5 Ways To Reconnect With Your Book

Do you feel as if there is a distance between you and the work you’re creating? Here are five ways to reconnect with your book.

Perhaps you’re just starting out with your first novel. Maybe it’s your third and you’re struggling to meet a deadline. All of us, at some stage, need to regroup, reconnect and refocus on our writing projects.

5 Ways To Reconnect With Your Book

To make it a little bit easier, here are five approaches that can speed up the process:

1. Writer’s Card. Write down your goals. Do this even if you’ve written them down before. It may be a good idea to write it down on an index or post card so that it’s portable—that way you can keep it in your bag, as a bookmark, or pin it to the fridge. This will be a daily reminder of your writing goals. Try to make them as realistic as possible, even if it’s a page or paragraph a day.
2. Claim a Corner. Virginia Woolf said a woman needed a room of her own if she was to write fiction. A study or library of one’s own—male or female, fiction or non-fiction—is great. But all you really need is a corner of your own: a little dedicated patch somewhere in the house to keep your laptop, pencils, and notepads. Keep all your stuff in one place and it will be easier to reconnect with your project every day.
3. Favourite’s Shelf. Sometimes we forget why we started reading and writing in the first place. Make a shelf of just your favourite books—look at your list of Top 26 Books in Writers Write. They can be novels, non-fiction books, children’s books or books on writing. It doesn’t matter as long as they serve as a tangible reminder of a long-held dream.
4. Time Away. Once a week, take yourself out to a coffee shop, a bookshop with a reading nook or even a quiet park or garden. For at least an hour, immerse yourself in a reading or writing project—it could be free writing in your journal or catching up on a novel you’ve been dying to read. By immersing yourself in a quiet place and a single project, you will teach yourself to focus.
5. Creative Fuel. Every artist or writer needs support from other creative souls. They share our energy—and feed our creativity. Another writer understands the little triumphs and the major disappointments. You may want to join a writing club or circle, go to an author evening or book signing to meet other writers, or simply go for a coffee with another writer. The race is always easier when there’s a voice on the grandstand shouting your name.

Artist: Anais Woolf – Buy this print here

If you want to learn how to write a book, join our Writers Write course in Johannesburg or sign up for our online course.