Every year, without fail, come mid-November, writers start to wane and hit what we call the mid-month slump. There are a variety of ways that this manifests. For many of us, we will experience a lack of motivation, which can lead to writer's block. The ways in which we can combat the mid-month slump will depend on the nature of the issue and our personality.

In November 2023, Canterbury Writers hosted a discussion panel to discuss all things related to the mid-month slump.

Our core panelists included K T Bowes, Bri Thompson, Ellice Gullet, and Judy L Mohr (all who were introduced as part of our last discussion panel post). We had also invited other participants to join the stage to ask their questions and to be part of the discussion.

Surviving the mid-month slump

The best way to survive any writing slump is to be part of the writing community. Whether it's the mid-month slump, the famous sticky middle, or just a slump in general, the community will help to pull you through.

We have all been there. We know what it's like. And dare I say it, many of us will probably be there again in the future. But those writing friendships are vital to not only surviving the industry but also to navigating the emotional roller coaster that comes with being a writer. We know the triggers. And we have developed tools to help us come through the other side to bask in the light.

(No, wait… That light is a train coming toward us. Quick. RUN!)

Keep your writing buddies informed of your progress. They will help you hold yourself accountable to whatever goals you have set yourself. But they will also remind you that sometimes sleep is necessary. And if they see you trying to do too much, they will step in and remind you that you are only human.

(Yes, Ellice, I hear your voice in my head, saying "Boundaries!")

Let go of… whatever… and enjoy the ride

While all of us might encounter the mid-month slump for different reasons, many of us agree that you have to let go of… well… Just let go.

Our characters have a bad habit of taking over a story, taking it down roads you never intended. Even if you are a plotter, with a complete plot in front of you, those characters still runaway with the story, and do what they want to do. Characters develop their own personality. They become their own beings, even though they are 100% imaginary.

Sometimes, the best thing that you can do for your writing is to just let go and see where the writing takes you.

But we writers also need to let go of our perfectionist natures. For many of us, we want to write that perfect sentence during that first draft, and we have to constantly remind ourselves that it doesn't need to be perfect—it just needs to be written.

Judy affectionately calls the crappy initial draft the barf draft. You barf the words out on paper… and what you get often does look like vomit. But it's okay, because the words are on the paper and we can do something about them later.

That said, so the crappy writing on the page doesn't drive Judy completely bonkers when she comes to edit later, she gives herself permission to do some rudimentary editing, dealing with the sentences that make her wonder what drugs she was on when they were written. This cursory edit is not a major edit. Its purpose is to deal with the things that Judy knows will drive her nuts later.

Possible reasons for writer's block

The mid-month slump could also manifest as the dreaded writer's block—where you stare at the page and have no idea what you're doing. But there are multiple variants of writer's block, each with their own solutions.

Writer's block can easily be categorized as one of the following:

• Loss of joy.
• Uncertainty of what comes next.
• Mechanically difficult scene.
• Emotionally difficult scene.
• Depression.

Let's address this last one first.

Depression

Sometimes, we are feeling depressed. It doesn't matter if it is clinical depression or just a case of the "blues". The end result is the same. And the best treatment is also the same.

Be kind to yourself and remind yourself that self-care matters.

Sometimes, you just need to curl up with a good book and escape into another writer's world for a bit. Recharge, so you have the mental capacity to dive back into your story's world again.

Loss of joy

The loss of joy in a story will exhibit itself in two different ways:

1. You are writing something that is boring you and putting you to sleep.
2. You don't believe in what you're writing. By this, I mean that you don't believe in the nature of the scene or how the characters are behaving. The believability has flown out the window.

In both instances, to find the joy again, you need to go back to the point where you last felt the joy in your story. Look at what last had you excited and work from there.

Your brain took you down a path that you didn't necessarily want to go. So instead of taking the right road, maybe you need to take the left road.

Uncertainty of what comes next

You might be excited about your story, but you might be staring at the next page and have no idea where to go to next. Maybe you've written yourself into a corner and you don't know how to get yourself out of it.

When this happens, the best advice that we can give you is to ask your characters what happens next. Let them take over. (Yep, you need to "Let go!")

Maybe you don't know how your character will actually react in that situation. So maybe what you need to do is interview your character and get to know them a bit more.

Or maybe you don't think that the scenario that you had planned is plausible. Go back to where you last believed in your story and go from there. Take a different road.

Mechanically difficult scenes

Maybe you are in the middle of writing an action sequence with lots of things going on, and you're struggling to keep track of it—not certain what needs to be on the page.

Or maybe you're using a particular writing device or narrative tool that you've never used before, and it has you questioning yourself.

Regardless of what is making that scene mechanically difficult, the only way to get through it is to force yourself to write that scene. You are avoiding it. That is what the source of the writer's block is.

By forcing yourself to write that mechanically difficult scene, you learn the writing skills needed to conquer that scene. And the next time you encounter a similar situation, you'll be better prepared.

Emotionally difficult scenes

But maybe the reason that you're avoiding writing a particular scene has nothing to do with the mechanical complexity of the scene. Maybe there is something within the planned scene that you know will be emotionally draining, possibly forcing you to tap into emotions that you would prefer to not tap into.

Maybe the scene ahead is a difficult death scene or the funeral scene. Or maybe your characters are about to challenge each other about the way they've been treating one another. Or maybe you're about to tap into the vulnerable nature of an open-door sex scene for the first time (which makes it both emotionally and mechanically difficult to write).

Regardless of the reason for the emotionally challenging scene, again, the only solution is to just push yourself to write that scene.

And remember that the first draft of that scene doesn't need to be perfect. You can edit it later.

Getting unstuck and learning your characters

There were a few resources that were mentioned by members of the panel that could help you in developing strategies to become unstuck.

Becca Syme has a book call The Author Stuck List, which is filled with suggestions that might seem off the wall, but they really work.

The Young Writers website associated with NaNoWriMo has a free workbook that has 100 character questions that you can ask your character. And it includes things like their favorite movie.

Interviewing your characters has always been a good practice. It ensures that you know how your characters will behave in a given situation.

Working on multiple projects at once

During our sustainable habits panel discussion, we suggested that working on multiple projects could be a way to help produce sustainable writing routines. But it's also a good way to deal with writer's block.

Bri lives by the multiple-projects idea. So, too, does Judy.

James Scott Bell has an idea called Nifty 250. (He talks about this in a few of his Bell on Writing books.) At the start of the say, you aim to write 250 words (or whatever limit you give yourself) on the shiny new idea. But when those words are written, you get to work on the other tasks that you might have for that day.

Many of the writers involved with Canterbury Writers have adopted this idea in some fashion.

Add to your toolbox

Like all things to do with writing, there are so many ways to deal with the mid-month slump or any writing slump that you might be having. No one solution will work in every instance for every person. But the more tools you have in your toolbox, the better prepared you are for when you are facing a writing slump of your own.

In the lead-up to NaNoWriMo 2024, we hosted a live discussion panel to talk about building sustainable routines. The panel was made up of a variety of writers, include established published writers, professional editors, and ML volunteers from around the world.

This post is just a summary of some of the key ideas and concepts that were mentioned to help build sustainable writing routines.

Be warned that this is a long post.

Writing takes a community, sharing ideas and supporting one another. In Christchurch, we are blessed to be surrounded by so many talented writers willing to share their experiences with others.

In today's interview, Soraya Lane talks about how she too has those moments of self-doubt, even though she has been a successfully published author for over 10 years. It's a tough road, and Soyara has advice for aspirings authors based on her experience within this industry.