In this Write Big episode, Jennie Nash is joined by AJ Harper, author of Write a Must-Read: Craft a Book That Changes Lives—Including Your Own, to talk about a more meaningful way to define success as a writer. AJ shares her concept of writing a “Top Three” book—one that becomes a reader’s personal favorite, the kind they keep forever, recommend constantly, and return to again and again. Together they explore why chasing external metrics like speed, bestseller lists, or book deals can distract from what really matters, and how focusing on writing something truly beloved often leads to those wins anyway.

Links from the Pod:

Ep 416: The Art of Helping Writers Do Their Best Work, with AJ Harper

Write a Must-Read, AJ Harper 

Love Medicine, Louise Erdrich

The War of Art, Steven Pressfield

Hello and welcome to Nerd Corner with Sarina and Jess! I love these episodes because I will never, ever know as much about the publishing industry as Sarina Bowen, and I learn so much from her. This week, she answers a question she got from a listener, paraphrased thusly:

Dear Sarina, I want to support you and your work, so which format of your books do you profit from most? 

The fact that we live in a world where any reader is interested in the answer to this question soothes my troubled soul. 

So let’s break it down: hardcover, paperback, audio, ebook? What about borrowing from the library? What about subscription services such as Kindle Unlimited?

Here are a few helpful links that expand on the topics we discuss in this episode:

The Top Five Reasons Pre-Orders Matter

Which format pays the best royalty for an author? Print, digital, audio...

Our Goals for 2026: 

Jess is gonna finish a novel.

Sarina is going to figure out what she wants a long haul writer career to looks like.

KJ is going to write this book as hard as she can and for as long as it takes.

Jennie is going to claim her authority in the writing space.

Our Words of the Year are …

Meanwhile: Fan of Heated Rivalry? You’ll want to read these books by Sarina Bowen!

Ready to talk about your own goals and words? COME ON IN. We are here for that!

Join KJ’s subscriber chat - Available in the Substack app and on web

Hey - if you’ve been curious about becoming a book coach, Jennie’d like to invite you to a live training she’s doing on February 4th, at 5pm PST / 8pm EST. She’s going to be talking about how to become the kind of book coach writers love to pay. You can sign up at bookcoaches.com/live

WOTYs … in the episode! If you want to know what was so funny, you’ll have to listen.

If you love us enough that you got this far… You should subscribe to the #AmWriting Podcast!

In this short Write Big session, Jennie Nash unpacks the power of a growth mindset—an idea popularized by psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck—and why it’s non-negotiable for anyone who wants to keep learning, keep creating, and keep going when writing gets hard. Mastery isn’t about talent you’re born with, it’s about the willingness to be uncomfortable, look imperfect, and keep showing up until the skill catches up to the desire.

Hey - if you’ve been curious about becoming a book coach, Jennie’d like to invite you to a live training she’s doing on February 4th, at 5pm PST / 8pm EST. She’s going to be talking about how to become the kind of book coach writers love to pay. You can sign up at bookcoaches.com/live

Anyone who ever listened to Jenna Blum do interviews on the A Mighty Blaze podcast will not be one bit surprised to hear that we had a great time talking all things writing but most specifically writing BIG—which Jenna has absolutely done with her current book, Murder Your Darlings. Murder Your Darlings is a contemporary thriller and a real departure from Jenna’s very popular historical fiction—a departure that’s totally in keeping with Jenna’s own enthusiastic, passionate personality. As her agent said, her earlier work was elegant and restrained (although still powerful) but in this one Jenna lets herself loose. We had a wonderful time talking about it, and I know you’ll have a great time listening. 

#AmReading
The Plot and The Sequel, Jean Hanff Korelitz 
Last Seen, Christopher Castellani
You, Caroline Kepnes

Join Jenna on tour—she’s absolutely a joy to listen to on writing and probably any other topic! Dates HERE. 

And do grab Murder Your Darlings—who doesn’t love a tell-all thriller set in this ridiculous industry we all love so much?

Hey—if you’re reading this in January 2026, it’s not too late to join our Blueprint Sprint and get in on a rapid-fire roadmap to writing the book you want to write this year (instead of writing 100K words in search of it… ask me how I know!) 

First Blueprint post linked below—upgrade your subscription to get started.

Why This Book? What's Your Point?

• What it really means to buy back your book rights
• Why “out of print” doesn’t have to mean the end
• Publishing as a tool—not an identity
• Self-publishing, kid lit, and changing industry realities
• Ownership, legacy, and writing from the heart
  
  

• Darcy Pattison
• 100 Covers
• BookFunnel
• Draft2Digital
• Jane Friedman newsletter
• Janet’s Substack

• Learn more about the Blueprint tools
• Substack about how each genre has a different primary goal in the Blueprint
• #amwriting Episode about the Blueprint origin story and why it’s such a powerful tool.

• Why a full-manuscript read is often the wrong first step in revision
• The mindset shift every writer needs before diving into revisions
• How to use the Blueprint to create a clear, confident revision plan before touching your pages

• Learn more about the Blueprint tools
• Substack about how each genre has a different primary goal in the Blueprint 
• #amwriting Episode about the Blueprint origin story and why it’s such a powerful tool: 

• Jennifer’s Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross: Can’t Sleep? You’re Not Alone
• Atlantic feature story: What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind
• Atlantic feature story: The Ones We Sent Away
• Atlantic feature story: It’s Your Friends Who Break Your Heart
• The New York Times article: Happiness Won’t Save You
• Heavyweight the podcast
  
  

• Mary Laura Philpott’s website
• Bomb Shelter
• The New York Times Review

• The Correspondent
• KJ’s Review of The Correspondent
  
  

• The benefits of registering your copyright with the United States Copyright Office. 
  
  
• The possibility of a settlement in the Anthropic lawsuit, and what that could mean for authors.
  
  
• Why copyright registration will be part of any potential settlement.
  
  
• How to register your copyright.
  
  
• Did your publisher fulfill its obligation to register your copyright?
  
  

• Rossana D’Antonio – Author of 26 Seconds: Grief and Blame in the Aftermath of Losing My Brother in a Plane Crash
  
  
• Marty Ross-Dolen – Author of Always There, Always Gone: A Daughter’s Search for Truth
  
  

• How to identify and overcome your mental stories and obstacles in writing
  
  
• Strategies to open up creatively and align your work with your values
  
  
• Practical ways to harness and focus your unique genius energy
  
  
• The importance of ritual and community in the writing process
  
  

• How to write a sweeping series starter
• Small towns as a setting. How small is too small?
• The difference between a procedural and psychological suspense
• Character development and much more! 
  
  

1. Leave yourself notes about the project when you leave off, for example, “The next thing that needs to happen is this…” so when you come back, you know how to get back into the project. This is Sarina’s daily practice, but it really helps when she has to leave a project behind. This can be especially helpful when you have to go away for an unexpected emergency. 
   
   
2. Jennie adds that the only way you can do this is if you have a place to keep and find those notes to yourself. In one of your 47 notebooks or in the document itself? Or, as Jess adds, on the side of the cardboard box you use for trash in your basement workshop that you almost recycle by accident. 
   
   
3. Jennie also notes that you have to have intentionality, to know what you are writing so you can know what comes next, whether that’s in your outline, inside outline, or whatever. 
   
   
4. Jennie has a little notebook she brings on vacation with her and she downloads those ideas into that just before going to sleep at night when she’s away. 
   
   
5. These vacation inspiration moments are much like shower thoughts, part of the magic of our brain unhooking, getting into deep default mode network, and becoming its most creative. 
   
   
6. Sarina mentioned an article about how walking makes you more creative, also a study in why tapping into the default mode network is so effective as a practice. 
   
   

1. The only way to get over this is to sit down and do it. Open the document. Just start. 
   
   
2. Jennie points out that getting back into a manuscript when it’s disappeared feels horrifying but it’s much easier than it sounds and has happened to one of our frequent guests, Sarah Stewart Taylor, when her then-toddler created a password for the document that was not recoverable. She had to give in to the fact that her book was gone, and recreate it out of her memory. 
   
   

1. It only took Jess until her fiftieth year to figure out that her process - of walking, gardening, beekeeping, musing - is a part of writing, and that’s cool. 
   
   
2. Can you be a writer if you are not actively writing? Yes, if research, planning, thinking and otherwise cogitating is a part of your writing process. Get over it. The words have to land on the page eventually, of course, but if you are doing both, have grace for the not-actively-writing part of the writing process. 
   
   

• North American
  
  
• World English
  
  
• World
  
  

• Print and digital and audio
  
  
• Sub rights like “first serial”
  
  
• Translation MAYBE
  
  

• X years
  
  
• The life of the copyright
  
  

• On signing
  
  
• On acceptance of the work (after an edit)
  
  
• On publication
  
  
• A year after publication
  
  

• Film rights, even if they say “non exclusive”
  
  
• Derivative works
  
  
• Lack of reversion language
  
  

You do not have to attend every conversation you’re invited to. - A wise stranger on the interwebs.

1. Checking in with a friend and having friends in the business
   
   
2. How to make sure that good feedback is as available and memorable as the bad
   
   
3. Recognizing that clinging to negatives is how the brain works. That reflex has an important evolutionary role, but we don’t have to subjugate ourselves to it.
   
   
4. Lifting up other people as soulcraft
   
   

1. First of all it’s centering. Treating your writing as a grownup activity helps you frame your goal-setting around writing. It holds you accountable to your goals
   
   
2. Secondly, and more practically, it makes tax time is so much easier, and it might save you money
   
   

• Substacks you pay for to help further your writing career. (See what I did there?)
  
  
• Websites you join to assist in your work
  
  
• Transportation to writing-related conferences and research
  
  
• Printed materials you purchase for research
  
  
• Stock photography
  
  
• Your Canva subscription, etc
  
  

1. What the Blueprint is and why Jennie made it
   
   
2. Introducing the winter book coach hosts
   
   
3. Overcoming Pantsing Pitfalls: How the Blueprint Method Can Save Your Story
   
   
4. The Blueprint is the Solution for Time-Strapped Writers
   
   
5. How to Use a Blueprint for Revision
   
   
6. Befriending the Blueprint
   
   

1. What the Blueprint is and why Jennie made it
   
   
2. Introducing the winter book coach hosts
   
   
3. Overcoming Pantsing Pitfalls: How the Blueprint Method Can Save Your Story
   
   
4. The Blueprint is the Solution for Time-Strapped Writers
   
   
5. How to Use a Blueprint for Revision
   
   
6. Befriending the Blueprint
   
   

1. What the Blueprint is and why Jennie made it
   
   
2. Introducing the winter book coach hosts
   
   
3. Overcoming Pantsing Pitfalls: How the Blueprint Method Can Save Your Story
   
   

1. What the Blueprint is and why Jennie made it
   
   
2. Introducing the winter book coach hosts
   
   
3. Overcoming Pantsing Pitfalls: How the Blueprint Method Can Save Your Story
   
   

• You have a new idea for a novel, a memoir, or a nonfiction book you want to pin to the page.
  
  
• You are stuck somewhere in the middle of a novel, a memoir, or a nonfiction book and can’t figure out how to get unstuck.
  
  
• You are planning to revise a novel, a memoir, or a nonfiction book and feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.
  
  

Things to freak out about: a Two Part List

• Column I: Billion dollar AI tools stole our intellectual property to train their models, and…
• Column II: AI might take my job.
  
  

“I have no doubt that you can do it, either. Even though this is still in draft form, I didn’t want to put it down, especially in the more polished first half. (I knew what I was getting! That’s not a criticism of the less finished section. It’s in the perfect place for this stage of the process.) I wanted to know what would happen, and that is so much of the battle won right there. There’s great conflict and drive in these pages.

And fundamentally your writing is really excellent. In the sections that are more complete, you strike a good balance between inner dialogue and action, you move the story, your chapters end in good places. There’s also a solid cause-and-effect thread pulling the reader along—although, as you’ll see, I think that drops in a few places and needs some shoring up. But those issues aren’t as big as they sound.”

1. Wander the bookstore. Most people buy their books online from descriptions now, but genre still matters. Look at the piles of romantasy (romance/fantasy), the growing tables of horror and horr-antsy (I made that up but it should be a thing). The buy-one-get-one-half-off tables of romance and thrillers, and speaking of thrillers, that’s a pretty broad category that ranges from “your heart is in your throat the whole time” to “huh, I wonder what’s going on here”. Series mystery, which I think is the only thing left that’s really “mystery” and not “thriller”. Pick up a book from “fiction” that’s described right in the cover copy as a “second chance romance” and try to figure out why it’s in one place and not the other. (One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette, which I found by googling what I remembered from the cover copy: book second chance model photographer theo italy. Nicely done, Google.) Sigh, give up, and try not to contemplate whether the world really needs any more books. It does not. But I need to write one, so it’s getting one. #sorrynotsorry
   
   
2. Play the airport game, which we talked about in Episode 367 HERE). Basically it goes like this: go to an airport (or ask a friend who’s going somewhere). Find the Hudson or whatever your airport general shops are called that has the SMALLEST selection of books. Like, one rack face out. Take a picture and then walk yourself through it and ask, “which of these books is most like something I could have written?” Examine those books closely, asking two primary questions: 1) why is this in the airport bookstore (why do people love it/buy it) and 2) why is it like something I could have written? Then spend your flight, or two hours in a coffee shop, coming up with an idea and a brief pitch for something that resembles each one of those books. You have no more than 30 minutes for each book/pitch, and it must have a title, a logline, rough flap copy, inner and outer plots and a story arc with a beginning, middle and end. 
   
   
3. Do a wild title brainstorm. Sometimes a book just has a great title. Beach Read, Summer Romance, A Star is Bored, Blonde Identity. The last time I made a list of “great titles” I hit one—Romantic Comedy—that someone else has recently used to great success and came very very close on two others. Should you write a book just because you have a great title idea? No of course not, but some great titles could apply to a LOT of book ideas. People are buying the vibe, not the plot, when they buy Brooklynaire.
   
   
4. Mayyyybe look over your old idea notebooks, if you have them. I have some mixed feelings about this, since I don’t want to let my current idea generating muscle off the hook. But these might also jog something loose. I have my 2022 book out now for this purpose. 
   
   
5. Pick a couple ideas—say three—and noodle them out further. Now we’re pretty much into the whole Idea Factory protocol from the summer of 2022—and that DID end up with me writing one of the books we talked about. So apparently it “worked”.
   
   
6. That’s my plan. Y’all know I like to set “sticker” goals—a nice thing about this is its flexibility.
   
   

• What does the election cycle really mean for books and book buyers?
  
  
• What are some elements of Dena’s story that play well with readers who are staring down the barrel at a very important election? 
  
  
• Who should Dena talk to about this book, and why?
  
  

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   
   

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   

The speakers discussed their experiences and insights on writing and publishing, including the importance of maintaining a consistent brand, balancing creative expression with validation, and creating authentic conflicts in fiction. They also shared their thoughts on the value of joy and love in literature, and how societal pressure to produce world-changing literature can lead to a lack of appreciation for works that prioritize happiness and joy. Additionally, they discussed their favorite thriller books and the impact they've had on them, and shared book recommendations in the romantic comedy genre. Overall, the conversation highlighted the challenges and rewards of writing and publishing, and the importance of prioritizing joy and happiness in literature.

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   
   

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   
   

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   
   

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   
   

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   
   

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   
   

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   
   

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   
   

1. Toggle “Blueprint for a Book” from “off” (grey) to “on” (green).
   
   
2. Click “set up podcast” next to Blueprint for a Book and follow the easy instructions.
   
   

• The spectacular Summer Blueprint for a Book program, with coaches and episodes and a workbook and all sorts of things to get you rolling on your next project, is coming (details soon, start date 7/2/24). 
• Our new monthly Booklab First Pages Review Podcast, starting 6/1/24 (early episodes will be free, later episodes will go to supporters only). Want to submit your first page? Supporters will find the link in their welcome email! (Can’t swing a subscription because $$ is tight? Reply to this email and we’ll set you up.)
• Become a Sticker or Sparkly Sticker supporter before the end of May using this link and get 20% off your first year. This isn’t much, since supporting us costs less than a trendy Stanley mug, but it will buy you a fancy coffee. 
  
  

• Abdi Nessenian, Only This Beautiful Moment
• The Creative Pragmatist
• Sarina Bowen’s The Five Year Lie
• Amy Smilovic on the Second Life Podcast
• The first page of Sarina’s thriller… below.

• Self publishing is not for every book. It works well when the genre has a built-in readership who already knows what it wants. For example, mystery lovers know how to shop for a mystery. They know how to spot one, and they usually don’t need an NPR interview with the author to entice them. 
  
  
• If your book can fit comfortably and familiarly beside its cousins in the genre, give yourself ten points in favor of self publishing. 
  
  

• If your book does not have an obvious, built-in readership, but you have a built-in following, then self-publishing might make sense for you. 
  
  
• For example, if agents and publishers are telling you that your topic is too niche for them, but you already know how to reach the exact reader you need, then maybe you should trust your gut. Perhaps you’re the leading expert in crafting origami holiday decorations, with an instagram following of a hundred thousand people. Or maybe you travel the nation speaking on a particular topic. Or you’re part of a well-defined group—like education influencers, or architecture nerds. There are certainly some instances of an author knowing better than the publisher whether a book will sell. 
  
  

• I’m convinced that anyone can learn the ropes of self publishing. But you have to want to learn them. I enjoyed learning how to self publish. Then again, I also used to enjoy doing my own taxes. So maybe I’m a special breed of nerd. 
  
  
• Before you start, figure out which bank account you’re going to provide for payment information, and get ready to provide your tax ID number. You’ll need to set up at least one platform, like KDP or D2D (Draft 2 Digital.) 
  
  
• If you hate business, math and admin work, make sure to be honest with yourself about all the red tape you’re going to have to cut as a self-published author. And to those who say “I can just hire this stuff out,” I’m not sure that’s a great idea. Yes, there are hybrid-style publishers who will take your money and fill out the forms on your behalf. But many of them overcharge and overpromise. Self publishing is, by its very nature, a DIY effort. 
  
  

• Hiring freelancers is often a fun part of this job, but it’s great to have a plan. 
  
  
• Editorial work can vary vastly in quality, and the problem is that you won’t be able to tell who’s competent just from a website or an email exchange. That’s why the first question I ask editors is: are you willing to do a two page sample edit? And I don’t hire anyone who says no. It’s not that I expect anyone to work for free, but two pages is just a few minutes time. And finding an editor who jives with your style is hard. 
  
  
• Furthermore, you need to be very clear about what you expect the editor to do. Is this a developmental edit? Will she be advising you on pacing and plot holes? Or is this a copyedit—meant to find errors, awkward phrasings and repetitions, and basic inconsistencies? Or is this a final proofread? Each of these services will be priced differently. 
  
  
• Cover design, unlike editorial work, is easier to evaluate from a portfolio online. Note that cover designers tend to be very genre specific. So you need to find someone who has designed covers close in nature to the one you need. Before you even get started, make a Pinterest board of covers in your genre that you admire. 
  
  
• It’s also worth noting that not all competent writers are born with the right vocabulary for discussing cover design. If you feel this is a weakness of yours, try to find a designer who seems willing to give you the time and attention you need.
  
  

• The best thing about self-publishing is that the author has complete control. But that’s also the worst thing about it! If you fall in love with a cover, but it’s not a good fit for the genre, there’s no one to play devil’s advocate. Or, rather, you will have to work hard to find collaborators you trust to help you make the big decisions. And you’ll have to course-correct all by yourself when you realize you’ve gone astray.  
  
  

First, let’s define our terms.

Appealing, right?

And yet…

“F*ck it, I feel like sh*t” - Jess Lahey

• Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb documentary 
• Avid Reader: A Life by Robert Gottlieb

• Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me by Ada Calhoun
• Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis by Ada Calhoun
  
  

The project aims to take a census of the journalists laid off or bought out in the last year-plus, uncover any trends, and assess the impact on newsroom demographics headed into a pivotal election year. Results will be published in Nieman Reports and shared through IIJ Foundation channels, including conference presentations and webinars. We’re aiming to collect data through mid-February and release results in March.

As you know, the IIJ is a one-year old organization whose mission is the financial and emotional sustainability of freelance journalists of color, entirely led by BIPOC women. The IIJ Foundation is our nonprofit arm.

Flair is desperately shutting door on what she’s done, locking up wildly as if she could lock it inside, back door, Josie never comes to front, running from a ghost, you know better than to make a joke like that in Rattleboro
Well did you
No
Just of herself
How was day
Sucked
Customers 
2 if you count Loretta
What did she want? She comes in all the time actuall and when she does it’s usually a little better, I think it’s all that Halloween horror
That’s what people are here for but then my customers all prefer the alley it’s part of the mystique
Yep those rebel tattoos that x percent of the population has
But not you
When I think of something I want tattooed on me you’ll be the first to know
Sometimes that’s my job, do you want to know what tattoo you should have
I do not. Stop it. Change subject
Loretta wanted me to make Halloween cookies
And I suppose you said no. you should. If anything would change your luck
I kow you hate it. But I don’t see how you’re going to be here and not be part of it.
Met by lucie on the doorstep.
I’m going back to Chicago. 
What happened today
Stupid Halloween, stupid party
Parties are nothing but halloween’s a big deal around here. Your mom just got asked to do something for the Rattlebones. 
Even lucie looked up at that
Really? Everyone wants to do that, Annabel’s always telling people that her mom practically runs it but I don’t think she gets to be out there---could I help?
She says she’s not doing it
I don’t want to
You have to
I’ll think about it
If I can’t do that for Halloween I want to go back to Chicago
Not happening, we agreed, you’re here until we both go visit at thanksgiving (and she was hopeing not to do that)
I’ll think about it
I guess you’re doing Halloween
I hate you. I’m not.
But she knew she would.

1. Forgive yourself. Might you have been able to do better? Maybe. Would a real writer have managed to work through whatever it was? Maybe. And maybe, if you’d really had to, you would have. Or maybe not—sometimes even people with deadlines and editors and fans clamoring need to put their work aside for a while, because sometimes you just cannot. Or sometimes you do anyway, and maybe, as I once did, you turn in an article during one of the worst weeks of your life thus far and it includes a recipe for Miso Roasted Cod in which you forget to include the miso, which is published because apparently there were no backstops at this particular entity, thus ending your recipe writing career forevermore. (Obviously that worked out ok, but 21 years ago I would have told you my life was over.) Let it go. You needed time. You took it. It’s for the best.
   
   
2. Check in. Is it really time to get back to this? Can you look ahead and see yourself getting back into whatever routine is in the cards for you now, or are you setting yourself up to disappoint yourself? Look, only you know. Some people write at the worst times. Some people wait for better times. Sometimes those are the same people at different points in their lives. It is okay to hunch over a laptop under circumstances when people think you should be doing something else, and it is okay to decide to re-read all of Anne of Green Gables even when the waters are calm again.
   
   
3. Do your commit-thing. If it’s time and you’re ready, do whatever you do when you start something. Tell a friend, tell the world, stick a post-it on your desktop, re-up your timer app on your phone, make a list or a plan or a mood board, make a promise, light a candle, stand outside and scream up at the clouds to tell them you’re back in the game, babies!
   
   
4. Allow for some prep-time. Maybe you need to read over your project or your outline. (Or maybe you shouldn’t, because going in an unexpected direction could be a great thing.) A thinking-walk or drive could be good, or a re-read of your favorite motivational or craft book, or even just a page of it. If you’re a pre-writer, start there and let yourself hit a downhill before you start actually sticking in all the punctuation. 
   
   
5. Start somewhere easy. Maybe that’s right where you left off. Maybe it’s a scene you’ve been writing in your head. Maybe it’s the end or a new beginning. 
   
   
6. Go all in. Once you open the file, stay in the file. You’re out of practice. This will be harder than it was last time. Your text messages, your laundry, that annoyingly long pinkie nail, all will beckon. (Actually it’s ok to go trim the nail. But you do NOT NEED YOUR PHONE to do that.) Set a timer, throw your phone across the room, handcuff yourself to your desk, do whatever you do. Maybe for a teeeeeny bit less time than usual. But do it. And then stop even if you’re rolling. Every day this will get easier if you just do the thing. 
   
   
7. You might need to go back and forgive yourself again. Maybe this is harder than you thought. Maybe it feels like you’ve lost the thread. Maybe you don’t feel like you’ll ever, every get it going. What would you say to a friend right now? Bet it’s nicer than whatever you’re saying to yourself. You will keep going. Be kind.
   
   
8. SAVE THIS POST. The time will come when you need it again. And so do I.