Walking

I’ve found that maybe the things that seem so simple, so obvious, are the ones that are worth listening to.

How annoying is it when you are told day in and day out to drink more water? Even more so when you do and realize that yes, you needed to drink more water. It was obvious. So obvious that doing the obvious makes you want to groan. You didn’t want them to be right. You wanted to drink just enough water just to spite them.

Water aside (drink more water, by the way), there is something about the pills that go down easier. For me, especially when it comes to comes to writing, I feel myself hitting a wall pretty often. It isn’t that dragon called writer’s block, per se, but sometimes words aren’t flowing as well as I want them to. Sure, I can write—even if it is a total dumpster fire—and edit it to half of its life later. But if I find I have a little time on my hands, I know I can just put my wool socks on (because they are cozy and make me feel like I am somewhere colder, which is fun), lace up my boots, and see what life is like outside of my four walls. Walking may in fact be one of my favorite things to do.

Firstly, I have a pretty sedentary day job. If I am not walking, I am sitting in a dark room for many hours on end. Getting my feet moving helps combat this. No, it is not a workout replacer, but at least it gets my heart pumping.

Secondly, as a social introvert, it is a way for me to collect from the world around me, which is extremely helpful for writing. I listen to people talking, watch their body language (no I am not creeping on you, Mark and Lucinda, I am a writer and—yeah I am not making this better, sorry, enjoy your matcha). I can see how the clouds hug the mountains behind my apartment. Hear how the leaves crush underneath my feet. Hear the differences between birds in the morning and those in the afternoon. You get my point.

Thirdly, it does wonders for the mind. I have tried many things to combat my stress levels. Working out, meditation, those adult coloring books, knitting (made me lose my little mind). But nothing is as successful as leaving my apartment and seeing if I can hit 10k steps in one go.

When people are looking for a new apartment or a new home, they have a list of “must-haves”. A garage to store their bullcrap. A second bedroom, to also store their bullcrap. A porch, a second parking spot. A kitchen with an island. It wasn’t until I was close to thirty did I realize how important it was for me to find a place with walkability. To be able to leave the car on weekends and trek out to different edges of the city. Now no matter where I move, this becomes an imperative. For my mental health, for my physical health, and for my craft.

So yes, it is obvious that walking has many benefits. But it may not be as apparent how good it can be for your creative life. When you are stuck on the one scene, that one kiss, that one gigantic battle with that ogre, sometimes distracting yourself with the world outside is just what you need. You can also take your water bottle, because I am assuming you have not had enough water today.

Routine

I wake and I am hungry. Coffee is also needed. Everything in mid-January is too cold until I put on some kind of feet coverings and patter down the stairs. Most times the cats are too lazy to follow me right away. But then the cat food cans are open and they are there by my side, mewing as if to remind me to feed them. Fitz, Olive, when have I let you down?

I have oatmeal with my coffee. I open the windows, start the gas-powered fire. But even still, it is not enough. And so, I will read until my coffee mug is empty. Until each granule of oats has disappeared.

This is my morning routine. Before this I had nothing at all. I would wake with just enough time to make something of myself and head off on the 20-plus minute commute to my full time job. Lately, however, I’ve tried my best to replace this reading with writing. It is so much easier (and possibly more fun) to read someone else’s words, isn’t it? A book that is already done, edited, and published? But there is nothing more fulfilling than going to work—if you write part-time—knowing that you have hit one thousand words. All by 7 am.

Looking back, I was satisfied if I got any writing done in the week. There is something to be said about this. Smaller goals is about being extremely forgiving of yourself, especially just starting off as a writer. It’s hard to disconnect yourself from more prolific authors. The more you research, the more you see the writers out there with a three-thousand-words-a-day routine (!). But that doesn’t have to be you. When no one knows you are a writer then no one is waiting on your book. You’ll feel as if the clock is against you, but who hung that clock in the first place? Probably you.

Being a writer can be a beautiful job. You take the world and filter it into words. This is daunting, but also blissfully challenging. But to manage, you can ask writer friends what it takes for them to get into a writer’s stance. To become ready to pluck the sentences from the air that don’t make much sense and bleed them onto a page. Do you need to put socks on first? Do you need a cat on each side of you? Where do you find yourself? On the couch? In bed? At a coffee shop in the middle of the day, or first thing in the morning? Everyone will try to tell you there are specific ways to do anything. But those specific ways are their ways. One of the most interesting things about being a writer is finding where you feel the muse most strongly.

However, breaking that routine can also breed interesting results. Sometimes having a strict regiment at all can be pigeonholing to some. In this case, see if keeping to some kind of plan actually makes things worse for you. Having a routine and lack of routine can mean the same thing.

I work better in the morning. It was Ursula Le Guin who said that after 8 pm she tends to be “very stupid”. Once the sun goes down, a switch is released inside me. My mind doesn’t work the same and neither do the words. If you are busy, then write when it suits you. In the quiet moments. On lunch break. Sneak a notebook where you are, write down clips and phrases.

The story is in there ready to get out. Make sure it does so by finding what routine, or none at all, works for you.

Adventures of a New Novelist

Who are you?

What are you?

And, most importantly, why do you feel ashamed to call yourself a “novelist”?

It feels like a word meant for a choice few. Wearing high-necked shirts in dimly lit rooms, preferably smoky, definitely off limits to us. They have the ever elusive publishing deal. They are blurbed about by someone with clout. In most artistic endeavors the concept of imposter syndrome runs rampant. Why do I think that I can write this book? What makes me think that I have something new to say?

To give in to imposter syndrome is to go down a very dark rabbit hole. Our gifts, whether plentiful or slim, are still our gifts. Each individual person means a unique perspective. A perspective that no one can take away.

Yet as easy as it is to say, it is difficult to put into practice. Something that even seasoned writers would admit. At many times during the writing process, insecurity slides in like a veil, stifling the words from coming out. But I am a novelist! you say to the wind. You want it to be as easy as the jobs you have had in the past. But those jobs weren’t constantly shifting, were they? Inspiration to do your job wasn’t something that was ever-changing by the day. Now you wake up tired and sleep in instead. Then you wake full of energy but all you can do is write a sentence and delete it. But I am a… novelist? you begin to say now in the mirror. Your face doesn’t seem to believe you.

Part of you thinks that the only way you can write a book is if it is about not writing. Then it would be much easier. Right?

In the grand scope of work, I have done barely anything. I am very much not the guru when it comes to anything writing-related. I have many short stories to my name, hidden within folders on my computer. Among them are unfinished manuscripts of novels that may or may not ever be finished. I have nothing published or searchable on the world wide web. But what I do have is one finished first draft of a novel in which I have begun editing for the second draft. It was only at this point that I felt comfortable to call myself “novelist” because I could at least print the manuscript out—even if it is filled with plot holes and twists that don’t twist at all—and hold something that resembles an unbound book. It is all about finishing, isn’t it?

As large and small as you wish, as good or bad as it turns out to be, it is at the finish line where you can look back at your work and at least deem it done. For now. One of the hardest things to do is to eat your writing elephant one piece at a time. It all feels daunting. If you are writing five hundred words a day, how will you ever reach one hundred thousand? Especially if you aren’t someone who is very savvy when it comes to organization. How to break things into smaller chunks and make goals is one of the most difficult things to do when starting out.

I learned a lot from reading how other more established authors approach their writing. Some give themselves daily word counts, usually between one and three thousand words per day. Others, like the enigmatic V.E. Schwab, prefers to allot an amount of time per day to focus on writing or editing, or even just thinking about what to write. Whatever your goal is, you must make sure it is within your realm of capability. Make a goal and if it deems too difficult and, most importantly, too stressful (writing should be at least somewhat fun), then change it. Never be ashamed to start with small goals.

These are words from a beginning novelist (see, mom? I called myself a novelist). They won’t help everyone. Yet, getting all of your ideas from well-established and successful authors isn’t exactly the way to go. Those who are just starting out can help you learn how they are starting, too. You and other new writers can start a small community of writers who are trying to get their sea legs. Writing can seem like a crazy world, but nothing is as crazy as it could be when you have an eagerness, a plan, and a little encouragement.