Finding My Writing Flow
It took me some time to get back into writing after finishing my PhD. I busted several synapses (actually, most of my synapses) finishing my dissertation. Then I worried that I used up every ounce of creativity I had, which of course is silly. As Maya Angelou said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Other life stresses got in the way, as well, and before I knew it an entire year passed and I thought I had little to show for it.
After some nudging, I remembered to be kind to myself. In fact, I did get some important work done. We created brand spanking new editions of all three books of the Loving Husband Trilogy. And after four years, Down Salem Way is nearing final edits and it will be published this summer. So, yeah, I did okay.
Here’s some of what I learned about finding my writing flow (as opposed to daydreaming about writing). These are my lessons. Your lessons are your own to discover.
I Have a No-Routine
Routine
This isn’t really a lesson, but that’s part of what we must become comfortable with when we choose to live a creative life. We can look at examples from others we admire, but in the end, we need to decide what works for us. We can read lists about the routines of famous writers like this one from Medium.com and this one from Brain Pickings. I love to see how these crazy-talented humans crafted routines that allowed them to create brilliant works of art.
Of course, my favorite is from my main man, Charles Dickens. Here’s what Medium.com said about Dickens’ unvaried writing routine:
Dickens’s working hours were invariable. His eldest son
recalled that “no city clerk was ever more methodical or orderly than he; no
humdrum, monotonous, conventional task could ever have been discharged with
more punctuality or with more business-like regularity, than he gave to the
work of his imagination and fancy.”
He rose at 7:00, had breakfast at 8:00, and was in his
study by 9:00. He stayed there until 2:00, taking a brief break for lunch with
his family, during which he often seemed to be in a trance, eating mechanically
and barely speaking a word before hurrying back to his desk.
On an ordinary day he could complete about two thousand
words in this way, but during a flight of imagination he sometimes managed
twice that amount. Other days, however, he would hardly write anything;
nevertheless, he stuck to his work hours without fail, doodling and staring out
the window to pass the time.
Promptly at 2:00, Dickens left his desk for a vigorous
three-hour walk through the countryside or the streets of London, continuing to
think of his story and, as he described it, “searching for some pictures I
wanted to build upon.” Returning home, his brother-in-law remembered, “he
looked the personification of energy, which seemed to ooze from every pore as
from some hidden reservoir.” Dickens’s nights, however, were relaxed: he dined
at 6:00, then spent the evening with family or friends before retiring at
midnight.
Just so you know, I’m not walking for three hours through the dusty, desert streets of Las Vegas, especially not in the 110-degree summertime heat. I had to find my own way of creating.
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Unlike Dickens, I don’t like doing the same thing at the same time each day. Some days I get to work early. Some days I like to try out new coffee shops. Some days I head down to the Strip (this is Vegas, baby). I get to work when I get to work, and that works for me. Anne Lamott says we should write at the same time every day because it tricks our brains into kicking into gear. Maya Angelou said something similar. Bully for them. And bully for you too if such a routine works for you (remember, this is about what works for you, not anyone else).
I mean, I really dislike routines. I have an inherent recalcitrance which means that I can’t be told what to do, even if I’m the one telling myself to do it. I had that problem a number of times this year. Someone would say to me “Do this” and my response was generally, “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.” So I don’t do well with hours blocked out on a Google Calendar saying what time I’m supposed to work on my essay, what time I’m supposed to feed the cats, what time I’m supposed to edit a chapter. There were times when I’d create the events on the calendar and then never look at the events since I didn’t care what the calendar said. I’ll feed the cats when I damn well feel like feeding the cats. So there Google Calendar!
Instead of plotting out my hours, I give myself one or two tasks per day. That’s it. When I get my tasks done, life is good. Two tasks a day might not sound like much to the Productivity Gurus, but I’ve seen a lot of blog posts wondering if we’re actually using our time to our best advantage, which to me suggests a backlash against all the productivity rules shoved up our hoo-haas for a few years now. We need to get our work done, of course we do, but we also need to live our lives, spend quality time with our families, read good books, watch the sunset, or even stare at the wall if that’s what we need to do to recharge. We are not hardwired to work constantly, every day, all day. We are not created to have every last minute of our days scheduled (unless you’re Charles Dickens, in which case, keep doing what you’re doing).
Today my two tasks were first, to edit three chapters of Down Salem Way. This is my last run through before the manuscript goes off for final edits so I’m in the fiddly stage where I add and subtract the same comma for an hour. Since I know this stage of editing is a task that takes a long time, my only other task for the day was to write this blog post. I accomplished what I wished and though you can’t see me I’m doing a happy dance. It’s a Grandad happy dance, but still, it’s a happy dance. It’s nearly 8 pm as I’m writing this, but I tend to have my better ideas later in the afternoon and early evening so it’s all good. All is well with my soul and now I have time to read, color in my new paisley design coloring book, brush the cats, and watch the white-pink-gold desert sunsets we’re lucky enough to have here in Vegas (the sun is still setting at 8 pm during these longer days, a cool thing indeed).
I Use Notebooks
I mean real notebooks, the real kind with real paper that you write in with real pens. In Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg talks about getting goofy notebooks with cartoon characters and funny pictures on the covers. Her rationale is it’s harder to take yourself seriously when you’re writing in a Peanuts notebook. I’ve always loved that idea. Writing Down the Bones was originally published in the 1970s, long before technology invaded every aspect of our lives; for me, Goldberg’s message resonates even more strongly today.
I gave up pen and paper for a few years. I’m a hippie tree hugger and I wanted to go entirely digital, thinking that journals and notebooks took up too much space (and trees) and the world is digital now so let’s do that instead.
Recently, I realized that my thoughts were getting lost. I was losing ideas (currency for an artist) and my concepts weren’t fitting together. I had a sense of what I wanted to accomplish, but the Google calendar didn’t work for me and I had too many cluttered files on my computer. But I had to keep track of my tasks. What did I want to add to social media this week? What was the research question for my article on storytelling as pedagogy? What is the publicity schedule for Down Salem Way? What interviews do I still need to respond to? A lot was getting lost, but it still needed to get done.
A few weeks ago I found some notebooks in a desk drawer (they were given to me as gifts). Finally, I started using them and it’s like a whole new world opened up. I think my problem with notebooks (perfectionists understand exactly what I’m talking about) is I’m afraid of making mistakes and having to cross out things and leaving ugly scratches whereas in a digital file I can delete the mistakes without ever having to look at them again. But maybe that’s a lesson I have to learn—it’s okay to cross things out when I need to. I have one notebook for fiction and nonfiction writing ideas, one notebook that acts as a to-do list which is where I write in my daily tasks, and one notebook that acts as a journal. In my to-do journal, I don’t add my daily tasks until the night before after I finish working so I can see what I’ve accomplished and what still needs doing.
Also, the academic in me wants you to know that there is a lot of research out there that argues that writing things down the old-fashioned way with pen and paper helps us learn better, remember more, and all that sort of good stuff. By the way, I’m still a hippie tree hugger. I buy notebooks made with recycled paper, and I recycle old notebooks I no longer need.
I’ve seen ideas for bullet journals on Pinterest and I’d love to try one. I think I’ll have some of the same anxieties with the bullet journal—the bullet journals on Pinterest are created by professional artists and I’m afraid I’d be too worried about what the journal looks like rather than the usefulness of the journal itself. One of these days I shall try it.
Finally…
I Now Have a Plan
I’ve been carrying writing ideas around in my head for a year now. Novels I want to write. I know the next Hembry story as well as the next Loving Husband story. Nonfiction books I want to write. I’ve had thoughts about how we teach writing since I began my PhD. Scholarly articles I want to write about what role creativity and storytelling might play in our day to day lives. But having the ideas floating around in my head is not the same as making a plan to actually get those ideas written into novels and articles.
Perhaps this contradicts what I said earlier about not having a routine, but not really. I’m not talking about scheduling tasks into neat little hour blocks. What I mean is I’m looking at the ideas for my next writing projects (written in my handy-dandy notebook, of course). Then I’m deciding what I want to write next, and then I schedule one or two tasks a day that allow me to reach that goal.
Oddly enough, I’ve become more productive by doing less. By having one or two specific tasks to accomplish each day, I can look back on my day (while brushing the cats and watching the sunset) and know I’m making progress. My work is getting done, and, for a creative person, that is the most important thing.
