No matter how I try to avoid it, I get stalled sometime in January every year. The days are short, the holidays are over (thank God), the weather is generally miserable, and I’m stuck in the tedium of end-of-previous-year paperwork for my three businesses. It’s hard to get started again on any creative project. But here’s what I’ve learned over the years that helps.

• I define achievable writing goals for the year. For me, these are finishing the YA adventure novel I have already begun, and writing a sequel for my romantic suspense, SHAKEN. (I plan to create a trilogy, one story for each of the three women introduced in the first book.) I would also like to write the next Summer Westin mystery and convert my “grandpa-may-be-a-serial-killer” screenplay into novel form and write the next Neema mystery, but those are “maybe” projects, because I said “achievable goals” that I know I must finish first.

• If I find myself incapable of writing (and I usually do for a few weeks), I read the best examples of the genre I’m writing in, and I often outline them to study how the author created the story. I’m not copying, but doing this helps to to jog my brain into the right structure and sparks ideas for my own story. For example, by reading other YA novels, I now realize that I should define more competitors for the cross-island race my heroine is involved in, and another possible love interest from her background. I write notes as I read, sketching out different scenes for my own book. So after I’ve read a few books this way, I have a stack of notes and I’m eager to start writing those scenes.

• If possible, I get together with other writers and talk about writing and brainstorm ideas and solutions to problems. Being around other creative people automatically makes my brain more creative.

• 

  Icy Falls in the Cascades

  I get moving. My creative mind works better when my body gets plenty of exercise. So even if the weather’s bleak, I make myself go out for a walk and go to water aerobics and Zumba and western line dance class. And on those days when it’s not pouring rain or blowing snow, I get out and snowshoe or cross-country ski or hike or kayak with my outdoorsy friends. I’m not a big fan of winter, but the lighting on the water can be lovely this time of year, all silvery with subdued shades of blue, and sometimes frost and snow are beautiful, too.

I plan some fun events to look forward to. This year I’m going scuba diving in Roatan in early February, then to the Left Coast Crime Conference in March, and then to visit a friend in Utah in early April–all short trips, but happy events to anticipate.

So now I’m going to read a little, write a few scenes I’ve sketched out so far, go to a movie with a friend, and check the weather report to see when it would be good to schedule an outing later this week.

I know that eventually I will achieve the momentum I need to carry me into a successful and productive 2014.  Happy New Year!