How To Find A Calm Writing Routine
Ironically, I felt stressed writing parts of this blog. As in, my teeth literally went numb.
I remember a time when writing didn’t come with a heap of expectations or mental resistance. Somewhere along the line what should be simple and joyful has become source of stress and judgement.
And that’s why I’m writing about how to find a calm writing routine.
Why create a calm writing routine?
Imagine what it feels like to be in complete alignment with yourself.
Imagine the satisfaction of writing all the untold stories out of your heart and onto the page. Imagine that you’re able to do this without fear or judgement.
Imagine sitting down to write without that buzzing sensation in your chest. Imagine smiling and picking up where you left off. Imagine not writing much at all but feeling ok about it. Imagine a scenario where a ‘bad’ writing day has no power over your emotions.
Imagine nurturing your creativity like it’s a plant. Imagine a routine that cycles through springs and winters, a routine that works with your body and mind, not against it. Imagine the steady flow of stories streaming from your imagination.
Feels good, doesn’t it?
A calm writing routine is my aspiration for 2022, instead of a productive one. Today I’d like to share how I hope to nurture calm when I write.
2022 Vision Board for a Calm Writing Routine
In January I picked ‘calm’ as my guiding word while making a vision board for 2022. It’s the first time I’ve had a ‘word’ for the year since 2019.
Back then I picked ‘abundant’ and hoped everything would fall into place.
Now that I’m a little older and wiser I realise that a word for the year is more akin to a new year’s resolution than a silver bullet. It’s a question not an answer, a journey instead of a destination.
(At least, that’s my gut feeling three months in!)
Here’s my 2022 vision board:
Most of the images relate to feeling grounded or at peace. I won’t dissect them all in detail because some have deeply personal meanings, but I tried to pick images that show calm as a process, rather than an outcome.
A woman finding peace in nature. Anaïs Nin placidly working at her printing press. The written word taking flight as naturally as a soaring gull.
My vision board radiates a calm, centred, self-assured energy that I’d like to cultivate this year and beyond. Recently I noticed that some aspects of my writing routine were formed as a response to ideas or goals that came outwith myself.
How do I know that? Because of the buzzy, panicked feeling in my chest when I try to write. These writing goals or ‘shoulds’ are rooted in stress, guilt or comparison.
I’d rather my goals and writing routine developed from my values, not someone else’s. Before my writing routine can be productive, creative, inspiring or fun it has to be calm. It must be in alignment with who I am.
Ways To Cultivate A Calm Writing Routine
Here’s a few of the ways I’m trying to cultivate a calm writing routine this year:
Accepting & being thankful for exactly where I am
We’re all on a different path. While it can be tempting to measure my progress against other writers’, comparison truly is the thief of joy.
Accepting where I am on my unique and mysterious timeline keeps me energised and hopeful. Where criticism is destructive, gratitude heals.
I’m grateful of where I am and what I’ve achieved.
I feel calm knowing that I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
If it gets words on the page, it’s a good method
My brain works best in 15-minute bursts. I used to beat myself up over my poor attention span but now I embrace it.
I love writing sprints, where I set a timer for 15 minutes and write as much as possible before the alarm goes off. I’ve surprised myself at how many words I can write with this laser focus. I suppose there’s no time to overthink!
Once the 15 minutes are up, I allow myself to drift into a new tab or stretch in the sun. Then I’ll come back for another 15 minutes. (It’s basically a version of the Pomodoro technique ).
I’ve found I get more done by chopping my day into 15-minute bursts than if I force myself to sit for a prescribed amount of time.
For group writing sprints I love By The Brooke and Stig Dyrdal.
The writerly chats in between each sprint give your brain a chance to relax without leaving the writing zone. And it’s motivating to know that others are working on their projects, too.
Buy the right tools for the job
This is a practical one. If I’m uncomfortable while writing it follows that I might feel irritable.
A wireless mouse and laptop stand are game-changers. As are a hot water bottle and blanket in the cold months. Pretty, ergonomic pens are next on my list. And let’s not forget wax melts that smell like caramel biscuits and tea in my favourite mug.
A calm writing routine rooted in self-compassion
I’ve written an entire post on how writing affirmations help me.
Writing affirmations are the easiest way to access my nurturing and compassionate side. (The side we normally reserved for pets and friends).
The crux is that self-compassion gets you further long-term than that pessimistic inner critic.
Instead of crushing self-doubt, you get to feel hope. Instead of resistance, you feel excitement. Instead of a blank page, you get screeds of story.
That’s why writing affirmations will always be the foundation of my calm writing routine. You can probably spy a couple of them on my vision board!
Untangle writing from my identity
What if you looked into a crystal ball and saw that you never became a successful, published author?
How would you feel?
I’ve been asking myself this question a lot lately.
While I believe I can achieve anything I set my heart to, I also think it’s healthy to separate who I am from what I do.
If the need to make money disappeared overnight, I’m sure we’d all live life differently. We probably wouldn’t feel the same pressure to make money from the things we enjoy. Soul-crushing jobs are what lead most writers to seek an escape route. If I got paid handsomely to write stories all day, I’d feel like I’d beaten the system!
But if I didn’t need to make money at all I probably wouldn’t put the same pressure on writing. It would be a nourishing hobby rather than a golden ticket. My satisfaction would come from perfecting my craft, no crafting an online presence that sells books.
Ebb and flow
Creativity is like a river. Sometimes it crashes and tumbles, an unstoppable force of nature. In dry seasons it’s barely a trickle. But mostly it’s a languid flow.
I’ve already noticed that I write most in the autumn/winter and that my creativity lulls during summer. But my creativity also fluctuates week to week, or morning to morning.
Instead of feeling frustrated or useless, I’m taking this as an opportunity to find alignment.
Sometimes the best thing to do when things just aren’t working is walk away. Take a nap. Journal what’s on your mind. Fill your creative well by indulging your inner child. Walk outdoors.
It’s simple advice but I rarely take it.
How much calmer would I feel if I sat in the garden and read a book instead of banging my head against the keyboard? Studies show that our brains still work at solving problems on a subconscious level while we’re asleep or diverted at an unrelated task.
If nothing else, a screen break will refresh you.
Embracing my inspirations
Like creativity, inspiration doesn’t always fit into a coherent, Instagrammable box.
Some inspirations stay with us from childhood while others were forgotten alongside the lost toys. Or perhaps some inspirations are dark in nature and we worry what others will think.
I think embracing the music, films, art, and experiences that you love is a part of embracing your true self. Make peace with what you like and then go and enjoy it. There’s usually a whole community of people dedicated to appreciating the things you like. Don’t let naysayers sway you from having fun and getting inspired.
Calmness springs from feeling connected and grounded to who you are and what you value. The things that inspire you are usually reliable signposts to what you hold dear.
Set gentle goals
I’ve always set goals because I like to know where I’m heading and how to get there. However, I often underestimate how long a task takes, then either miss targets or burn myself out trying to meet a deadline. Cue my brain, ablaze with negative self-talk.
I also think it’s easy to be seduced by other writers’ goals and ambitions. The thing is, success looks different to each writer.
How often have you heard that? But when I stop and think about my values it’s sometimes at odds with the goals I’ve set.
Gentle goals hinge on self-encouragement and compassion. I remember reading once that you should be even kinder to yourself than you think is acceptable. In terms of writing that might look like finding my favourite place to write instead of writing x-amount of words per day.
Keep secrets
Many advise on embracing the label ‘writer’ but for me, that came with a slew of vulnerability that killed my creativity.
I love having a secret project that’s just for me. I can share it when the time is right or choose to keep a secret forever.
When I let people know I was writing a novel I became paralysed by the persistent but well-meaning question, “How is the book?”
Even now I feel I can’t share that novel. The expectation that I’d get published or even self-publish crushed my enthusiasm. I think there’s this expectation that writers want to publish everything they write.
Why can’t we write just for fun?
While I did want to publish The Children of The Mist, there’s also a part of me that wished I’d kept it as my secret practise project.
How To Pick A Word That Nurtures Your Writing Habit
Writing can be a calm, joyful activity if we take our foot off the gas and prioritise feeling good and creative satisfaction over word counts or book sales.
If you’d like to pick a guiding word that nurtures your creative habit here are some tips:
Focus on feelings
How do you feel about writing now? How would you like to feel?
I found writing the answers to these questions in my diary helpful. Try not to stop at the first answer, dig deep. I think the reason ‘abundant’ didn’t work for me back in 2019 was because I didn’t go one layer deeper. I craved a sense of abundance because I was stuck in a scarcity mindset. I wanted the stability and serenity I thought abundance would bring. In other words, I craved the feeling of calm.
I find focussing on feelings more reliable because they’re untethered to external ideas and expectations. I might think that a six-figure book is what I want, but unless I’ve addressed the deeper feelings behind that desire I’ll likely be trading one set of anxieties for another.
Thinking about how I want to feel at the end of the year is like reverse engineering a novel. Find your protagonist’s end state (in this case, you!), flip it to the opposite and then work through the events that will lead from one state to another.
Keep asking “What would a ___ writing routine look like”?
Think about what isn’t working in your routine. What changes might take you closer to your end goal?
Be curious, not condemning. When something doesn’t go according to plan or you slip into old habits, examine what went wrong and why with the curiosity of a birdwatcher observing migrating geese.
Get geeky
I read the Oxford Dictionary definition of calm:
not excited, nervous or upset
Then I found various synonyms on thesaurus.com (my favourite website):
cool, harmonious, low-key, mild, placid, serene, slow, smooth, soothing, tranquil
As I bonus round, I checked calm antonyms:
agitated, excited, harsh, nervous, rough, uncool, violent, angry, excitable
I knew my current routine sometimes felt harsh because I demanded a lot from myself. I frequently felt agitated or nervous because I kept falling short of my goals. Anger or frustration also wasn’t uncommon on a bad writing day. However, good writing days felt tranquil. And I found it easier to get into a flow state when I took writing slow and allowed myself to get lost in a scene. I want to feel more of this tranquil, smooth, serenity.
Exploring calm in all its guises and opposite states helped confirm it as my word for 2022.
I’d love to know if you have a word for the year and how you apply it to your writing routine!