing or even read a book)

3. Listen to your characters. I realize that statement may sound really weird and slightly crazy but hey, what was I saying about writers being crazy? This is actually really important though. In my experience I am very often tempted to push my story in the direction that I want it to take, to cause certain things to happen that I want to happen. But is it what the characters want? This is not your story, it's your character's story so let them tell it. I have to remind myself of this many times while I'm writing but you know what? It always helps. The majority of the time I'm struggling to write a scene is because I'm writing a scene my way instead of listening to my characters and doing it their way. Granted, I have to steer them in the right direction a lot of times because if I gave them complete control I can't imagine the mischief they would get into!

4. Create a playlist of songs that inspire you to write this story. Music. Food for the soul. I don't know about you but nothing inspires me better than some great music! I make a point to create a playlist for every story I write because I know that I'm going to hit low points and that music always helps me get back on track to where I need to be. Whatever style you like, I recommend you making playlists to help you get through when times get tough.

5. Have fun! You may be rolling your eyes at this one and thinking "really?". But I'm serious! Sometimes writing can become so mundane and commonplace after spending hours at it day in and day out. We forget to actually enjoy it! Writing comes from deep inside you, the places where you truly feel and truly love what you're doing. Don't let repetitiveness take that away from you. Always remember to have fun in writing! Writing is a gift from the Lord, don't take that lightly.

And this concludes my first attempt at writing advice. Please let me know if you enjoyed this post and if you would like to see more posts like this! 

What are some tips you have to keep writing? How do push through even when your brain says it's time for quits?