This is what I'm calling my Nanowrimo hangover. I worked and worked to make that word count. When it all seemed hopeless and pointless and I wasn't sure I'd make it, I chugged it out. I sat down and made it happen. That energy and drive abandoned me as soon as December came.

How do you get out of a Nanowrimo hangover? You make yourself do something. For me, this has been a lot of reading (books! What wonderful creations that I forgot existed in the last month), especially in mythology, and I've been watching a lot of science fiction. That means Star Wars, the new Star Trek movie, Transformers, Terminator, and Underworld. I've also been listening to a lot of Shinedown, Muse, and Lady Gaga to get the juices flowing. It's starting to work.

It's hard to go back to a story line you haven't touched in a month (or longer if you're like me and took a month long sabbatical before Nano started). It's hard to get back into the heads of the characters and back into the swing of a driving plot. I'm not one who likes to force myself to work. If it's there, I'll work. If not, then there's no way I'm forcing the plot out of my fingers. My writing stinks when I do that and I'd rather not put words on paper that I'm just going to delete later. So I'm letting myself be inspired.

There's great books out there about Star Wars and mythology. I'm going to the library tomorrow to check out a great standby book when I'm blocked: the Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (thanks NP for the suggestion last year). Sometimes I need to be reminded of the hero's journey and the various characters and steps involved in it.

To break your block, find what moves you. Music, books, movies, a cigarette on the back porch (that's if it's not 32 degrees outside like it is here), a great glass of wine, your dog. Whatever it is. Find it and let it speak to you.

I'm going to watch Optimus Prime beat on Megatron for a little while. Then I might be back in the mood to put some words down on paper.