Dear Geist,

Can you recommend a really fast, really easy way to stay connected to the writing life when you just can’t carve out even an hour? My friend and I both have toddlers, jobs, partners and aging parents, and we are both writing novels. We’re good at cheering each other on, but for one or both, sometimes days or even weeks go by without writing a word and then it takes forever to reconnect. Help!

Dear Padma,

reader/writer! One of the fastest, easiest ways to keep the writing energy going when you are needed elsewhere is a practice we call “flash momentum.” Sometime during each day—any time of day—write a sentence that has to do with your novel-in-progress: a description of something your main character is wearing (whether or not they wear it in the story), a note about the plot that’s been bugging you, a question for a minor character, that sort of thing. This sentence won’t go into the novel, but it’s about the novel. Keep the focus on your story and characters, not on what you’re doing or how you’re feeling. Write the sentence anywhere, any time, on a scrap of paper or in a notebook. Throw it away if you want. Or hang on to the notes and mine them for character, plot, etc., later on, when you’re back in the writing zone. But do it every day. Hang in there!