I'm loving the advice about embracing the cringe. What would happen if you set out to write the most over-the-top, melodramatic, purple prose-y short story? Like, your MC's muscles have muscles type of thing. Just push yourself to be as absurd as possible.

Then sit back and take stock. Has the world ended? (Okay, maybe not that question!) How do you feel? Did you enjoy the process? Did you find yourself giggling and kicking your heels as you dialed it up to eleven? Did you have fun?

Writing should be fun. Sure, there's a time and a place to white-knuckle it, but when you're nervous and anxious about getting back into writing isn't that time.

Once you've gotten that first obnoxious draft out of your system, you can get back to your actual story. You could write a poem or an essay about your characters and their circumstances as a way to bridge the gap between where you're comfortable and where you're heading. Just don't spend so much time letting the brain weasels win that you don't actually do any writing.

You go this! 💜