Dealing with the writing slump

Sometimes I feel like I get into a writing slump. Like I have a hard time writing after I've worked so hard to get a project finished. It's almost like what recording artists have--you know that sophomore slump? The second record is never as good as the debut. Sometimes I feel like that.

I get the feeling that I poured so much of myself into that first story that made it to the bookshelf that I don't have anything left for the next one. It makes me sad to think that I'll never write anything that good again. I know I probably will, but it still doesn't take away the depression that maybe my best writing is behind me.

Right now, I'm spending a lot of my time trying to deal with that writing slump. Technically, I'm working on my fifth novel. Sometimes I really do get the feeling that I've gotten a lot of my best writing already on paper. It makes it difficult to get new things out. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying hard to come up with new plot points and twists. New character facets. It's depressing sometimes. But that's tomorrow's blog post.

So how have I been dealing with the writing slump? Honestly? I've been forcing the writing. I've been forcing out 2,000 words every day that I'm able to write now that I'm back to work. I'm not worrying about whether it's good or bad right now. I'll deal with that when it comes to revisions (ugh). Right now it's all about just getting the words on paper and moving the story along. I've got a March blog tour and a June release of a new book (and possibly a blog tour for that one too), so I've got a lot on my plate right now.

Dealing with the writing slump is just going to have to take a back seat. I've just got to push through it.