DISCOVERING NEW WAYS TO WRITE NO. 2
''We go through a lot of change as humans. Going with the flow, adapting our writing schedules to meet our current circumstances... can all have a significant impact on our creativity.''
Greetings Victorians,
I hope my words find you in good health. About two months ago, I published my first piece on writing: DISCOVERING NEW WAYS TO WRITE NO. 1
I mused on the importance of diversifying one's interests in order to allow for new experiences and ensure that one's ideas and creative flow do not become extinct. I also mused on how my new passion for learning to play the piano and classical music has inspired new ways to write.
For the past two weeks, I've been contemplating how we overworked, fatigued, and stressed writers can find the time, motivation, and energy to write. I’ve finally collected my thoughts and decided to share them. As my viewpoints on writing are somewhat endless, consider DISCOVERING NEW WAYS TO WRITE a series, a sporadic one at that.
I. PREFACE: While I picked my brain for epiphanies and tactics that no one had ever thought of before, I found myself in the thick of writer's block. I eventually returned to what I knew best—what I knew worked. My advice is, of course, no better than anyone else's, but I'd like to believe it’s helpful. Writing while shitting, writing haikus, jotting down bits and bobs, and taking a leisurely shower or a pink bubble bath are the four tactics that came to mind. They’re also my favorites because they’re straightforward and they work!
We go through a lot of change as humans. Going with the flow, adapting our writing schedules to meet our current circumstances, and returning to the basics can all have a significant impact on our creativity.
II. FIND THE TIME: Did you know that it's medically proven that pooping can improve your mood? This happens when your bowel movement stimulates the vagus nerve. Check out this awesome article on pooping after you read mine: Healthline article
Though this is based on my own experiences, the bathroom is usually the best place in the house for privacy, thinking about writing, discovering new ideas, and of course, writing. Both pooping and showering typically calm the mind and body, unless you're very dehydrated or have eaten too many spicy foods before going to the bathroom. Showering specifically clears the mind of the day's tribulations, making space in the mind for other stuff, the fun stuff! Who wouldn’t want to kill three birds with one stone: Showering with your favorite body wash, thinking about writing/new ideas, and eventually writing?! While we can't control our bowel movements, we do have more control over when we shower. If possible, I recommend having a shower at the end of the day instead of at the beginning of the day, as this will indicate to your brain that it is time to wind down and, in this case, get to writing while leaving your stressors for the next morning.
III. FIND THE MOTIVATION AND ENERGY: For years, I've kept multiple journals and a massive folder on my notes app filled with aesthetic and non-aesthetic writing—bits and bobs. Do you know who also kept journals? Your favorite writers, such as Virginia Woolf, Oscar Wilde, Franz Kafka, and Anis Nin, who once stated, ‘‘Writing for a hostile world discouraged me. Writing for the diary gave me the illusion of a warm ambiance I needed to flower in.’’ I enjoy reading this quote because it reminds me to slow down and write from the heart. When a thought or concept occurs to me that I believe will be valuable in the future, even if it is mediocre, I write it down immediately, or I will forget. When I'm running low on energy, my miscellaneous thought piles always come in handy. I rely heavily on those bits and bobs when composing a poem or story. More recently, when I feel stagnant, I write haikus that have a consistent theme and idea, then combine them into one poem.
IV. CONCLUSION:
When we eliminate the pressure we put on ourselves to write something substantial, it's almost as if the writer's block never occurred. Jotting down your random thoughts and ideas is still writing! Nevertheless, it’s the foundation of the creative writing process.
You may have the motivation but not the energy at times. Other times, you may have the motivation and energy but not the time. Experiment with these tactics by mixing them, adding to them, and eliminating them.
That’s all for now, Victorians. I'll be known as the girl who speaks about feces online from now on, as girls do, but I hope you gained a little something from this. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and keep striving. See you next week!
Loved these recommendations! I've been struggling lately with finding the energy to write and I felt like I was wasting my time and potential, but now I see that writing is not only sitting at my desk, but is a whole process, from getting ideas and working with them in my head, to making notes and coming back to them to turn them into a piece when I get the time/energy to do so.
Seeing this as a part of the process made me feel like I'm not wasting time anymore. As writers we are always working, but not always writing haha.
Thank you for sharing this fantastic information♥️
I think it's wise when you talk about motivation, energy and time. Managing those three is a real trick. From age 24 to 54 I wrote one poem per year juggling those three things. Since easing up on work I have written 150 in the last 10 years.