That Writing Muscle - and when we forget to exercise it. by Liz Carter

You know that thing we're always being told, about how we need to exercise that writing muscle daily, that if we don't we might lose our edge and get a bit flabby?

Well - that's true, that is. Mostly.

My writing muscle has lost a lot of its muscley-ness over the summer. See, I can't even think of a word so I'm making one up instead. Instead of seeing a blank page as an enticing challenge, it feels more like a block - a scary white space I don't have a clue how to fill.

I have good excuses. I was on holiday. I've been ill. My daughter is off to uni next week and I've been helping her prepare. I had a load of admin to catch up on in my online work and voluntary stuff. But in reality, I could have chosen to spend twenty minutes a day bashing something out in Word instead of scrolling through Instagram.

I lost the flow.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who isn't always the most disciplined in writing, although I'm equally sure many of you are far better at it than me! With that said, I do think it's OK to take a break at times - and in fact, it can be healthy to take stock, to remember that all that we are isn't necessarily bound up in our writing (see Keren Dibbens-Wyatt amazing post from yesterday for more on this.) Perhaps the opposite to allowing our writing muscles to grow flabby is exercising them too long and too hard, and then burning out - and I've been there, too. Both extremes aren't particularly healthy to our writing lives.

So what's the answer, if, like me, you tend towards the overly chilled-out end of matters, and the long summer break means keeping Scrivener resolutely closed down and the only forays into writing an odd ditty on twitter or your facebook page? Perhaps that's enough, after all? Or maybe we should exercise a little more than that, flex the muscle a bit more often, and so when come back in earnest to that page or file it doesn't feel quite such a mountain to climb. What do you think? Are you of the 'write each day' school of thought, or the slightly more relaxed approach? Would love to hear your thoughts. Do you agree with Jane Yolen's quote below?

Alongside the writing exercising, of course, is the platform-building. Some of you impress me greatly with your commitment to sharing excellent content, regularly and consistently, and it's easy to see how it pays off in terms of your followings. But for those of us who are more of the all-over-the-place persuasion, it's just as difficult to get back into the swing of things with social media and blogging as it is the writing itself. And there's no doubt that the more often we engage our audience, the more reads we have - not rocket science, really. However much I give myself pep talks about being more organised and disciplined, I find myself letting the days slip by.

I have so many ideas. Fiction and non-fiction, short and long stories, devotionals and poetry. But they're not going to write themselves, are they? Only I can eventually make the decision, to tell myself to stop faffing and do it.

Anyone else a bit of a faffer? I'd love not to be, so tips are welcome :)

The autumn term is a good motivator, though, I always find. It's that autumnal back-to-school feel, all the lovely stationery in the shops, the writing of to-do lists and the satisfaction at crossing items out. So maybe this is the year, at last, that I will choose to start exercising regularly, in writing at least, and so keep the flow instead of losing it. I can't wait to get back to the elation of it, the feeling when the writing flows freely, the liberation of losing myself in the words.

I've motivated myself. Off to make a list ;)

What about you? How do you get motivated? And do you find that a break is an issue when it comes to resuming writing, or could it be that it enhances it?