Chinese/Tibetan New Year is almost upon us. It’s another opportunity to set yourself up for a great creative year. Here’s some tips to help. (Reposted from my Substack: onthewritersjourney.substack.com)
One: REMEMBER, YOUR CREATIVE WORK IS THE THING YOU LOVE TO DO MOST IN THE WORLD. If you are thinking of it as a grind, a burden, an impossible task, then yes, it’s going to be tough and you are going to do everything under the sun to avoid it. And if you are an avoidance addict like me, holidays have a way of letting the old habits creep in. Sign up to my mailing list today to receive my very useful Avoidance Buster Workbook. With exercises to help you identify and deal with the fears that feed our procrastination and avoidance, it will help flush out the tired old voices that keep holding us back.
Because yes, I’m afraid we still have to deal with the Negative Critic, the Sneaky Sabateur, the Ribald Resister, the Nagging Nanny and all the others who regularly turn up to torment us. And if you are thinking you got rid of them in all the workshops and courses you attended, all podcasts you listened to in 2023 — think again. I’m sorry to tell you, they never really go away, they just cleverly morph into new Grizzly Gremlins in a different guise.
What I’m trying to say is: Two: BE KIND TO YOURSELF, don’t beat yourself up by listing all the things you DIDN’T achieve in 2023. Instead, Three: MAKE A LIST of all the things you DID achieve, not just in your writing or artistic life, but life in general, and give yourself a pat on the back.
Three A: MAKE ANOTHER LIST. Now write down all the things you WANT to achieve in 2024. It’s great to use a large sheet of paper for this exercise, think big, be expansive, imagine in your wildest dreams what you want to shoot for. Be specific — if you want to be published, state the publisher’s name and the date of publication, visualise the cover of your book — colours, design and all details. If you want to go on a creative residency in an exotic locale, dream up the country/continent and time of year. If you want to have an exhibition, put down the name of the gallery, how many paintings/pieces you will sell and for exactly how much.
Three B: DON’T WORRY YOURSELF INTO TO WRITING, JUST MAKE A LIST!
If you are having trouble getting back into your writing, if you are forcibly resisting— start by making a list, using dot points, not really writing, just jotting, just getting a few ideas down, keeping up the momentum with observations, descriptions, thoughts — whatever comes. Try speeding up, slowing down, don’t stop, keep going for ten minutes or so. Read back over it, underline the good bits. If you are up for it, put one of the underlinings at the top of a page and go again. Do this every morning as a warm up, as a sneaky way back into the writing.
PS. Did you know there is a genre called List Poems or Category Poems. Check out examples here. Some of my favourite readings in workshops I lead esp. when travelling, are very simple and moving lists of observations. Here is a great example from artist Jo Lane who took her first steps into writing on our 2023 India trip. Read more pieces from our extraordinary India odyssey here.
Four: BE POSITIVELY PREPARED FOR OBSTACLES. We know they are just around the corner, but I wasn’t a Brownie and Girl Guide for nothing. Not only did they show me how to cook a full traditional roast dinner over a campfire (and a few handy knots) but they taught me how to Be Prepared for anything.
Four B: Make another list — of obstacles you anticipate to your creative process and how you will deal with them. The most common obstacle most people have, is to do with time. We all fantasise about the time we will have one day — when the kids leave home, when I get my long service leave, when I finish my next contract, when I retire…
The big Q I ask all my writers is:
Five: WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE UP FOR YOUR WRITING?
It’s quite confronting isn’t it? Maybe it sounds more scary than it really is. But this is what it comes down to. Making a committment. We do it for relationships, marriage, children, work etc. but how many of us are willing to give stuff up for our writing?
I’ll leave it with you to contemplate. Love to hear what you come up with!
As I say in my Avoidance Buster Workbook…
‘The writing itself, once you get down to it, doesn’t take long. It’s everything you do to avoid writing that takes up all the time. If you put your mind to it you could write a book on a weekend!’
WRITERS JOURNEY TRIPS HEADING OUT IN 2024/25.
Haiku Walking in Japan, Mar 27 – April 1, 2024.
Sensing Italy, June 4 – 15, 2024.
Moroccan Caravan, Feb 10 – 24 , 2025.
Gascony Residency, June 19 – 30, 2024.
Contact Jan for more details!
