Dear O'Abby: Help! I've lost my creativity!

Dear O’Abby,

This year seems to be taking a toll on my creativity.  I’ve always managed to juggle a full-time job, kids and enough of a social life to keep connected with my friends and family and writing a minimum of two books a year.  This year all that has gone out the window, and I don’t quite understand how.  I actually have more hours in the day to work with because I’ve been working from home and don’t have to negotiate the hour or so commute each day, plus all my kids’ after-school activities have been on hold, so I don’t have to rush from ballet to soccer practice to karate.

Yet I still can’t seem to find time to write, and it’s beginning to really stress me out.

Do you have any tips for me?

Yours,

Slumped

Dear Slumped,

I don’t think you are alone in feeling this way. In fact, I feel like I may have covered this topic already this year, but no matter. It's important enough we can cover it again. 

COVID-19 has disrupted our lives in a massive way, and the constant uncertainty over the situation is affecting people in numerous different ways.  Even if you are lucky enough to be able to work from home and are not feeling the economic pinch of having lost a job, there is still a level of anxiety about just living in this current world.

And while working at home is saving you commuting time, it’s not giving you the separation between your workplace and your home life that you are probably used to.  Where I live, we were only in lockdown for a couple of months, but I really struggled to write during this period because all of a sudden, my creative space also became my workplace.  And after spending all day working in that space, the last thing I wanted to do after that was to go back there to write in the evening.

If you can, separate the place you do your day job from the place you do your creative writing.  Maybe you usually write in your office, but this office has now been taken over by your day job.  When you want to do creative writing, move your laptop out of the office and work somewhere else in the house.  Or if you don’t have a laptop, maybe try writing longhand in a notebook instead.  The physical act of handwriting is often a great creative exercise.

Another option is to try writing at a different time of day.  In my day job, I do a lot of writing and often find that by the end of the day, I’m out of words and struggle to get anything down when I sit down and open up my manuscript.  To counter that, I started getting up an hour or so earlier in the morning and using that time to write, before the rest of the day took over and sapped my creative energy.  It took a little time to get used to because I’ve always been a night owl and wrote into the night, but I’ve discovered I actually write better in the mornings.

Another thing you could try is taking short breaks throughout the day to write.  Set a timer and take a 20-minute break from whatever else you are doing and just write.  Don’t edit or read over what you have written, just write until the timer stops.  Do this three or four times during the day, and you may find you’ve done as much, if not more, than you would have if you’d given yourself 90 consecutive minutes at the end of the day.

But if none of these things work for you, don’t stress out.  Maybe your body is telling you to take a break.  Even if you’re not feeling particularly anxious or stressed about everything going on, it will be affecting you.  Perhaps this lack of creative energy is how it is manifesting in you.  If you can’t write, don’t try and force it.  Use that time to exercise, get outside in your garden, soak in a bubble bath, or read a book.  When you’re ready to write again, you’ll write.  The story you want to tell will still be there, and it may even be better and easier to get onto the page because you’ve given yourself time to relax and breathe.  And maybe think through things in the story you may not have considered had you not given yourself that time.

Remember, you can still be a writer even if you are not actively sitting down and pounding the keyboard each day.  A lot of writing happens in our heads, and it’s not going be any good if our heads are fogged with stress and anxiety.

Hope this is helpful!

X O’Abby

A Fond Farewell

Do you ever feel like you've got so many balls up in the air that one of them will surely come crashing on your head soon? Or worse, my greater fear--that one has already been dropped and you're so crazed that you haven't even noticed?

That's my life right now. There's been a lot going on, probably no more than anyone else's life. A sick parent, work responsibilities, deadlines and a rapidly approaching move (just in time for Xmas, yay!)... But I've been feeling less adept at juggling lately, and I'm finally figuring out that I need to cut away some commitments and focus on the things that are essential.

As a result, this is my final post at Operation Awesome, which certainly doesn't mean I won't be lurking in the shadows. After all, that's what I used to do!

I want to wish you all the best in your efforts, whether you're writing, knitting, baking, or just learning to breathe. Remember to be kind to yourself, and to others. You never know what other folks are going through, and when we get super busy it's easy to forget to ask.

I hope that you all have a peaceful and calm holiday season. Thanks for letting me be a little bit more awesome for a while!

--Delancey

Writing Is Not My Life

Years ago, when I first began exploring online writers' forums, I kept seeing members declare, "Writing is my life!" Some would go on to brag about how all-consuming their writing was, about how they had no friends, no time for other activities. At times, especially when I saw one of them making strides toward publication, I wondered if they were right. Would only those who poured everything into their writing succeed? If that was true, there was no hope for me.

See, as a young adult, I'd already learned the painful lesson that writing was not my life and never could be. It's sometimes tempting to let myself disappear into a world of my own creation, to completely give in to my drive to write and to succeed as an author. But I married and had children young, and they needed me to be more than a writer. Just being a member of my newly created family made it clear to me that there was more I had to be. Was I doomed to failure as a writer, then? Did successful writers shut out their families and the world?

Soon enough, I noticed that veteran writers didn't throw around that phrase. They managed to finish books and publish them without being swallowed up by their desire to write. What a relief! But this realization was more than a relief, because not only is there more I have to be, but there's more I have the privilege of being.

Now I'm so grateful to be able to say, "Writing is NOT my life." And when I hear people say, "Writing is my life," I cringe. Because what happens when writing doesn't seem to be going anywhere? When the dream seems to come crashing down around us? When all the work appears to be for nothing? Every writer has those moments. I've certainly had my share. And during those times, the people who loved and needed me, and the other purposes I had, were what kept me going.

Living a full life has done more than help me through the tough times in my writing life; it's enriched my writing in ways I never expected. Though there are many other aspects of my life that impact my writing, the clearest example of this is how the time I've spent practicing and coaching judo has fueled my Venture series. From the real personalities that help me to shape realistic characters, to the struggles I've observed and shared on that mat, which shape the story's themes, to the technical knowledge that helps me write about fighters, this series would not be what it is if I hadn't peeled my rear end off of my chair and gone to judo practice.

Though I love judo, I used to worry that my commitments were getting in the way of my writing goals. But the very hours I thought I was sacrificing, taking away from writing time to spend all evening at practice or all weekend at a tournament, turned out to be a great investment not only in people, but in my writing. The more I take time away from writing to just live, the more my writing comes alive.