One last thing! At the end of your writing session, finish this sentence:

Tomorrow, when I sit down to write, I will…

Give yourself One Small Job. Make it bite-sized and specific. When you feel unfocused tomorrow, that One Small Job will serve as your invitation to sit down with the work again.

Small Assignment #3 to keep writing when it’s tough to focus: Choose a scene & go back to see what vivid sensory language you can add. Set a timer for 2 minutes, and read through, looking for places you might add sounds. Then do the same for smell, touch. Add the most specific details to your draft.

Small Assignment #2 to keep writing when it’s tough to focus: Set a 5-minute timer & brainstorm all the ways your MC might be able to make their own situation worse. (Conflict is elevated when your MC has contributed to their own problems, rather than having them caused only by outside forces.)

Small Assignment #1 to keep writing when it’s tough to focus: Set a 20-minute timer & write about your character’s bedroom. What’s on the walls? In the dresser? On the bed? On the nightstand? What’s shoved under the bed? On the high shelf in the closet? You can learn secrets about your MC this way.

Feels like I lost a part of my history because I was way more active on it before 2016. But good riddance. It was a dumpster fire for so long.