Beating the Writing Blues
I don’t know about you, but I got a little sick of hearing how fruitful and productive the pandemic was for some writers. Bashing out a bestseller in three months? Congrats.
Personally, I did not find those days creatively inspiring. Instead, I found the pandemic stultifying and fear-inducing. My motivation faltered. Often, I was lost in the swirl of news headlines and press conferences, and my mind was distracted by other events: worry for my children, worry for my sick brother, worry for my family, both here and on the other side of the world.
This isn’t the first time I’ve faced the writing blues. Writing is a lonely pastime. It requires discipline, tenacity and a certain amount of faith in an idea, an idea that you must stay invested in for months, sometimes years. It’s an endurance sport. A static, desk-bound marathon, during which it’s all too easy to fall at the hurdles of self-doubt or procrastination.
To tackle these doldrums, I’ve compiled a list of all the tricks and tips I’ve learned to beat them. I’m thinking of this as my mental toolbox, ready for the next time they come knocking and am sharing it here in case anyone else is feeling the struggle.
There’s nothing wildly ground-breaking here – some ideas are big – some are small – but perhaps you might find one or two to jolt you from the fog.
Best of luck.
1) Read. It’s a no-brainer. Whether you are writing or not, you must read. Read the books you loved as a child, books your friends and family have recommended. Read novels and memoirs, autobiography and travel. Read books – fiction and non-fiction – set in the landscape you are writing about. Read poetry and look for the beauty in unusual word connections, spare prose or emotion concisely communicated. Read the books you wish you’d written, and the books you find sitting on that dusty shelf in the holiday let you’ve just arrived at. I find the books that take my breath away inspire me to write better. Books that I don’t enjoy so much remind me that I too have a valid contribution to make. It takes all genres and tastes. It’s all good.
2) More specifically, read about the craft of writing. Stephen King’s On Writing and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird are both warm, reassuring guides packed with helpful advice. Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way offers a routine for daily writing practice. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic is helpful for unpicking those fears that can hold a writer back. If nothing else, these guides from wildly successful writers will reassure you that every author struggles from time to time. It’s normal. One word of warning though… reading about writing can sometimes be its own form of procrastination. At some point you have to put the method books down and get back to your own words.
3) I once heard Charlotte Wood (author of the incredible The Natural Way of Things) discuss the idea of touchstone books – those books that speak to you at the start of a creative project, the one or two special books that seem to encapsulate a hint of what you are striving for, an essence of inspiration. She talks of keeping them nearby, as guides or charms. I do this too. I often have a pile of carefully curated books sitting on the corner of my desk, like a silent cheer squad. I hadn’t realised that other writers did this, or that Wood had so wonderfully put a name to the concept, but I love the term ‘touchstone’. Keeping a selection of lucky charm books nearby as you work that by their very presence keep you on course.
4) There’s a point many writers will recognise, usually about halfway through a first draft, when things can go off the boil and words grind to a soggy halt. A good trick I’ve learned for beating that awful sensation is to stop right where you are and jump ahead to tackle a different scene. If the moment I am writing feels directionless, lifeless or uninspiring, I focus instead on a scene, a conversation or an interaction that I am excited about. Writing in ‘scenes’, rather than chapters feels less daunting, and joining up the dots between scenes feels more achievable than grinding on through a novel in a straight, linear fashion. Sometimes, this technique inspires interesting structural changes and shifts that I hadn’t previously considered. Likewise, writing an ending when only halfway through the first draft can sometimes act as a useful signpost. It helps to form the map of the novel and becomes the target I am heading towards.
5) Don’t isolate yourself. Make friends with other writers, both online and, where possible, in real life. If you read and loved another author’s book, tag them. Writing is a lonely process and we all have moments of crisis. A kind word or a little boost on social media never goes amiss. So make friends. It will surprise you how many writers feel exactly the same way you do. A little while ago, I met writer friend Cesca Major for lunch. Cesca had just signed a publishing deal for her wonderful new ‘Groundhog Day meets One Day’ love story, Maybe Next Time (coming March 2023 - truly excellent!). I nearly bailed on our lunch, worried that her success and my doldrums wouldn’t mix, but instead, I got to spend two hours putting the world to rights with someone who understood, who offered encouragement, who couldn’t have been kinder and who, in her own path to well-deserved success, offered invaluable inspiration and guidance. I guess what I’m reminding myself (and you) of here is don’t hide away. Be honest … and be real - about the good and the bad. Writers are a nurturing, supportive bunch.
6) Remember that it’s impossible to write in a vacuum. Julia Cameron writes about the importance of this in The Artist’s Way. She proposes making time for creative dates with yourself – a regular commitment to nurturing your creativity and filling your well with inspiration. My late husband, Matt, was very good at reminding me of this. Sometimes I still hear his voice urging me to go for a walk, ride a bus, visit an art gallery or an exhibition. It works too. It was a day trip a few years back to a Francis Bacon exhibition in Sydney (his encouragement) that offered glimmers into a different type of artistic process and torment, small snippets of which helped to inspire my third novel, The Peacock Summer.
7) Take a shower. A little weird, I know, but this often works for me. I’ve had some of my best ideas in the shower. Something about standing there in a relaxed state with warm water pouring over me, seems to be a release. I might not even be thinking of my novel when a fresh idea, a shard of imagery, or a moment of dialogue might flash into my mind. Then it’s a soggy dash to a notepad and pen to catch it before it washes down the plughole.
8) If your doldrums are deep-seated and bad work habits have settled in, or that voice of self-doubt is just too loud to silence, you might benefit from seeking help from a mindset coach or mentor, someone whose job it is to help you understand what’s holding you back and offer new tools and insights into your working life. I was lucky to work with mindset coach Kelly Weekes as I struggled with a crisis of confidence. Over a few online sessions we worked together on shifting my blues. Kelly helped me focus on what was holding me back (fear) so that I could establish new working patterns to reboot my writing practice. One of the key pieces of advice Kelly gave me was to remember why I started writing in the first place, to focus on the joy – the pleasure I feel doing something I love, that helps me lose myself. Reconnecting with the joy has proved crucial for me in overcoming my mental hurdles.
9) Likewise, there are courses and retreats that can help writers unlock their creativity. They aren’t always the cheapest option (I’d give the shower a go first!) but carving out the time and space for yourself, allowing your writing to be ‘important’ is important. I have had positive writing experiences at the Varuna Writers’ House in Australia and at the retreats offered by the Arvon Foundation at The Clockhouse in Shropshire. I have also, in the past, booked a couple of days in a tiny Airbnb, just to escape the routines of home. In addition, I’ve had the good fortune to connect with the generous and wonderfully nurturing writer Kathryn Heyman on her Creative Immersion course (held online). Investing time and money in your writing isn’t always easy, but it can pay off.
10) Change the way you write. Mix it up. Go to a local café for a few hours. Sit under a tree. Set a timer and write anything in a free-hand frenzy for a short-sharp burst.
11) Disconnect yourself from the internet. I am the worst at this, but the internet really is the greatest procrastination tool of all. Download one of those apps that restricts your access for a few hours. Give your mind the space it needs to get lost in your idea.
12) Don’t forget the ‘why’. Why are you doing this? I’m not talking about financial gain, readers or fame. I’m talking about connecting with the original spark that fired you up to write your book. Why this story? Why are you the person to tell it? What was it that ignited the idea? Return to that. Was it a location? A character? A news story? A life experience? Return to that moment and sink into it. Writing a novel is a long process. It can be too easy to lose sight of what initially made you excited. Return to that – again and again - to feed your fire and keep you on track.
13) Lastly, I’d say that sometimes it’s important to recognise there are times when you need to step away from the desk. Sometimes, life events come along that are so important or enormous that they sweep you off your feet. Some days, what’s happening around you or to you demands your full attention and focus. No amount of sitting at a desk is going to take you to that place of creative release. On those days, give yourself permission to be where you need to be, without guilt or judgement. The ideas and the words will wait. Instead, go live. Sit with your loved ones. Nurse your sick brother. Cook meals for your friends. Do the work of living, knowing that in those quieter moments at the beginning or the end of these days, if the mood takes you, you can still pick up a pen and a journal and let words be your private release or comfort. If you write, you are a writer. You will get back to it, when you are ready.