A trick that works

Today’s tip isn’t earth-shattering by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I’m sure you’ve heard it no less than a dozen or so times. Here it is:

Stop writing when you’re in the middle of a scene, right when the tension is good, your creative juices are flowing and your fingers are itching to type more. Shut off the computer, stand up and walk away. It’ll be easier to start the next day.

Right? You’ve heard that one before? I know I had, and my reaction to it was always the same: CODSWALLOP! (Because that is a very fun word to say). And so I’d ignore it, keep writing, tidy up the scene and bring it to a conclusion. And then the same thing would happen day in and day out. The next time I sat down to write, I would stare at a blank screen for half an hour. I’d start to type a sentence, only to delete it. I’d try another one, then delete that too. I only get two hours a day to write if I’m lucky, so the amount of time I wasted trying to jumpstart my writing was getting frustrating.

So I tried that trick above, just once. I made myself walk away in the middle of a scene. And you guys. It totally did the trick. I was itching to start writing the next day, and I was able to jump back in and hit the ground running, so to speak. I finished the scene, then launched into the next, stopping in the mid-way point. And I’ve been doing the same thing ever since. I haven’t had a single day since where I stare at a blank screen for half an hour, trying to figure out where to go from here. It’s magic, I tell you. Magic.

What about you? Do you employ this trick? Has it worked for you?
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