The days are grey. It's freaking cold outside. And all I really want to do is sit around in my yoga pants and eat boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. Hey, don't judge me. You know you've been there.

What I really should be doing, though, is kicking butt on my manuscript if I'm hoping to get it finished by summer. Somewhere along the way, though, I lost my motivation. I think it might be outside, on the far corner of the porch, underneath the frozen pile of Christmas lights I haven't yet put away. What to do? Make a list, of course . . .

5 Ways to Gain Momentum When You're in a Writerly Slump

Read
Dive into a well-written book. Reading great writing inspires your own great writing. Then pull off a crappy book from the shelf. A real wing-dinger of a gag-inducing I-can't-believe-this-ever-got-published kind of book. You can usually find these on the bottom of a rack at Goodwill. Read it. This will fan the flames of your sweet-mercy-I-can-write-better-than-that reflex, and you'll be off and running in no time.

Meditate
Don't worry. I'm not advocating some wackadoodle yoga pose or mumbling of any sort. Just take a few moments to think about where you're story is headed and allow yourself to get excited about it. That helicopter crash you've got planned? Yeah! Ka-blooey, baby! Or the upcoming boy-wins-girl scene? Warmth and fuzziness. Spend some time with your characters in your mind, because if you're expecting your readers to hang out with them, then you should too.

Research
Sometimes all it takes is a new idea to spur your story into a full-out gallop. Where will you find that new idea? Google it. Search the ol' web for something related to your plot or era. You may come across something cool to include. In my recent release, Brentwood's Ward, this happened when I discovered Bramah Locks and that no one was able to pick one for over fifty years. I wondered what would happen if my hero discovered that one had and bam-o. New plot twist.

Exercise
I know. I see you, darting your eyes everywhere except at this paragraph. You were really hoping I'd skip over this, hmm? Trust me. I hate this one as much as you do, but doggone if hiking my butt outside for a walk, even when it's cold, doesn't give me a whole new perspective.

Write
Go to a library, a coffee shop, or the writerly nook where you know you're most likely to be able to crank out something. Turn off the internet. No emails. No tweets. No Trivia Crack or Candy Crush. Then write. Yep. That simple. Keep your heinie in the chair for at least two hours. I don't care if you have to stare at a blank screen for the first hour and fifty-five minutes **lifts two jedi-fingers in the air and swirls them around all Obi-wan style** you will accomplish some kind of word count.

So there you have it, Sparky. Step away from the Girl Scout Cookies and get cracking.
Don't make me come over there.