Cultivating
I’d begun a draft of another post some months ago delving into the tides of the year that coincide with my writing. I find it challenging, as I think most do, to keep consistent throughout the year with my writing. And, I’m hard on myself when I feel a swell of inspiration and vigor for a new writing endeavor, such as a new substack newsletter, and then fall off of the consistency piece. I’m working at letting it be, giving myself grace, and working toward building consistency.
Inspiration is a funny thing. I think most creatives, and people for that matter, wait for the moment that inspiration strikes to get going on a project. But, inspiration is finicky. It’s unreliable. It’s fickle. Therein lies the issue with consistency then. And, to complete a project, build an audience, or be responsible to deadlines one must maintain despite inspiration as the source.
I’d listened to a podcast called Creative Processing hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and one of the issues that he and guest tackled was the concept of completing a project whether it was the perfect picture of what the artist had in mind at the get or not. That a finished project was better than no project at all. I believe Brené Brown had discussed that at some point as well. I have to agree that if we hold out for perfection we will certainly get in the way of our own success, because perfection does not exist! It’s a fallacy we use to protect ourselves from criticism.
I’m continuing to work on my novel and feel like there are days when I’m hitting a stride and that the work is really taking shape. But there are other days when the words and scenes just feel sludgy or that I just don’t have the mental energy to sit and write. At the moment I’m involved with a writing challenge called 1000 words of summer. It was catapulted into life by an author I have grown to adore by the name of Jami Attenberg. The challenge is held every June for two weeks and consists of daily letters and words of encouragement to sit and write 1000 a day for two weeks on whatever project one currently has going. There is a slack available with a community of other writers who are engaged in the challenge who are cheering each other on.
It’s been wonderful to feel that sense of community and accountability to myself and my writing. It’s also been great for pushing my novel into form. It creates momentum and I use that to keep moving through the rest of the year. If you are interested you can find Jamie and #1000wordsofsummer on Substack here
I hope you are finding ways to tap into your creativity, in whatever shape that may take. We are all creative in our own ways. And, I believe it is the creativity in life that keeps our hope alive, our connection with each other and the universe, and us in tune with our own sense of ourselves. The inspiration is within us if we unplug long enough to listen for it.
Growing with you,
Meg