Dear Huma: I have no writing routine and don’t know how to start

My writing desk whilst on holiday in Denmark, 2023

Please help! I’m floundering!

Dear Huma,

Please help! I'm in the lucky position of being able to afford to take a month off my freelance work in order to concentrate on my own writing endeavours. I have had an idea for a novel for some time but I have only worked on it in fits and starts over the last couple of years and so I had big plans to really embrace this time for my own creativity. I set myself the goal of writing 15,000 words of my novel by the end of these four weeks which I thought was reasonably realistic.

However, I'm coming to the end of my first week and feel like I have failed spectacularly on all fronts. It's like now that I finally have some time, my mind has gone completely blank. I can't think what to write at all. The words just aren't coming and the more I think about my idea, the more I feel like it is already long dead in the water. 

When I am doing my freelance job, I have no problem organising my day and being efficient and productive. But now, faced with my own lack of creativity and the blank page, I feel like I'm floundering and I have no routine to speak of and simply don't know where to start. Can you help?

Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth

Might I suggest that we start with a deep breath! 

I can relate to a little of what you are experiencing. How many of us crave acres of time and then, when we finally have it we simply don't know what to do with it or how to approach it? It passes us by, and before we know it, it's gone, and we're not entirely sure where it disappeared to - or what we did with it.  

But, all is not lost! You still have three weeks left, though I do wonder whether fixating on how many weeks you have off is placing an unnecessary pressure on you to make this time count. It's almost as if you've told yourself you're going to launch straight into this novel and get almost a quarter of it done, boom, just like that. My advice though? There's nothing more overwhelming than telling yourself you are ‘writing a novel.’ A novel is a huge daunting being, a massive undertaking. Is it any wonder that you've frozen in front of it? 

I think maybe you need to take a couple of steps back before putting such a huge amount of pressure on yourself. There is a writerly school of thought which says that in order to write, you just need to get the words down, as quickly as possible; essentially, the vomit draft. I get that and I'm not saying your words will be vomit, but I wonder if the reason you're so intent on getting these 15,000 words down is because you've absorbed this (entirely valid) idea. But please know, it's not the only way to do things. 

I know you write for a living as a copywriter, but writing a novel is going to be a very different kind of writing and you do need to get yourself into a place for that. There's a certain degree of groundwork that goes into writing a novel or even a short story. It's like studying. And I'm not talking about researching or planning and outlining, I'm merely talking about spending some time learning, honing, developing your craft beforeyou jump right in. By which I mean doing things like, reading but reading very specifically, in a vaguely academic way, selecting the work of someone you admire, someone you would dream of writing like, and engaging with a chapter in a critical, active way; underlining, unpicking, analysing. It really is studying of a most pleasurable, rewarding kind. This is all still very much part of the process and arguably, for where you're at, more important than trying to just get 15,000 words down from scratch when you don't really know where to begin. Of course, a lot of ‘learning your craft’ comes from, well, just simply doing the writing, the first draft. But it's not either or. You can do both, work on your writing as well as engaging closely with other people's writing to learn from it. Because it's this engaged studying of the craft, your craft, that's going to bring you closer and closer to the shape of your own story, before you get going with plotting and outlines.

You say your idea feels dead in the water. I hope that what I've described in the paragraph above will bring you closer to thinking about your novel, and then writing it too, understanding which direction you want to take. Why not try a morning of close study-like reading, and then follow it up by writing a couple of hundred words after, just to find your feet, your rhythm. Try this for a couple of days and the chances the more you do both reading and writing, the more you'll focus on your novel and be able to, say, write an outline or make some preliminary notes at least. You could go a little further each day - develop some plot points, write character notes, start an opening scene and then a handful of more scenes, and then rewrite them if you like. You don't have to do any of this all in one go! But all of these are far more realistic goals than ‘Must write 15,000 words in four weeks.' And all of them are very useful and will, in time, get you to where you want to bel. They are all entirely achievable, no matter where you're at with your writing. If I spent a week doing any one of this each day, it would feel pretty productive to me. 

If after this early work, your instinct is telling you that your idea really is still dead in the water, then go ahead, make some more notes, try something new, different. Write down all the things that interest you. It's a way to start afresh. It's not a big deal to start over. You're not the same person you were when you first came up with this idea so it makes sense too if it's just not speaking to you anymore. Be kind to yourself. It's okay to play around. Nothing is set in stone.

When you're ready to write, hopefully after a few days of this kind of thinking, reading, writing, then scale that 15,000 word count right back down to a daily goal that's sustainable and won't leave you burnt out. It's for you to decide what that number is, but there is something to be said for little and often when it comes to writing, rather than all or nothing which I fear this month may otherwise become for you. Instead, use this time off to form the habits that will help you create regularly and long term. Embrace the fact that you have the time to experiment what that might look like for you right now.

Perhaps, instead of working towards an arbitrary word count, start by thinking how long you could write for instead. Even at my most productive, I'm really only doing the deep work of writing for two, sometimes three, hours in a day - depending on what stage of writing I'm in. Then the rest of the day is structured around the groundwork or ‘study’ that will bring me closer to whatever it is I am writing. For me, this isn't just found in reading alone. More often than not, I'll find it in film too and I'll aim to watch a movie once a week that is set along the same themes of what I'm naturally drawn to or interested in. Not only is this simply something to look forward to at the end of the week that makes me happy, it also gives me a new perspective and a renewed sense of inspiration. Sometimes I might make notes and do more reading around whatever film it is too, to understand the creativity behind it. All this means is that I've found ways to think about stories, even when I'm not actually writing, and forming these habits means I know I will come to the page when I'm ready feeling less lost, so to speak.

Don't forget, in order to write a word of anything, you do have to be inspired. I wonder how much time you've given yourself to just fill your well? You will know what moves you, what inspires you, whether it's theatre or art or film or being in the company of others or just taking a long walk. Prioritise all of this, too, before you sit down at your desk.

Ultimately, the clue of what's really missing, to me, lies is in your last sentence. You say you have ‘no routine’ to speak of, and yet it sounds like you are someone who normally does - you have no problem juggling your paid workload. Now you're in the lucky position of having these beautiful wide open days - but without structure, you're floundering, as you say. So ask yourself, what would an ideal creative routine look like to you? 

It's not necessarily for me to tell you what your day should look like, so I shan't force a routine upon you. All too often, we're told that there are best practices for writing and creativity - writing first thing in the morning, writing before anyone else wakes up, writing by candlelight (I'm joking with that last one, but you'll know what I mean!). But these romantic and frankly not always realistic ways of working might not fit in with your life. They certainly don't for me.

What does work for me is getting the necessary stuff of life out of the way first - school drop off, exercise, grocery errands, dinner prep, answering emails, or updating my website or courses or social media. We leave home early for school for various reasons, but this means I can get all these jobs done early too. Now, none of this sounds like ‘the life of a writer’ but it's my life, and it leaves a still large chunk of my day clear for either a couple of hours of writing (if I'm at the writing stage) or craft study/ close reading/ some element of practice (I often take writing courses to keep developing, whether that's redoing my own or trying someone else's). I'm sharing this not because I think my way is better than any other author's way (it really isn't about that) but because no matter what you might hear or read about a writing routine - there really isn't one perfect way to do it. The only way to do it is to see what will work in your daily life, around all your other commitments and responsibilities. So find what works for you but also what makes you feel good about yourself in the process too. 

You could begin by figuring out what time of day you write (your creative work) best. Ask yourself what your daily non-negotiables are (like, exercise! lunch! coffee!) and, include them in your day in order to put the building blocks of structure in place. Also, don't forget, you're on leave from work! You can enjoy yourself. Yes, writing is hard. But it can still be a pleasurable process, we don't have to hate the process or begrudge the struggle. Remember what I said about filling your well? Make that a daily non negotiable during this precious time. You must draw from your well because it will help you whenever you feel stuck, at times like this. So, take the time to keep it topped up before you do anything else. 

Let me know how you get on!

With love,

Huma