Coming Back to Creativity – A Guide for When You’ve Been Away

Tara Henton
May 12
4 min read

Updated: Jun 10

Woman sitting on the floor with her head resting on her knees, holding a phone, beside an acoustic guitar—capturing a quiet moment of emotional reflection and creative pause. — Image credit: Kiwis (iStock)

It happens to all of us. One week you’re journaling daily or strumming chord progressions before breakfast, and the next… well, life takes over. Maybe you’re juggling family needs. Maybe your health has pulled focus. Maybe grief, burnout, or just plain old exhaustion have crept in and dimmed the spark.

Whatever the reason, if your creativity has gone quiet for a while, I want to say this: you’re not broken, and you haven’t failed.

Periods of pause are part of the process. But finding your way back? That takes courage.

You’re Not Starting Over—You’re Picking Up the Thread

Coming back to creativity can be hard. When we’ve been away from writing or music for a while, the inner critic loves to pipe up. “You’ve lost it.” “You’re behind.” “Everyone else is creating – why can’t you?”

But creativity isn’t a race, and your voice isn’t a tap that turns off forever. Think of your creative self like a thread—you may drop it for a time, but it’s still there, waiting for you to pick it back up. You haven’t lost your way. You’ve just stepped off the path for a moment.

Start Gently

The temptation is often to go big—to write a masterpiece, record a demo, post something impressive. But if you’ve been away from your craft, a gentler approach might serve you better.

Jot down some lyric fragments or favourite words.
Hum freely and record it on your phone.
Revisit an old idea—not to finish it, just to listen.
Open your instrument case and play without expectations.
Put on music that moves you—old favourites or new discoveries—and just listen.

Let it wash over you. Let it remind you what it feels like to be stirred by melody, by lyric, by story. Listening can be the spark that makes you want to create again.

You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Right now, the goal is simply to reconnect.

Surround Yourself with Creative Energy

If your motivation is low, being around others who are creating can help reignite your own spark. Whether that’s reading song lyrics, attending a creative session, or just scrolling through a few voice notes from your past self—remind your brain what creative energy feels like.

If you’re part of a creative community (like We Write Songs), pop into a writing room or revisit a prompt. Even if you don’t share anything yet, being in the space matters.

Let yourself be reminded that creativity doesn't have to be a solo sport.

Redefine Success (For Now)

You don’t need to write a chart-topper or produce a viral reel to “count” as a creative person. Today, success might be opening your notebook. Or humming again in the car. Or texting a songwriter friend.

Make the bar low. Make it reachable. Make it kind.

Let Your Current Season Shape the Work

Sometimes, the gap in our creativity comes from not knowing how to write from where we are. Maybe you’re grieving. Maybe you’re healing. Maybe you’re too overwhelmed to write about the thing you usually write about.

That’s okay. Your creative practice is allowed to change with you.

Instead of writing despite your season, what if you wrote through it? Not to fix or solve—but to witness, reflect, and stay in touch with that part of you that notices.

And remember—all those life experiences that have taken over? They’re not wasted time. They are compost for future songs. Sometimes we need a little distance before we can unpack what we’ve lived through, when the edges aren’t quite so raw and we’re ready to shape the feelings into something sharable.

I think about the journals I kept during a deeply personal chapter in my life—when my husband and I were going through several rounds of fertility treatment, hoping to become parents. We were eventually blessed with our daughter, but even now, nearly eight years later, I still cry when I try to read those pages. They take me right back to the raw emotion of that experience. But I’m so glad I captured it while I was in the thick of it. Not only did writing help me process everything at the time, but I know there are songs in those journals—ones that I’m not ready to write yet, but one day will be. And when I do, I know they’ll be songs that others will see themselves in. Songs that hold space for grief, hope, uncertainty, and the quiet courage of not giving up.

Coming Back to Creativity: A Note From Where I Am Now

This year brought another unexpected pause for me—this time due to illness and surgery that knocked me off my feet more than I anticipated. I’ve had to let go of my usual rhythm and give myself permission to heal. Slowly, I’m stepping back in. I’m writing again, bit by bit. Celebrating small wins. Reframing what progress looks like.

And I’m doing it with deep, heartfelt gratitude for the We Write Songs community—for every kind message, every shared song, every “you’re not alone.” They have reminded me that creativity doesn’t have to be fast, loud, or constant to matter.

It just has to be real.

✨ Ready to Reconnect?

If you’re looking for a gentle re-entry point, our Writing Room is always open. Join us for weekly prompts, shared reflections, and community-powered encouragement. Creativity doesn’t have to be a solo journey—you’re welcome here, just as you are.