Back in your inbox quickly, making up for lost time. I am also considering sending out this newsletter every two weeks rather than monthly. If you feel strongly either way, feel free to let me know. Thank you for being here.
Have you ever had those moments when you feel locked out from your writing? When it feels like somehow the project you are working on is just beyond the horizon and you can’t get back, or you want to start a new piece of work but you can’t quite put pen to paper?
Some might call this writer’s block, but for me it is something slightly different, a disconnect from your work, being stranded without a map to find your way back. Those looking in will say, just write, just get on with it…and sometimes that can be the answer. However, often we have to go a little deeper to remove some of the blocks in our path to writing.
I felt this disconnect from writing most intensely in early 2020. I was burnt out from my journalistic work, from finishing a novel in 2019 that took me 7 years to write, only to decide I wasn’t going to pursue publication. I was really tired, I felt like I had no inspiration. Writing didn’t feel fun, it felt linked to the exhaustion. In the first months of 2020 I was actually thinking really deeply about whether I wanted to write anymore. I took writing as a career off the table for a while and began to think about what else I might do. Would I move back into development/NGO work or academia?Would I pursue a more spiritual path? I felt incredibly lost.
A few months into lockdown I decided to do The Artist’s Way. For those who have never heard of it, it is a book detailing a 12-week course for creatives “a spiritual path for higher creativity” as the subtitle explains. Each week there are exercises to do and there are two very clear asks; that you write three stream of consciousness pages every morning, and that you take yourself on a solo Artist’s Date every week. I had done The Artist’s Way before but ended up stopping halfway through. This time I approached it with deep dedication and no expectation of the outcome. By about week 8 I felt the desire to write bubbling up in me again, by week 10 I had started writing the novel I finished this year. It was once I started writing again that I realised that I HAVE to write, as I explained in my last newsletter.
So, what helped me get back to writing?
Obviously doing The Artist’s Way. But not everyone wants to do a 12-week course (although I highly recommend it), so here are a few tips, some things I found that helped.
1) Doing other creative things simply for creativity’s sake. I drew, I baked, I danced and cooked elaborate meals just because. This opened me back up to that childlike creativity that had got lost in striving, achieving, outcome-oriented creativity.
2) I wrote silly poems. I always loved silly poems growing up, my Dad used to recite funny songs and poems to me all the time. Writing them myself, let me just have fun and play around with words, phrases, sounds and imagery.
3) I put a timer on for 10 minutes each day and wrote down everything I noticed. It got my curiosity moving again, allowed me to use all my senses. I do this now at the beach without the timer. I just see what I notice and scribble it in my notebook.
4) I got clear on what voices were stopping me writing, what they were saying and what my fears were. Getting clear gave the voices less power when they inevitably arose and I was able to bat them away quicker or see them for what they were.
5) I took my inner child out on a special day with her own notebook and pen and a very sweet hot chocolate and asked her to tell me her stories…She wrote 13 pages!
6) I spent a lot of time not even thinking about writing and not feeling bad that I wasn’t writing or that I had no big ideas for a novel. Taking it off the table, as I mentioned earlier actually resulted in the desire to write returning.
7) When I was inspired to write, I started out gently. I had a goal of 500 words a day. Not 500 good words, just 500 words had to be written at any time of day. Some days they got written first thing, other days just before bed. Eventually the flow/dedication created the container I needed.
Do you let yourself create for creativity’s sake? What things do you do when you feel locked out from your writing? I would love to hear. Feel free to press reply and let me know or leave me a message in the comments.
Recommendations:
A few things that I have enjoyed recently
Newsletter: I am really enjoying George Saunders’ Story Club on Substack. It has given me food for thought and I like feeling like a fly on the wall in the writing class I always wanted to take. It is about to go behind a pay wall but I think I might have to treat myself to a subscription for Christmas.
Podcast: I loved this episode of In Writing with Liane Moriarty. I am a big fan of her writing and it was so lovely to hear how she thinks and works. I am so precious about my writing space, so it was interesting to hear that she, as such a prolific writer, quite casually shares her desk with the rest of the family.
Support: Years ago, when I first arrived to Mexico, I volunteered for a wonderful organization called SiKanda. I was their first ever volunteer. A decade on and they are going strong and doing amazing work. This year they are building a library in an under-served community of Oaxaca. I truly believe in the power of books. If you have a spare few pounds/dollars/pesos, please take a look and consider helping them out.
Mentoring
I love mentoring new and established writers. I currently have space to take on one new client before the years’ end. If you would like to kickstart or restart your writing before the new year, do get in touch.
What my mentees say:
“I’ve had a fair amount of experience with mentoring, on both sides, and I can confidently say that Susannah has a natural gift for it. I came to her with a head full of ideas and enthusiasm but a lack of clarity and direction. Susannah supported me in simplifying my goals without diluting them and guiding me into moments of enlightenment. She helped me see the magic in the big-picture oak tree and the power in its tiny acorns.”
Victoria S. - London
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