Consider Your Process
We often describe the need to be a Whole Artist with this jumbled metaphor: if a tree falls in your apartment and no one sees it except you, did it happen? If you write a book and no one reads it except you, was it worth the effort?
We all know that feeling. Something is brewing deep within you. Something important. Some people think it emerges from the subconscious. Others say it’s the voice of the divine or God’s calling. Wherever it comes from, there are many ways of accessing it. You could pray, go to therapy, dream about it, or even indulge in drugs (not recommended). This said, the act of writing is one of the easier ways to tap into that part of yourself.
But writing is only half the job. The other half is getting your message out to readers. A book, essay, or poem is a collaboration between a writer and a reader. You might not sell thousands or even hundreds of copies. You might just give away a dozen books. But those may be the perfect people to hear your message. Your book may spark something in your readers … and they might know others who need to read your work too, and so on. In this way, you are making a real impact on the world around you. Becoming aware of this process creates excitement and energy that feeds back into your writing.
A Whole Artist cannot only create the work but also must use their creative instincts to get their work in front of people who need to read it.
Find Your Place
Let’s get practical. We’re all busy people. Transitioning from our daily lives to a period of extended creativity is challenging. One way to ease into the creative process is to set up a special place where you can go to work. A functional artist has a space of one’s own. What does your writing space look like?
According to Liz Dubelman, “Mine is my closet. I’m not kidding. I turned my garage into a closet. I do a lot of thrifting. I imagine who each previous owner was and what they did with their lives. The colors and shapes excite me. It’s very quiet in my closet, but most importantly it’s mine. I’ve heard that author Nicholson Baker writes in his car. He finds a nice shady place to park, pushes his seat back, and writes on his laptop.”
Not everyone has a spare garage (or even a car) they can dedicate as a writing space. But that’s okay. The writer’s space is as much a mindset as it is a particular location. We’ve talked to a lot of writers over the years on this topic and we hear the same sets of challenges over and over again.
The most common has to do with managing the expectations of your friends and loved ones. To be blunt, when you’re sitting down to write you are not spending time with people who need you in their lives. So not only are you alone while writing, but you very well may be burdened with the nagging feeling that you’re letting people down, or being selfish.
We’ve found it helpful to confront these feelings head-on and manage them in a thoughtful, sensitive manner. Approaches vary. Professional writers have the benefit of tying their livelihoods to the act of sitting down to write. It’s easier for them to justify it. But what if you’re a part-timer or new to writing?
One of our favorite ways of easing into a new pattern is using a substitution strategy. Think through how you spend your time day to day. Imagine broad categories like sleeping, grooming, eating, working, relaxation, exercising, etc. Time is finite, and like any fixed resource, should be inventoried and spent wisely. Look at your time budget. You may even wish to jot down how you spend your time so you can look at it more objectively.
If you want to establish an effective writing space, you’ll have to eke out time for it in a reliable manner. This is where substitution comes in. Think about where you can piece together a continuous block of time that’s there for your writing projects. Maybe it’s sleeping an hour less each day. Or watching one less show. The lowest-hanging fruit in this regard is recapturing the time you’re probably spending on social media. We all burn away hours of our lives there.
Finding a writing space of one’s own means making changes to your priorities. This works best if you don’t feel like you’re taking time away from things you enjoy. Instead, imagine that you’re substituting one thing you enjoy for something else you enjoy. That way, you never feel deprived and can reap a feeling of satisfaction from your new time budget.
If you’ve been writing for some time, you’ve probably already come up with approaches that work well. Some common ones are starting very early in the morning before other responsibilities take center stage. Some use late-night hours for this. Whichever way you go, be sure you’re setting things up to be as stress-free and easy to accomplish as possible. If it feels like an effort to “break away” from the rest of your life, you may want to try another strategy that’s easier to accommodate.
But this still leaves the issue of how to work with your friends and family, and the feelings that might come up spending time away from them.
If you’re new, we suggest easing into your writing space a little at a time. Start with fifteen minutes each day, accomplishing modest goals. This provides two things. First, it allows you to feel the joys and satisfaction that only writing can provide. It also builds your confidence when you go to explain to those around you why you’re spending time away from them buried in your writing. These people care about you and want to see you happy and successful.
Good Habits
Now that you’ve reset your priorities, considered the rewards of writing, and worked things out with the people around you, it’s time to establish some good habits. One we’re especially fond of is visiting your words. It means spending a set amount of time (ten to twenty minutes) looking at your work with heightened clarity. We’ve found it’s one of the best ways to get unstuck and carry you forward into action. It’s also a great way to look for overused patterns or repeated turns of phrase.
What was the last thing you wrote? Take a few minutes to read it through and consider it with fresh eyes. Focus on the first thoughts that come to mind. It’s okay if you find yourself having doubts. Continue pushing through and honor the feelings that come up. A lot of writers use these feelings to propel them on to the next section, chapter, key idea, or new character.
What if you haven’t written anything lately? Not a problem. Just look around and start. Don’t overthink it. Set a timer and don’t stop writing until five full minutes are up. Keep those hands moving! Now you have some words to visit. Keep an open mind as to where they’ll take you. You’ll be surprised how effective this process can be.
Another challenge we’ve encountered lies at the opposite end of the spectrum. What if you’ve got too much to say, and have problems stopping work to pivot back to the demands of daily life? There are a few ways to deal with this. One of the most effective is the well-worn practice of writing and maintaining an outline. For many people, it’s just not how they wish to work. But if you find yourself with a nagging feeling that your best ideas are escaping before you have a chance to fix them on the page, we urge you to try it out.
Discovering your Readers
Once your book is complete, it’s time to start the quest to find your readers. We’re not going to sugarcoat it here. This is often when things can get a little scary. It’s like that dream where we arrive at school and somehow forgot to get dressed. It doesn’t take a psychologist to know that feeling is vulnerability. All humans feel vulnerable at times. It’s in our nature. The trick is to identify it, acknowledge it, and ultimately celebrate it. Getting past this kind of discomfort is the first step toward discovering an audience.
The good news is that you don’t need a lot of people to start building a community. You only need a few people you enjoy or admire. People who get you, understand how you think, what drives you, and want to help you succeed.
We call these kinds of people trusted readers. You may have encountered this term already. Successful and famous writers typically have such people around them, although you rarely hear it talked about. These are the people you confer with before contacting your editor when your ideas are still semi-formed and fluid. For example, if you’re working on a novel, you may be thinking about taking the plot in a whole new direction by killing off a beloved character early on, but you’re not sure if that choice will propel your story forward or rob it of energy. Some people work with their editors or even their publishers to sort out this kind of question. But newer or part-time writers have to put together their own circle of trusted readers.
Start slowly. Look at the last people you’ve had interesting conversations with, either in person, by email, or by text. Have you told them you’re writing? Have you shown them some work? They very well might be the right reader for you. Or maybe you need a writing group (there are tons of these either online or near where you live). We’re big fans of direct mentorship as well. Try a few things out. This process will get easier the more you do it.
One thing to keep in mind: you will likely get a wide range of (often contradictory) feedback from these people. Some will be helpful, some will be irrelevant, and some may even feel hurtful. Resist the temptation to argue with the feedback you’ve been given. If you come off prickly or disagreeable, people will stop interacting with you. You’ll not only lose those trying to help you but also your confidence that your writing project has merit. When getting feedback, feel free to silently categorize it internally any way you wish. But remember, the whole point of trusted reader feedback is not about stroking your ego or hoarding praise. For the process to work, you must allow yourself to see your work through someone else’s perspective. No matter what style, format, or genre you write in, you should consider how your words will be perceived by all kinds of people—including those who don’t think the same way you do.
Expand Your Horizons
Okay, you’ve done excellent work. It’s time for a little celebration. Your mind will crave a break, especially after long periods of intense creativity. Don’t forget that creative work is real work, and like other ongoing efforts in your life, it’s important to strike a balance between effort and rest.
In the creative world, rest does not mean inactivity. Far from it! Creative rest means recharging your batteries and rejuvenating your imagination and sense of inspiration. To help with this we recommend some of the following:
Think of a book or author you love—preferably one you haven’t considered in some time. Take a few minutes to reread and think about how it makes you feel and what other readers might be feeling as they read it. This can often remind you of why you want to write in the first place and make you fall in love all over again.
Put down the books and articles and turn off your writing brain entirely. Listen to music, go to an art museum, cook a fancy meal at home. Reflect on how you feel. How might you carry that feeling back with you when you return to your writing space?
Take a walk. Getting outside in fresh air and sunlight is psychologically restorative. Try to avoid talking on the phone or listening to a podcast though. The key is to allow your mind to quiet itself so new things can find their way in.
Time with friends and loved ones is crucially important. Even though you spend much of your time alone, quietly typing and thinking, remember—you are part of a community of people who love and support you. Keeping those relationships active and healthy will give you the energy you need for long-term success as a writer.
Our best advice is to purchase a new notebook or begin a new audio file on your phone. You are a creative person and your thoughts are significant. Ideas come and go, so capture them when they come up.
Anyone who's been thinking about writing something but feels overwhelmed by what that might entail should read this masterful post. "The thing about writing," someone once told me, "is you have to write." This piece tells you, simply yet eloquently, why and how you should get started.
Lots of wisdom and encouragement here, which made me eager to end the break I've taken from creative writing. Thank you!