The struggle to write your book while the world feels like it’s spinning out of control is real. How can you take time to get your writing done, your book finished, your published book out there with your name on it when everything’s on fire?
The answer is to write, regardless.
You might want to revisit one of my old blog posts: How to Get Through When the World’s Rough. It was my advice in 2022 and it stands now. The world needs your writing more than ever, to help, to console, to inspire and to entertain.
But what happens when you sit down to write and there’s no juice?
Everything feels futile, heartbreaking and difficult. And not only are you feeling this way, but you’re also feeling like you can’t possibly do your writing right either.
It’s ok. Your feelings are valid, and not happening in a vacuum. Loads of creatives feel this way right now, and that’s ok. It’s normal to be overwhelmed and upset at the state of the world when you’re in a system that abuses you (and everyone else) and then leaves you powerless.
So how do we get through?
Below are some pointers on how myself and the writers and creatives I know get our work done in these parlous times.
I’m not numbering them because this isn’t a glib marketing article. When I run out of tips, that’s when the list will end.
Thing the First:
Patriarchy fucks everyone, so keep that in mind.
There are no exceptions to this, even if it looks like there are.
Whether someone is a cis white man at the top of the heap or someone else, patriarchy will have a box ready for them to be stuffed into. Patriarchy is all about conformity and hierarchy. Unless we consciously unpick our internalised patriarchy that we’ve absorbed throughout our lives, writing will be hard.
How do you do this?
Take a look at your life: the tasks you do regularly, the responsibilities you take care of, the assumptions that everyone makes about what you’ll pick up and run with.
Educate yourself on things like mental load, emotional load, division of labour in households and partnerships. Make sure that you feel your tasks are evenly distributed, and that noone is acting from an unconscious space in the labour division.
What will this do for you?
Seeing where your time and energy go helps you to see whether you’re mostly supporting someone else, or whether there’s room for someone to support you more.
Thing the Second:
One of my favourite sayings is that there’s “no one right way” to write, to finish your book and become an author. In this scrappy, sometimes-difficult world, it’s how *you* work best that matters.
It’s tempting to look at the reporting on how famous authors work and feel like that must be how a ‘proper writer’ does it. I know I’ve been guilty of getting up at 5am to write for an hour or two before my kids got up, only for my brain to be mostly useless at that hour because I’m much more of a night owl than an early bird.
If you know things about yourself (that mornings are your best time, that you work best in 15-minute increments, that you dictate better than you type) then for the love of everything sacred USE THAT KNOWLEDGE and arrange your writing time accordingly.
How do you do this?
Think about how you’ve gotten things done in the past. What were the common threads in terms of when you worked on them, what support you had, what time increments worked best for you?
Leverage those, build them into your days and weeks, and then – this is CRUCIAL – don’t think about them unless they stop working for you. Don’t fiddle around with something unless it’s broken.
What will this do for you?
It’ll free up time for you to actually do the writing, which is what you’re trying to get done. Writing a book is a long project. It’s a slog in parts of it. The last thing you need is to be faffing about tweaking your timetable instead of showing up and writing when your timetable tells you to.
Thing the Third:
You can 100% write a book in 5 minute increments. Taking just 5 minutes here and there, maybe even every day, will show you progress over time.
The magical thing is that once you’re used to doing 5 minutes regularly, you’ll naturally stretch it to 7 minutes, then 10. Soon, you’ll be writing for 30 minutes, or an hour. Then you’ll plan a half day into your schedule.
It’s like going to the gym: you can’t possibly go from no workouts in living memory to lifting heavy, and your brain is the same. It needs time to get used to writing your book.
How do you do this?
Like it says on the tin: set a timer for 5 minutes and then write. Do it again the next day, and the day after that. Don’t think too hard about it, just do it and then get on with your day. Consider the 5 minutes your break from the horrors of the world.
What will this do for you?
It’ll build your writing capacity, just like lifting weights builds your muscle. You’ll get used to writing and then you’ll continue to write. Do this enough, and it will lead to you finishing your book! That’s where you want to be, isn’t it?
And that’s all I’ve got for you today. Essentially, you deserve to be able to take time out from the strictures of the systems we live within and the horrors of the world to write and create. If no-one’s told you that recently, then I’m happy to anytime.
You can check out my Unblocked: cultivate your creative flow writing prompts if you need help getting your writing practice happening. It’s 21 days of done-for-you emailed daily writing prompts to help you create a writing habit for yourself!
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