When Life Gets Lifey
Some Ways to Stay Creative and on Top of What the World Hands Out
I was going to write something about the process of getting published… from getting an agent (or not) to working with an editor. However, with the things that life has been throwing at us all lately, I think a musing on how to continue writing, or working in general, despite the chaos in living is in order.
Personally, I have been dealing with the new resistant Covid-19 strains, the fight for women’s autonomy in healthcare, moving halfway across the continent, my own complicated health concerns, and summer family fun… But when my mother called me the day that Roe v. Wade was overturned, I realized that the complications of life weren’t going to go away, they were just going to get more, well, complicated.
I mean, between the noise from my conscience to the noise of the leaf blower next door to the roar of the private airplanes of billionaires landing and taking off at the airport not far from my home, my mind has been reeling with the difficulty of just writing. It’s not been just an adjustment to a new place to live for me, it’s been adjusting to the people, the world, and what it’s been heaving into our laps.
So, here are four tips that I always give to those who are struggling with writing... or, for that matter, just working in this new WFH norm.
Tip One: 5 minutes
Sit in front of your computer, notebook and pen, or whatever you use to write or work for 5 minutes. Accomplish one of your tasks, write, brainstorm, outline. Make it small. Make it achievable. I always tell people not to make their first foray back into whatever complicated. The feeling of getting a few words down on paper, as opposed to not accomplishing a full-blown word count, will be much more satisfying if you try not to expect too much. Thus, 5 minutes instead of 500 words. And if 5 minutes turns into 35 or 50 or more minutes, then great!
Tip Two: Read
Spend time reading. Whether it’s a craft book, a manual for work, a genre book appropriate to your writing, a genre book outside your norm, this is the time to get inspired by others.
Tip Three: Stretch
And by stretch, I don’t mean exercise… Though doing good things for yourself is essential. I mean stretch your talents. Can’t write enough to satisfy yourself in 5 minutes? Try writing a poem or a paragraph of lovely prose. Can’t design an ad in 5 minutes? Try doing a business card or logo. Can’t accomplish your big task in 5 minutes? Try breaking your task into manageable steps that you can accomplish in 5 minutes. It’s about stretching your ability to adapt and create and think critically. It’s about exercising your brain.
Tip 4: Be Good to Yourself
I’ll say it again… Doing good things for yourself is essential. If you are too frustrated to write or work even when it’s absolutely necessary, you won’t do a good job. So, schedule some downtime. Even if you are only following the 5 minute rule, make sure you do something for yourself. Hydrate, drink more coffee or tea, get/give yourself a manicure, go for a 5 minute walk, do things for yourself that will recharge the creative and critical well we all need to live full and thoughtful lives.
Those are just the bare bones of what you can do to overcome the world. If they are simplistic, it’s because that’s what we… I… need to cope with this ever-changing, ever-difficult world. Simple. As in Keep it Simple, Sam. And if these strategies don’t speak to you, of course, I’m not an expert. There are many other ways to cope and help with this flawed world. You can volunteer, be an activist, raise your voice, or have a hobby or three. There is so much beyond the simple that can be fulfilling and revive that creative and critical well that we all need to survive.
In the meantime, seriously, be good to yourself. Be good to your neighbors. And carry the light of creative, critical thought with you 24/7.
Announcements
AMONG THIEVES author and newsletter contributor M.J. Kuhn will be speaking at this year’s National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.! The event is free to the public and takes place on September 3rd, 2022 at the Washington Convention Center.
