Savannah Watson

We all need to take breaks. Breaks are important for mental, physical, and emotional health, as well as creativity.

Sometimes, we know when we need a vacation. We feel tired, burnt out, and creatively spent. And sometimes, we don’t know – we just put out pens down quietly one day and don’t pick them up again for a while.

Whether we know we need time off or not, it inevitably happens. The hope is that once the break is over, we will come back refreshed and ready to write (or keep writing) our stories. The reality is that occasionally, our break lasts longer than it should. Then, you have to ask yourself the question: am I taking a break right now, or have I lost my motivation?

It can be like toeing a line to not cross from one into the other, and it can be hard to tell the difference between the two.

Knowing when you have crossed from vacation-mode to zero-motivation-mode is unique to the individual, in my opinion. For me, I can tell when I have lost my motivation when I have been idle (and not written anything) for a while and am doing absolutely nothing constructive with my free time.

Once you’ve realized that you have gone from taking a break to losing your motivation, how do you get it back?

My answer, however obvious and unhelpful it might seem, is to write. Even writing one or two words could be the kick your brain needs in order to get back into writing. And if it’s not, no harm done – you still wrote a few words. Hopefully, writing something every day will be enough to bring back your motivation to write or make some progress in your writing… either way, you can make some progress.

And remember, even when it feels like a slow go, you will regain your motivation. Be patient and kind to yourself!

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