Charging The Batteries

It's becoming kind of normal for me around this time of year.

My "writing batteries" start to run down.

Thanks to NaNoWriMo, I've written at least a little bit every day (but one) since November 1. I even wrote on Christmas Day. On one of those days, I wrote more than 10,000 words.

But over the last couple of weeks, my output is dropping and my story is dragging. I'm losing focus.

So it must be time to charge the batteries.

I only wish it were as easy as plugging a cord into an outlet in the wall (like I just did with my cell phone, and a good thing this reminded me to do that!). But it's not.

For me, recharging the "write-fu" usually involves:

• Crawling out of the "writing cave" and interacting with people. When the writing is good and the words are flowing, I want nothing more than to keep writing -- to the exclusion of just about anything else. But too much of that turns me into a hermit, and that's not good, either. So I need to get out and interact with people. Plans are underway for that.
• Getting new input. Reading new books, watching new movies, going to concerts, listening to new music, brainstorming with writer friends -- these are all good and helpful things to get the current flowing again.
• Travel. Road trips are usually great creativity triggers for me. I love car travel; if I won PowerBall, the first thing I'd probably do (after buying a new car) would be to just drive around for a couple of months, taking pictures and blogging and making notes and having new experiences. Unfortunately, we don't have any travel planned for the near future, but my Beloved Husband and I usually try to at least make a long weekend out of our anniversary. I'm hoping there will be hot springs involved, too, because another of my recharges is ...
• Hot water. Standing under the shower usually gets me at least and idea or two, but a couple of hours at a hot spring -- especially if I have someone to bounce ideas off of -- is worth a month of hot showers. Now if only I could figure out a way to waterproof my netbook!
• Other creative activities. A good day of sewing or crafting can usually catapult me back into power writing mode, too. Or maybe a day with the camera, or some creative cookery, or any of the billions of other things that try to distract me from writing.

What do other people do when their creative batteries run down?

Oh, and does anyone have any good recommendations for books, movies, or new music?