Getting in the Mood to Write

What gets you in the mood to write? Someone asked me this the other day.

Writing, I answered. Writing is the only thing that reliably gets me in the mood to write.

That means that, most of the time, when I sit down to write, I don’t feel like doing it. I’d rather carry on with the admin I’ve started, tick some more emails off my list, make a phone call I’ve been putting off. I’d rather have a snack. I’d rather check the news (again). I’d rather empty the dishwasher. There is always something else that I’d rather do instead of writing, ‘productive’ or otherwise. It’s so easy to let writing take the back seat, especially if being in the mood is a prerequisite.

And so I have to make myself write, because the only way to feel like doing it is to start doing it.

The sooner I stop waiting to get in the mood to write, the sooner I actually find myself in the mood. Basically, I write my way into it.