With the festive season on the horizon, a lot of distractions can get in our way and get on top of us. We might even be more preoccupied with the hustle and bustle of Christmas rather than writing, which is bad news - especially if there’s a deadline on the horizon.

If you’re lacking in motivation this Christmas, here are a few tips on how to get rid of festive writer’s block.

1. Work out the cause of your winter writer’s block

The first thing you should do is try and identify what it is that’s causing you to struggle, and try to tackle that issue.

Whether it’s the fear of your ideas not being good enough, your perfectionism and getting everything flawless before you put pen to paper, or, especially for this time of year, simply the timing not being right.

The Christmas season is especially bad for putting things on hold until the new year. Without thinking, we all tend to shut down in towards the end of December and adopt the ‘new year, new me’ attitude.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but make a promise to yourself that you’ll pick things up again in January.

2. Plan ahead

It’s a good idea to plan ahead for the festive season so that when December arrives, you’re not rushing around to get last-minute things done.

Get the Christmas decks up, start your shopping early, stock up on food and get those cards written and sent out as soon as its socially acceptable to do so.

That way, you’ll feel less stressed and more motivated to write, and won’t be able to use the festive season as an excuse to slack at your desk.

3. Dedicate specific times for Christmas shopping

If you’re simply not that organised this year, the festive season shouldn’t hold you back from writing, and there are ways to keep on top of the Christmas hustle and bustle and still make time for your book.

So that you don’t spend your days worrying and stressing about Christmas shopping, dedicate some specific time during the day to getting all of that done.

Whether that’s doing a bit of online Christmas shopping and heading to the shops in the evening or weekends, you can still find time to fit the festive necessities in and sit down at your desk.

4. Get into the Christmas spirit!

Who says that just because you’re writing a book that you can’t enjoy the holidays? We think that getting stuck into the Christmas spirit could actually help with your writer’s block, so go for it!

Put on your favourite jumper, play some Christmas songs and get into the spirit. That way, you won’t feel that you’re missing out on the festivities when you’re busy penning your next book!

Final thought

We all know that Christmas can be a hectic time of year, but your writing shouldn’t suffer as a result.

From time to time, our motivation can dwindle, but you wouldn’t be a writer if you didn’t suffer from writer’s block at least once. With these few simple tips, you can get back to writing your next bestseller in no time!