Blogger: Mary Keeley
Today in Illinois the sun is shining, the temperature will reach high 80s, and the flowers are smiling . . . a perfect summer day. Is that how you’re feeling inside as you sit at your computer working on your current manuscript? I’m finally on the other side of several stressful weeks in the midst of computer death and rebuilding electronic files on a new computer using a new platform and email system. Oh, and did I mention that the death happened while I was polishing my workshop presentation for a writers conference the next day? I can assure you, I wasn’t feeling warm and “summery.”
Maybe you’ve had such a week—or string of weeks—recently. What do you do when you find yourself in a challenging writing season? Gary Chapman, author of the perennial best-seller, The Four Love Languages, also wrote the book, The Four Seasons of Marriage to help couples to identify the current season of their marriage and offer advice on how to get unstuck from a rough season and move to a more loving, happy season with their spouse.
Let’s take a look at the various seasons from a writer’s perspective. I’ll identify them and offer suggestions on how to move from a dreary season to a brighter one.
SPRING, the season of new life, equates to those times your ideas are flowing faster than you can take them all in.
- Write down each idea immediately, along with initial developmental thoughts, even if you’re on deadline for a current manuscript. Ideas are like money in the bank for a rainy day.
- Develop a filing system for IDEAS and a folder for each project, labeling them boldly as visual prompts. Add to them as additional thoughts come to mind.
SUMMER, the season of thriving growth and productivity. Conditions are good; you and your manuscript are humming along in happy relationship with each other. This is the time to stay focused. But watch yourself. It’s tempting to keep going at a pace you can’t maintain.
- Get enough rest to avoid creative weariness.
- Take time with your family and keep in touch with those important to you.
- Avoid distractions. Don’t go looking for new ideas during this season. However, if a great one bursts forth, add a new file to your IDEAS system.
AUTUMN is the season when you are wrapping up your current project, and your brain needs creative rest. Enjoy the sweet satisfaction of having finished a project. But just as squirrels gather and store nuts for the coming winter, you should use this season to bolster your social media, add to your knowledge by reading books on craft, and stay in tune with industry news. Don’t disconnect completely, or you could find yourself in a harsh . . .
WINTER, symbolized by frozen thought, hibernation from social media interaction, and stagnation. Challenges in life can also send you into winter. When you find yourself there, what can you do to move back to a thriving season?
- Pray. Of course you pray your way through any season, but I believe God allows us to experience this season for some purpose. Often, it’s when we’re at our low points–when ideas aren’t flowing, when we aren’t busily “producing” or enjoying a work just completed–that we recognize we need him. Pray and trust him to show you what he wants you to write next. Then,
- Pull out your IDEAS filing system. In a winter season, this is worth gold to you. Go through each folder (idea) and choose one that seems doable now and generates further ideas. Of course, if you’re in the middle of a series contract, this decision is already made for you, but you at least have some developmental notes from which to springboard.
- Cut yourself some slack. Don’t expect that you’ll bounce back in a day or even a week. But keep thinking and start doing more research. This step could be just what you need to recharge.
These suggestions are by no means exhaustive. I’d love to hear what has helped you to move from a chilly winter back to the warmth of spring and summer.
Jennifer Major
I had Winter a few weeks ago. I just up and left things and focused on getting through the dry spell. But, I switched hemispheres and now, I’m in Autumn.But I’m skipping Winter and flying South. Literally. I have a research trip booked and planned and I leave in 33 days. And 2 hours. Between now and then I’ll be spending time with Stephen King and James Scott Bell. I’ll be adding to the files, taking notes and maybe finishing the ever mutating laundry pile. Before I gear up for the trip, I’m going to unwind with the family. Hang out. Goof around. Misbehave.
Wearing blinders helps, I’ve learned there’s only so much I can do, so I do what I can and leave the rest.
Jeanne T
So, should the rest of us be jealous that you get to spend time with Stephen King and James Scott Bell? 🙂 I hope your trip opens doors of creativity for you. 🙂
Mary Keeley
Wise advice, Jennifer. Thanks for sharing how these suggestions are already working for you. A research trip is a great preemptive step to skip a winter writing season. And your humor helps too. I hope you have a spring-like research trip.
Jennifer Major
Thank you Mary. But perhaps it may be more Summer-y on the trip. I’m going to New Mexico and Arizona. In July. My travel buddies are Native American and have already promised to teach me “I’m Canadian, help me,I’m melting” in Navajo.
Enjoy your warm day!
Tiana Smith
Whenever I stop writing for a period of time, it’s always easier to just forget about it and let the story lapse. So the first thing I have to do is just sit down and write. Even if the words are horrible, I just need to get something down on paper. Then I find, after some time, that things get going better and the words and scenes are making more sense and needing less revision.
Mary Keeley
Tiana, I’m glad that approach works for you. I find it helpful too, in all kinds of writing.
Jeanne T
I’ve only been writing for two years, so I haven’t had many winters on this journey. When a winter has arrived, it’s been from being overwhelmed. I find that taking a step back from the writing project, focusing on something else for a little while helps me regain perspective while keeping my hand in writing. Then, I’ve been able to go back to my main project looking forward to writing it again. Does that make sense? 🙂
Mary Keeley
It makes total sense, Jeanne. When we’re overwhelmed, the brain tends to shut down and needs a little time to regroup and recharge.
Lindsay Harrel
I don’t think I’ve hit a true winter yet, but a lot of that was because a wise mentor warned me about burnout (isn’t it ironic that we’d experience burnout in winter?). She told me to take a break, when I’d been prepared to move full steam ahead. So I took a break for about 6 weeks and read craft books, etc., instead of working on an ms. It was so good for me. I didn’t even know I needed it. I think we don’t realize we’re burning out sometimes until we’re there.
Mary Keeley
Good point, Lindsay. I agree, when a writer is in the midst of a productive season and absorbed in the work, it’s easy to ignore the signs of burnout. You have a good mentor.
Karey
What a great post. Sometimes winter is thrust upon you by outside forces–emergencies or health issues or hectic family demands. It’s always so hard to get back in the groove when you’ve been yanked out of it.
Thanks for the great ideas and reminders. I’d have to say that prayer is the best thing I’ve found for getting back in the groove. When I’m asking the Lord for help, I feel more accountable for how I spend my time.
Love the blog.
Mary Keeley
Thanks for you input Karey. Excellent point: the very act of asking the Lord for help takes the focus off our own efforts and plans and seek his plan for us . . . and then, as you say, be accountable for how we follow through.
Charise
Enjoyed this post a lot. I think it’s helpful to remember that it is just a season. The thaw comes, Spring blooms. Sometimes, in Winter, it can feel a little doubtful.
Mary Keeley
You are so right, Charise. Good perspective.
Connie Almony
Years ago I researched blueberry bushes to see if I could grow one in my backyard. I discovered they needed a certain amount of time in frozen conditions as a sort of rest for them. I think humans are the same way. We need Winters where we are not all about producing leaves, fruit and flowers. Those times are about the inner work as opposed to the outer work. Times of rest, renewal and preparation for production. It’s important to not be afraid of those times, but to expect them and see them for what they are. I love the season analogy!!! Thanks for the post.
Mary Keeley
Connie, great outlook on the perspective of purpose in experiencing a winter season!
Lynn Moore
When I face a harsh writing winter I use a little summer to help. Often I am tired . . . too tired to think, so I head to bed early and face the project early the next day. I know that I am a morning person, so it makes sense for me to write then.
Sometimes I do something that will force me to focus in another direction. It could be time with family or just running errands. When I return to my computer, my brain is ready to write.
Honestly, my fifth grade teacher told us to sit in the bathtub to do our writing homework.
While I don’t do that (sorry Mrs. Burt), I do get lots of writing ideas in the shower. Once I read about a writer who keeps a grease pencil in the shower to jot down ideas. I know it sounds a little weird, but it helps!
Mary Keeley
Thanks for those creative ideas, Lynn. What is it about a bath or shower to spark creative thought? Maybe it’s the spring-like conditions of just the right warmth and comfort.
Lynn Moore
The whole ideas in the shower came up in Jeff Goin’s blog this morning. http://goinswriter.com/be-everywhere/ Maybe that knocks out the concept of PJs and coffee to start writing for the day! Maybe that means we had the same fifth grade teacher!
Dale Rogers
At first I thought you were blogging about how hard it is to write during nice weather! I’m sorry about your computer woes–we lost everything on one several years ago. It really hurts.
Thank you for the good advice. It makes me feel better about my down seasons.
Mary Keeley
Great, Dale. I’m glad this helps you feel better about down seasons. That was my purpose in this post. Creative people tend to be more emotional, and thus more prone to letting those seasons keep them down longer than necessary.
Brian Taylor
This is very insightful. I was having a bit of a dry spell this week with my blogs. Even some other things that I have been working on. I will definitely be using this to move me forward.
Mary Keeley
Brian, thanks for your feedback. I agree, these seasons can apply to other areas of life too. I’m glad this was helpful.
Christine Dorman / @looneyfilberts
First, Mary, I’m so sorry about your computer death. Of course it happened right before the conference. Isn’t that when these things always happen?
Right now I am in a writing summer and it’s delightful, thank God.
One of the things that helps me move out of winter is music. Music is my other passion, so if I’m having difficulty writing, I’ll go make music (I play the piano, tin whistle and viola). Making music relax me and puts me in a joyful mood. It also is a way to doing something creative, so it gets the creative juices going again. Then I go back to writing. Like Tiana, initially I will write horrible stuff just to make myself write. Eventually, something will click, I’ll get excited, and I’m back in Spring or even summer.
Thank you for this great post.
Blessings!
Christine
Christine Dorman / @looneyfilberts
Sorry–music relaxes me. I didn’t proofread carefully!
Mary Keeley
Playing music is a great suggestion and a natural for you, a musician, Christine. Even listening to music as background white noise stimulates the brain for those of us who aren’t musicians. Thanks for weighing in.
Cindy R. Wilson
Sorry about the computer issues! Extra stress is never necessary 🙂 I love the idea of thinking of our writing journey in terms of seasons. We go through them over and over again and it’s a great idea to appreciate different parts of each season instead of trying to rush into the next.
Mary Keeley
I agree, Cindy, and for us planners, it helps to anticipate what could be ahead and plan for it.
Darby Kern
Right now I’m hip deep in research which is fun, but leaving me depressed. It’s hard for me to write from that place so I am going to need to do a couple things this weekend: pray and get back to the place where the subject attracted me at the beginning. I try to tackle weighty subjects in a way that’s entertaining and that’s too hard to do from a dark place.
I think it’s time to take the kids to the pool and clear my mind a bit. A good night’s sleep is a great suggestion. maybe I’ll see what that’s like too.
Mary Keeley
Good ideas, Darby. You sound like an action person who needs some exercise and sunshine. Kids and the pool, a good night’s sleep or two . . . you’ll be back in in Summer season in no time.
Darby Kern
Oxygen to the brain never hurts… I think.
Michelle Lim
When I hit a winter season in writing I stop and evaluate if it is a personal winter as well or just a professional winter.
Then starts a time of prayer and a week off to read and refuel my creativity.
If my struggle is related to my writing profession then I find a great craft book to read and chat with my critique buddies about possible new projects.
I also start to look for as many brainstorming opportunities as possible. Brainstorming with others and my own file ideas usually jars something loose and I am on my way.
During the winter seasons I try to boost my social media, get ahead on blogging, and dream.
At the end of the week, I declare my creative vacation over and set some new goals.
It’s fun to read everyone’s tips here. Thanks for a great post, Mary!
Mary Keeley
Michelle, thanks for pointing out that distinction: personal winter or professional winter. You have a good plan in place for dealing with a winter season. Thanks for sharing.
Rachel Wilder
I spent all of 2010 in winter, due to personal and life circumstances. Things were so rough and so hard I dried up. Completely. Even writing emails was tough. It was without doubt the worst year of my life.
In February 2011 I went back into spring and spent most of that year in summer. Ditto so far for this year. I am in the midst of the biggest creative season I’ve ever had and I’m loving every minute of it.
Christine Dorman / @looneyfilberts
I’m glad that you are back into summer, writing-wise at least, Rachel. I pray that your personal season has improved tremendously as well.
Blessings!
Mary Keeley
Rachel, I’m sorry that winter season was so long and hard. But these last two years are evidence of God’s faithfulness and blessing on the other side. And I suspect you learned a lot during the winter year that enriches your writing now. Enjoy.
Becky Melby
Great topic, Mary. So glad you got your computer problems fixed.
My mother passed away a year ago tomorrow. She was 93 and loved the Lord, so the loss was bittersweet rather than tragic. At the time, I was six weeks away from a deadline. I could have asked for an extension, but I found the “escape” into fiction gave me a break from the sadness of reality. The familiar routine of writing helped me cope and I think some of my raw emotion may have lent some believability to my hurting characters. So my advice during a winter season? If you possibly can, write anyway. Even if it’s journaling about how rotten this season is! It can be cathartic–and may spark story thoughts when you reflect back on it later. That said,I would not have been able to write a word during that time without a wonderful circle of praying and listening friends and family. We need friends and writing buddies to keep us from getting snowed under!
Mary Keeley
Becky, thanks for joining the conversation. Great point about the raw emotion in your personal winter season lending “some believability to my hurting characters.” Thanks for sharing what worked during your winter season losing your mother, and for your wise advice about the importance of a good circle of “praying and listening friends and family.”
sally apokedak
Great post.
I think winters take time to pass, and since I am not under contract, I can allow myself to hunker down to wait them out. I do inside work, while I wait.
That translates, in my writing world, to doing more blog commenting and doing more in regards to trying to build a platform. This week I set up a newsletter and sweepstakes (first prize: Kindle Fire, woo hoo). Very fun to build the newsletters. These things take different muscles than fiction-writing muscles.
This season will pass, as winters always do, and I’ll get back into the WIP, and I won’t be flitting all over the internet leaving opinions on so many blogs.
Christine Dorman / @looneyfilberts
Well, I hope you still will flit over here. I don’t want to lose my twin. LOL!
Mary Keeley
We love to hear your opinions, Sally. And thanks for sharing your healthy, positive perspective on winters.