The first few months of the year are the hardest.
Last year, we concluded with the thought, “This year I’m really gonna do this!” So many resolutions hit the dirt by the end of January and turn into weights that we drag along behind us until we get exhausted and find it difficult to carry on. It’s okay to take a break. It’s okay to take a smaller piece of your resolution, a more reasonable weight to carry, and continue on when you’re ready.

If you’ve had trouble writing recently, it’s okay.
Maybe you’re overwhelmed, overworked, have family issues or personal issues, maybe you’re too hard on yourself or you’re in a taxing life situation. If we’re in places that force us to cope with being in these bad places, it’s hard to open ourselves up and be vulnerable when we write.

If trying to get yourself to write is only stressing you out more, take a break.
You might have other things in your life that are causing this stress in the first place, and feeling guilty about not writing probably isn’t helping. But it’s okay to have this trouble, and it’s okay to take a break from writing to deal with issues in your life, and it’s okay to come back to writing when you’re ready.

If all your writerly friends are writing and you can’t keep up, that’s okay.
Don’t compare yourself to others. You’re not them and they’re not you. Your situations are different, and you may be in vastly different places in your lives. It doesn’t make them better or you lesser. It’s better to go at the pace that you need to go at, no faster. You’ll be happier with your output then.

Family and friends might not get it.
Sometimes we need validation from our loved ones, but for whatever reason, they can’t give it to us. They might not understand why writers need to write and they might not support it, and they might say it’s a waste of time or other hurtful things. This is why it’s so important to find a community of writers that understand what you’re going through and can share in your woes.

You’re not as bad as you think you are.
We’re our own worst critics. We get so used to our own abilities that we don’t see what we’re capable of and we don’t see the potential in what we produce. It’s okay to seek out positive reinforcement, to ask people to read and tell you what they liked, and it’s okay to read really poorly-written stuff to boost our own egos. Sometimes we just need it.

If you write, you’re a writer.
It’s not up to anyone else to decide except you.

I’ve noticed an influx of writers around tumblr needing motivation or feeling stressed or questioning themselves. It’s important to take care of yourself first and put everything else second, and it’s important to know that you can do this. Don’t convince yourself otherwise.

• On habits and taking care of yourself
• The inner critic and ways to fight it
• More troubles with writing motivation