The December writing slump is all too real. This is the time when you have had a tough term, and any writing vibe you might have going on has been truly depleted by NaNoWrMo - the National Writing Month - where committed writers head full pelt into a writing extravaganza for the whole of November.

Term is nearly over. A couple more weeks and you are hanging on with your fingernails. Welcome to the December writing slump where all your hard won progress over the last couple of months - against all the odds - can disappear in the blink of an eye.

Alternatively, there is a bunch of you who have done no writing all term and are now seriously panicking about that. It is not too late - the December writing slump is hard for everyone, but a little of refocusing on what you can actually achieve - however small - on your writing project between now and Christmas will make that holiday break even sweeter.

December is in fact the best month to get your writing vibe on. Stay with me, I know this seems ludicrous, but if you get something started or something moved along now - when all the stars are aligned against you, you will know, you absolutely know, you can do this anytime. The temptation is to think it is just all too much, but heading into that two week vacation time over Christmas and New Year is all the sweeter if you put that foot to the accelerator now. Or, more realistically, slowly push that ball forward one small micro movement at a time. What matters is keeping that ball rolling, however slowly. Guilt free relaxation can be yours. A whole fortnight (at least) without thinking or stressing about writing and research not done. Heaven.

How is this possible? what magic is this?

Well like most writing advice, it is not magic, more recalibration. Turning our mind away from ‘well, there’s no point starting anything now, term is nearly over / Christmas is nearly here / I’ve only one week or two…’. Sound familar? Turn that into : what can I do NOW? What small thing can I do this week? I have a whole 5 working days to make a change. What will that be?

For those of you out of the writing habit, start super slowly as follows.

• Week 1: Block out 30 minutes every working day to sit and think and make notes from your thoughts. Don’t read, don’t look stuff up. Think. Every single day. About your project, where it is, and what you want to say in it. Doodle notes and mind maps and make lists - long lists. Get that stuff out of your head and onto paper.

• Week 2: Block out 45 minutes every day. Review the lists and notes you have made, and start collating these into a rough outline / or a more specific and focused list of next steps to take. Carry on thinking.

• Week 3: Block out 1 hour of your day. Start working down the list of things to do.

• At the end of week 3, make a detailed note of where you were, what you were thinking, what comes next.

Then it’s the holidays! Hooray!

For those of you in the habit, your list looks a little different.

• Week 1: Block out 1 hour of your time daily to make extensive lists of all the things remaining on your project. Think deeply about it. What goes where, the arguments that need tightening up, the sources you need to collect / analyse, and so on. Think in this time. Do not write.

• Week 2: Block out 1 hour of your day to write, working down your list every day. By the end of this week, you might still be on task 1 (you have not successfully broken things down into small enough chunks - this takes practice! And coaching!).

• Week 3: dedicate 1 hour 30 minutes per day to tackling those writing tasks on the list.

• At the end of week 3, make a detailed note of where you were, what you were thinking, what comes next.

Then the holidays! Hooray!

You can rest, relax, knowing you have moved that project forward in tangible ways. You won’t forget where you were because you made extensive notes at the end before wrapping up for Christmas.

December need not be the month where your writing energy slumps to zero. It can be the month where you take control of a semester gone out of control. Consider joining a kickstarter weekend (I run these, just to put you back on track), or make those small commitments outlined above. Focus on the small manageable tasks that must be done to complete the project - this will keep you moving forward.