Unplug, Boundaries, Write: Five Ways to Carve out Creative Space

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Hello, writer. Welcome back to Writing While Distracted.
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I'm Brenda Murphy, your NeuroSpicy Writing Coach, and today we're going to dive
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into how to carve out some space in your overwhelmed brain.
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If you're neurodivergent, burnt out, wondering how the hell you're supposed
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to keep writing when the world feels like a tornado, firestorm,
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hurricane of a disaster.
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Stay tuned because this episode is for you.
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Music.
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It's really hard to create when the world just won't stop screaming.
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Every day, there's something else.
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War, money problems, politics, social media disasters, apocalyptic headlines.
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And the expectation is that somehow we're supposed to sit down and write like
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our brains aren't totally on fire with all of the input that is out there.
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And in this time, as I touched on with my last podcast about how to keep writing
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when the world's on fire, it is most important to stay in touch with our creativity.
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Your creativity matters. Your voice matters.
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And words have power. And your words have power even when you feel powerless.
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It is not unique that some of the most amazing art ever created and some of
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the most amazing stories that have ever been created have been created in the
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midst of massive upheaval in society.
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And I know I probably sound like a broken record about this because I just did
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the recent episode on how to write when you want to burn it all down.
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But this episode is a little different.
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Because today we're going to talk about how to protect yourself and also how
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to fill that creative well so that when you come to the page,
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you actually can put some words down on the page.
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Neuro-spicy folks, neuro-atypical folks, wherever you fall, if you're on the
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spectrum, if you have ADD,
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if you have other mental health issues, we are particularly susceptible to our environment.
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Not that anybody is probably coping as well as they could be right now,
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no matter where you fall on that scale.
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Everyone is stressed. Everyone is touched by what is going on around us.
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So this is my suggestions. I've got five things that I'm going to talk about
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today to help you find your creative space again,
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to help you slow down without giving up your writing. Please don't quit.
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I know it feels like it may feel to you that what you're doing is foolish,
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that you should be doing something more, that there should be something tangible that you're doing.
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And I would submit that creating, whether you're creating stories or poetry
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or art, whatever it is that you're doing, making a beautiful meal for your family,
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making your home cozy without spending a lot of money, that's an art too and
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a talent. Give yourself credit for those things.
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But because this is a show about writing and writers, I'm going to focus on that right now.
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And because, friend, and I hope you are my friends, I feel like you are,
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I feel like I'm talking to friends.
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In the past, you may have been someone who had a very dependable writing schedule. That was me.
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For years, I had a rock solid writing habit.
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I had morning words. I had post-work writing sprints.
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I wrote pages upon pages upon pages.
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And the first five or six years of my career as a writer, I was putting out three books a year,
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in addition to taking care of two small children and being home and house and
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parents and all of the other things.
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And then some things happened in our personal life. We lost my brother-in-law. I lost my aunt.
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The pandemic, all of those things conspired,
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to disrupt that rock solid dependable schedule.
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And it took a lot of soul searching and it took a lot of time for me to realize
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that my writing had very much become caught up in this myth of productivity.
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Like I had this idea that if I was staying home and creating and taking care
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of the kids and all the other stuff, that I needed to produce a certain amount of work in order to.
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Be respectable, responsible, fill in whatever word that my own brain was putting
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in there that I was actually doing something besides creating.
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And that has a lot to do with those goblin voices in our heads that suggest
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that creativity is not a viable career.
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And if you're wondering, if you have any questions about that at all,
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I'm going to point you in the direction of Amy McNeigh's work,
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We Need Your Art, because that book is amazing.
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And if you are struggling right now to continue creating, I would really advise
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you to pick that book up and read it, get it from your library,
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buy it, wherever you can get your hands on a copy.
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It is well worth your time.
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So what did I do when I was having those problems and my brain felt like it
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was fried, like absolutely fried?
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And I would stare at the screen and think, how do I keep going does it even matter anymore?
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And this was particularly problematic when I was struggling with grief,
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which is its own, that could be its own podcast, and it may be how to keep writing through grief.
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Because I do think that creativity, when you're grieving, can be an absolute
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balm to those times when you're hurting.
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And I think a lot of us may be grieving right now, even if we're not verbalizing that.
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We are grieving the past times, when things felt a little simpler,
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Maybe they felt a little easier.
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And not that I think that anything in the last, oh, I don't know,
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ever since I've been a grown up has been particularly easy.
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But we do sometimes reminisce about times in our lives where things didn't feel so fraught.
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And what I've been trying to do with these five tips is offer you a way back
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into that space where things didn't feel quite so fraught,
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where it didn't feel like if you stepped out your front door,
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the world was going to fall in on your head.
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And a lot of that, I think, again, you know, when you're, when you're neuro-spicy,
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you are always dealing with the things that are going on in your own head without
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any add-on from the world.
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And so when you start piling all of those other things that are going on in
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your head, and those can be negative voices, those can be, as I call the,
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we all have that inner critic. I like to call that my inner troll.
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That person, that nasty voice that's in your head that says,
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you know, quit screwing around and get a real job instead of wasting your time at the computer.
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And I think there are a lot of people that write that often have a battle with that troll.
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So here's some ways to put the lid on that voice and get your head back into a writing habit.
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And this doesn't have to be thousands of words a day. I'm saying set the bar low here.
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100 words, 50 words, opening the document and making some notes. It all counts. Okay?
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It all counts. So don't hold yourself up to some crazy amount of words that
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are produced when you read about other writers' schedules like,
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oh, they write 2,000 words a day. Oh, they write 3,000 words a day.
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You don't know what's going on in their personal life. Maybe they have someone
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else in their life who takes care of all of the other things.
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I'm going to bet that if you're listening to this, you're probably like a regular
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old person just like me. I have to take care of all the other things in my life.
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In addition to all the things in my life, I have other people I have to take
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care of and pets and things like that. In the real world.
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Yes, there are some people who manage to create volumes and volumes and volumes of words.
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There are also those of us who peck along 500 words at a time,
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1,000 words at a time, 100 words at a time to get our stories out.
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And you know what? The stories still get out.
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It's not a race. It's not a contest. Writing is a marathon.
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So let's get into these tips. So my first tip,
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before you do any consuming of the world, and by that I mean checking your Facebook,
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checking your Twitter, or whatever it's called now,
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X, checking the news, checking the headlines, create before you consume.
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And I'm going to say that again. I feel like this is my most important tip.
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If you don't take anything else away from this podcast, create before you consume,
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before you let the world in, create.
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And if that means you've only got 15 minutes in the morning between when you
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wake up and when you have to be out the door or eat breakfast or whatever, take that 15 minutes.
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You can get a lot done in 15 minutes. Seriously.
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When I wake up, my kids are older and they take care of getting themselves to
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school and I pretty much just have to monitor how things are going time-wise
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so I don't have little kids to get out the door.
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And If you still have little kids that you have to get out the door,
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or even older kids that you need to get out the door, you may need to get up
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a little earlier or stay up a little later.
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And then when it's hard, creating before you consume, if you have to get up
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early to do it, it may not work for you.
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If you're trying to do it after work, it's really difficult because you've had
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all day long to have all of the world pile in on your brain and pile in on top of you.
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But if there is any way you can
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eke out some time to create
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before you consume to just let it all
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it'll it'll be there trust me all of that
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bad stuff will be there when you finish your
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words for the day you know I get up have my
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tea sit down and get to work
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and yes am I half awake yes
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do I sometimes go back later and look at my words and go what the
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heck was I trying to write but eventually my
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brain gets in gear and I'm able
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to get things down on paper that makes sense but in
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taking that 15 minutes for myself and a lot
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of times it's only 15 minutes sometimes it's a half an hour sometimes I get
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lucky and it's a whole hour but a lot of times it's 15 minutes which means I
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set my stuff up the night before so that when I sit down I know what it is I'm
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working on so if you're a poet if you're a writer if you're a painter if you
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whatever it is you're doing.
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Take that time before the world gets in your brain and use that for your own creative good.
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Take that time when your brain is still fresh, when you've woken up,
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when you're trying to get started for the day, when you haven't had all of the
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negative things that are out there come into your life, or the drama on Facebook.
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The other thing that I'm going to encourage you to do is to turn off your phone.
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Set it to do not disturb.
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You can set it so that if someone calls you twice in succession for most phones,
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it will let them through the second time.
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So I tell people that are important in my life.
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If you need to get in touch with me, if it is a certain time of day,
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call me twice. It'll ring through the second time.
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This works. I've used it.
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The power of having it off, of knowing that you're unavailable,
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is something that for a lot of creatives is just so missing in our lives.
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That time to dream and be in our own heads and see and hear our stories so we
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can get them out on paper, that time is so precious.
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Don't give it away to things that really don't warrant your attention.
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If you can't do anything immediately to fix a problem, I would submit that it
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is okay to take time to take care of your creative needs before you do the other things.
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And that's why if you can do this first thing in the morning and have it done,
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You can go back later. If you've got more creative ideas, go back later.
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But by doing the most important thing to you first, if at all possible, try it.
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Get it in there. But create before you consume, before you're distracted,
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before the world intrudes upon your vision.
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No one, no, there are very few people in your life that need 24-7 access to
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you other than your family and maybe some dear friends.
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And if that's the case, those are the people that you can tell about your times
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that you want to be quiet to write.
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That you want to have this time to be in your own head.
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And hopefully those people will be supportive and understanding.
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I know with kids it can take a bit.
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My kids were very little when I started my career. And I had a lot of little
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signs that were on the door that listed out when it could bother me.
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When they were very little babies, I worked with them in the room. That's all I could do.
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Because they were too tiny to be by themselves. And if they were taking naps,
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then it was time for me to do my work. which doesn't work if you are one of
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those people that needs to take naps when your kids are napping,
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which when they were very wee babies, I napped when they napped.
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But as they got older and I was able to help them understand when they were
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home from school and I was working that this was my time to work.
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And what has that got to do with the tips here?
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So the tips number two is to set boundaries with people that you love.
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Set those boundaries. this is my work time.
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I really want to listen to you. I really want to play with you.
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I really want to talk with you. But I need this little bit of time for me so
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that I don't lose my mind.
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And I say that as someone who is a creative and someone who is also neuro-spicy,
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that I get absolutely agitated in a deep, unsettled way if I don't have time to create.
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And I have a number of different things that I create. In addition to writing,
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I, do collage, paint, watercolor, draw, all of those things help me to process
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all of the stuff that goes on in my head.
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And a lot of what goes on in my head is hard. Anybody that's dealing with PTSD, complex PTSD.
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Other mental health issues, there are many, many, many studies that show that
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art and being creative, it doesn't, and I'm not talking art with a capital A
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here. A lot of times I'm talking art with a small a.
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I'm talking art that is just for you, goofing around with glue and scissors
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and tape and paint and crayons and watercolors and all the things that you used
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to let yourself do when you kid to get those feelings and thoughts out of your head.
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It's okay to do those things, and it's okay to set boundaries around that.
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Now, if your way of getting those things out of your head is writing,
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which for me, a large part of that is for me. I work through a lot of stuff
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for writing. A lot of writers do.
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That's how we process the world, is our words.
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Setting boundaries with your kids, setting boundaries with people you love,
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setting boundaries with items that distract you, setting news boundaries,
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setting email boundaries.
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Boundaries help you be what you want to be.
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And I know that probably sounds really weird and new agey or complicated,
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but being able to state clearly what you need to other people will often go
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a long way to avoiding those angry outbursts when you're so frustrated because
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all you want to do is have a few minutes in your head to write.
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That's what I'm talking about here. Create those boundaries.
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Let yourself be, you know, give yourself permission to say to people,
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I need this time to write.
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I need this time to cut collage. I need this time for myself.
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And even if it's 15 minutes, 15 minutes is a lot longer than you think it is.
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And I'm going to challenge you out there that if you think it's not,
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the next time you're frustrated and you say to somebody, I need 15 minutes to myself, go in a room,
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turn your timer on for 15 minutes and just feel how long that is.
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You don't even have to do anything during that 15 minutes. But a lot of times,
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15 minutes is long enough for you to take a breath and actually get some things done.
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And again, I'm not talking about writing a thousand words in 15 minutes.
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I'm not even talking about writing 500 words in 15 minutes.
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But maybe you can write 100 words in 15 minutes. Maybe you can write 150.
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Maybe you can just sit there and plot out the next steps for your book. Or just think.
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And a lot of times when creatives are super frustrated and angry and agitated,
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particularly if we're neuro-spicy we're
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agitated because we have so many things in our
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head that we can't get out and
00:17:56.672 --> 00:18:02.052
so taking that time to get those things out of your head will go a long way
00:18:02.052 --> 00:18:05.832
to improving relationships not only with your families and your friends and
00:18:05.832 --> 00:18:11.952
loved ones but with yourself because one of the things that I find myself doing
00:18:11.952 --> 00:18:16.032
and you probably find yourself doing is you should all over yourself.
00:18:16.172 --> 00:18:18.472
I should be this. I should do that. I should do the other thing.
00:18:18.972 --> 00:18:22.972
Don't do that. Don't beat yourself up. The world wants to do that for you.
00:18:23.172 --> 00:18:27.052
So step back from that. Give yourself the space.
00:18:27.512 --> 00:18:30.712
Set those boundaries for yourself.
00:18:31.432 --> 00:18:36.832
That's you saying to yourself, I respect me as a creative and this is my boundary.
00:18:37.172 --> 00:18:42.272
So that's tip Number two, you don't even have to use that time to put words on paper.
00:18:42.412 --> 00:18:45.672
Maybe you want to take that 15 minutes to take a walk around the block or around
00:18:45.672 --> 00:18:50.192
your house or out in your garden or just to sit quietly with a cup of tea.
00:18:51.237 --> 00:18:55.897
Maybe that's all you need, but set those boundaries in place. Do it.
00:18:56.757 --> 00:19:03.117
Now, tip three goes into the boundary setting.
00:19:03.617 --> 00:19:10.177
Get unplugged. And just like I said, turn the phone off, unplug yourself.
00:19:10.657 --> 00:19:19.817
Set a timer for yourself around when you are going to stop consuming news, social media.
00:19:20.997 --> 00:19:26.037
Anything that doesn't fulfill you in a positive way.
00:19:26.217 --> 00:19:31.837
And by that I mean if you want to scroll through photos that you've taken on
00:19:31.837 --> 00:19:38.697
a trip or read a book or any of those other things that's positive that fills you up,
00:19:38.837 --> 00:19:41.937
go for a walk, spend time in your garden,
00:19:42.357 --> 00:19:44.297
do that unplugged.
00:19:44.377 --> 00:19:48.737
Now you're saying, I can't go for a walk without my phone because I need to
00:19:48.737 --> 00:19:53.637
be able to call if I fall down or if there's something bad going on. Totally get that.
00:19:53.837 --> 00:19:58.577
I totally get that. So what I'm going to say to you is take your ear pods out.
00:19:58.737 --> 00:20:01.157
Don't walk and listen to a podcast. Even this one.
00:20:02.297 --> 00:20:08.857
Go quietly. Put your phone either in a pocket or a bag or someplace that you
00:20:08.857 --> 00:20:13.357
have it on your person. So if you do fall down because those things happen and
00:20:13.357 --> 00:20:16.077
you might need to call someone to help you if there was an incident.
00:20:16.817 --> 00:20:22.797
Put your phone where you can get it, but don't fill your head with other people's
00:20:22.797 --> 00:20:26.477
words and thoughts and events while you're walking.
00:20:27.117 --> 00:20:30.577
Listen to your own head. Listen to what's going on in there.
00:20:30.677 --> 00:20:33.137
Now, for some people, they're like, oh, my head's so messed up.
00:20:33.217 --> 00:20:34.337
I don't want to listen to what's going on in there.
00:20:34.797 --> 00:20:39.657
I would submit if you spend some time listening those voices and I sound.
00:20:41.199 --> 00:20:45.099
Probably totally off the wall here, but anyone who has a very busy mind,
00:20:45.299 --> 00:20:49.799
a lot of ADHD people, a lot of people on the spectrum, there are a lot of us
00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:55.819
that have a large amount of internal dialogue that's going on at all the time in our heads.
00:20:56.219 --> 00:21:02.599
And learning how to just let that go and filter it and let it go to get it out,
00:21:02.939 --> 00:21:07.319
listen to your brain, and just be in the moment.
00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:12.139
This is something that before the internet, before pocket computers and our
00:21:12.139 --> 00:21:17.739
phones and all of the things, it was a lot easier to just be,
00:21:18.099 --> 00:21:22.599
to just exist in the moment, to let yourself be bored.
00:21:22.919 --> 00:21:26.879
I've never been bored in my life because, again, there's always an internal dialogue.
00:21:27.059 --> 00:21:32.899
But if you're one of those people that get bored, boredom is often the trigger to creativity.
00:21:33.259 --> 00:21:38.299
It gives your brain a chance to relax and process what's going on and come up
00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:44.159
with innovative, creative ideas, things that you want to do.
00:21:44.419 --> 00:21:47.179
Taking time to listen to yourself unplugged.
00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:54.959
You know, don't doom stroll, don't flip through YouTube, don't do all those things.
00:21:55.219 --> 00:22:00.339
Give yourself a chance to be unplugged. And if you don't feel like walking,
00:22:00.439 --> 00:22:05.259
if you're tired, sit in a chair and stare at a wall or a picture that you really
00:22:05.259 --> 00:22:09.579
like, or, you know, take some time, dare I say it, to meditate.
00:22:10.239 --> 00:22:14.019
Now, I will tell you walking meditation is the only kind of meditation that
00:22:14.019 --> 00:22:16.559
works for me because I can't sit still.
00:22:16.659 --> 00:22:22.299
And that is a function of the H in my ADHD. I honestly get twitchy sitting still,
00:22:22.419 --> 00:22:25.679
and I'm sure a lot of you do too, because it doesn't feel right in our bodies.
00:22:25.879 --> 00:22:31.199
But walking meditation, walking around and just being in the moment and observing
00:22:31.199 --> 00:22:34.399
my neighborhood or observing things around me, Thank you.
00:22:35.636 --> 00:22:39.996
Doing those things unplugged makes such a huge difference.
00:22:40.336 --> 00:22:43.816
So that's tip number three. Unplug yourself.
00:22:44.116 --> 00:22:51.716
Figure out a way to let yourself breathe and be in the moment and have a sensory rest.
00:22:51.716 --> 00:22:55.836
Because the thing that happens with being plugged in all the time,
00:22:56.056 --> 00:23:01.456
with everything calling our attention from all the notifications and all of
00:23:01.456 --> 00:23:07.816
the craziness that's going on in the world, is demanding our attention and that is exhausting us.
00:23:08.656 --> 00:23:14.076
So back off from that. Step back. If you're someone who regularly checks themselves
00:23:14.076 --> 00:23:18.236
out of parties, and you know who I'm talking to because we've all been there.
00:23:18.376 --> 00:23:22.096
You're at a party, you're fine at first, and then a lot of people come and then
00:23:22.096 --> 00:23:24.536
it gets really loud and you're like, whoop, I gotta go home now.
00:23:25.296 --> 00:23:31.256
Because you're overstimulated, the world is like a huge giant party right now.
00:23:31.616 --> 00:23:35.076
So many voices clamoring for your attention.
00:23:35.716 --> 00:23:41.596
Let that go. Step back. Close the door and let yourself have a sensory reset.
00:23:42.136 --> 00:23:45.376
Have a quiet space. Tip number four.
00:23:45.996 --> 00:23:53.576
I am taking this from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, And it's a classic for creatives for a reason.
00:23:53.876 --> 00:24:00.096
If you haven't read The Artist's Way, I highly recommend getting it,
00:24:00.716 --> 00:24:02.796
reading it, doing the program.
00:24:03.616 --> 00:24:10.976
It is so worthwhile. And I can honestly say that there's some books you read that change your life.
00:24:10.976 --> 00:24:14.796
That book changed my life massively when
00:24:14.796 --> 00:24:17.876
I read it when it first came out and I made so many
00:24:17.876 --> 00:24:20.616
decisions based on the encouragement that I
00:24:20.616 --> 00:24:23.616
received from doing that book reading that book and
00:24:23.616 --> 00:24:26.436
doing that program so one of the things that
00:24:26.436 --> 00:24:33.176
she has you do is three pages by longhand in the morning they're called morning
00:24:33.176 --> 00:24:41.756
pages now here's tip I worked nights at the time and if morning pages for me
00:24:41.756 --> 00:24:43.756
would have actually been evening pages,
00:24:43.756 --> 00:24:48.196
which if you've ever worked nights, you know how turned around you can get.
00:24:48.776 --> 00:24:55.656
So I did my morning pages actually in the evening and I found them just as effective.
00:24:56.076 --> 00:25:02.156
The point is it's three pages written longhand about whatever is in your head
00:25:02.156 --> 00:25:04.956
and just dump it all out on the page.
00:25:05.356 --> 00:25:09.796
What I found doing it before I went to sleep at night or in the morning,
00:25:09.976 --> 00:25:12.216
I'd be doing them in the morning even though they were evening for me.
00:25:12.416 --> 00:25:18.576
What I found by doing these pages is that having had that opportunity to dump
00:25:18.576 --> 00:25:21.116
out whatever garbage was floating around in my head.
00:25:22.286 --> 00:25:27.606
It let me sleep really, really well. So all of those things that you were thinking
00:25:27.606 --> 00:25:32.766
about or worried about or concerned about or just wanted to whine on the page
00:25:32.766 --> 00:25:35.086
about, and let's face it, sometimes we like to whine.
00:25:35.206 --> 00:25:37.666
We wanna complain. We wanna fuss.
00:25:38.146 --> 00:25:42.206
And what a better place to do that than on the page. And you know,
00:25:42.306 --> 00:25:43.446
you don't have to keep these pages.
00:25:43.646 --> 00:25:46.646
Get a really cheap notebook. Get a really cheap pen.
00:25:47.426 --> 00:25:50.486
Scrawl. Don't worry if you can go back and read your notes. Although sometimes
00:25:50.486 --> 00:25:54.866
if you can read your notes, you will find gold in mining those pages,
00:25:54.866 --> 00:25:58.806
especially if the same stuff comes up time and time and time again.
00:25:59.166 --> 00:26:03.546
Maybe it's like, oh, I'm always complaining about X. What could I do to fix X?
00:26:04.406 --> 00:26:08.846
And that's just an example. Or if a story idea keeps popping up,
00:26:08.906 --> 00:26:13.646
or if a creative or a painting idea or whatever it is that keeps popping up
00:26:13.646 --> 00:26:18.466
or shows up in your morning pages, you can use that. Now, I have really horrible handwriting.
00:26:18.706 --> 00:26:22.186
Could I read a lot of my morning pages slash evening pages afterwards?
00:26:22.426 --> 00:26:29.106
No, I couldn't. But it was the process of just feeling like whatever garbage
00:26:29.106 --> 00:26:35.106
was floating around in my head was then out on the paper, allowed me to sleep a lot better.
00:26:35.346 --> 00:26:38.346
And if you do them in the morning before you get to work.
00:26:39.372 --> 00:26:42.152
If you're having anxiety about leaving the house, going to work,
00:26:42.192 --> 00:26:44.472
what's going on with schools? What's going on with your kids?
00:26:44.592 --> 00:26:45.532
What's going on with your partner?
00:26:45.772 --> 00:26:50.732
Whatever it is, getting that anxiety out, that garbage out before you go to
00:26:50.732 --> 00:26:53.992
work, also can help you. You can have a better day at work.
00:26:54.592 --> 00:26:59.332
So whichever time you choose to do morning pages slash evening pages,
00:26:59.672 --> 00:27:02.672
take a chance and do them. What's the worst that happens?
00:27:02.852 --> 00:27:07.552
Say you do them for 30 days and you absolutely hate it and you think gets garbage
00:27:07.552 --> 00:27:08.652
and it was a waste of your time.
00:27:08.892 --> 00:27:14.852
You've only wasted the time and the pages and whatever you used of a cheap ink pen.
00:27:15.012 --> 00:27:19.412
And I really believe in a cheap notebook, cheap ink pen. If you've got an old
00:27:19.412 --> 00:27:21.552
notebook lying around that's half full, use that.
00:27:21.732 --> 00:27:26.452
It doesn't matter. What matters is you get that stuff out of your head to make
00:27:26.452 --> 00:27:28.632
way for the better stuff that's there.
00:27:29.292 --> 00:27:34.292
Give yourself a chance. Do it for 30 days. Do it for three pages. Do it daily.
00:27:34.932 --> 00:27:43.532
Not to write for anyone not to be productive just to clear out that mental clutter, right?
00:27:44.012 --> 00:27:49.252
Now, tip number five, give yourself a break.
00:27:49.672 --> 00:27:53.532
Your productivity may not be what it used to be.
00:27:53.712 --> 00:27:57.832
Mine isn't. I average about one book a year now. And that's okay.
00:27:58.232 --> 00:28:01.092
The world is heavier right now.
00:28:01.572 --> 00:28:09.432
Brain fog is real, whether it's a result of dealing with long-term health issues
00:28:09.432 --> 00:28:11.852
or chronic health issues or
00:28:11.852 --> 00:28:18.632
the world at large or just our general neural atypia mental health issues.
00:28:18.972 --> 00:28:23.252
It doesn't matter why that fog is happening.
00:28:23.752 --> 00:28:27.592
It's real. It's there. And we're working to try and clear it.
00:28:27.732 --> 00:28:31.792
That's what I hope some of these tips will do is help you kind of work through that fog.
00:28:32.837 --> 00:28:38.677
It's okay if you're writing fewer words. It's okay if you're taking more breaks.
00:28:39.237 --> 00:28:42.597
It's not failure. It's adjustment.
00:28:42.957 --> 00:28:47.237
It's adjustment to whatever, what is, and this is in quotes,
00:28:47.437 --> 00:28:49.857
a normal, because who knows what normal is anymore, right?
00:28:50.297 --> 00:28:54.357
It's adjustment to what's going on in your life at the moment.
00:28:54.577 --> 00:28:59.437
And making adjustments and dealing with them is what allows you to have a creative
00:28:59.437 --> 00:29:03.697
career. In my next podcast, I'm going to talk about creative resilience,
00:29:03.697 --> 00:29:06.817
and that is a huge part of a creative career.
00:29:06.997 --> 00:29:10.937
But right now we're talking about longevity and making adjustments,
00:29:11.197 --> 00:29:13.677
whether they're big adjustments or small adjustments.
00:29:14.097 --> 00:29:19.897
Adjusting to the world as it is versus how it used to be is what is going to
00:29:19.897 --> 00:29:27.457
allow you to continue to create in this turbulent moment in time.
00:29:27.817 --> 00:29:31.157
You are not a machine. You are a human being.
00:29:31.397 --> 00:29:36.177
You are a creative human, and you are doing your best in a very difficult time.
00:29:36.177 --> 00:29:40.057
It's okay to be slower. It's okay to be quieter.
00:29:40.597 --> 00:29:47.437
But don't stop. Please don't stop. Because I know deep down.
00:29:48.474 --> 00:29:52.334
That creatives have this burning desire to create.
00:29:52.614 --> 00:29:57.134
It's what keeps us going, and stifling that does us harm.
00:29:57.434 --> 00:30:04.234
It does us so much harm on a soul-deep level to not create when you have that
00:30:04.234 --> 00:30:07.874
urge to create, when you stifle it, when you push it down,
00:30:08.114 --> 00:30:13.494
when you let the world put a lid on that creative box.
00:30:14.074 --> 00:30:16.654
Don't do that. Don't do that to yourself.
00:30:17.534 --> 00:30:21.494
Take care of yourself. You need to create.
00:30:21.674 --> 00:30:25.734
It centers you, it heals you, and it reminds you of who you are.
00:30:26.054 --> 00:30:30.334
And if you've been away from it a while, and if you feel off-center,
00:30:30.614 --> 00:30:35.314
so many times what's off-center is giving yourself the time to create,
00:30:35.574 --> 00:30:41.014
to write, to do the things that you want to do for yourself.
00:30:41.694 --> 00:30:45.554
If you're a beginner writer and you're thinking about starting writing, write.
00:30:46.194 --> 00:30:52.714
Just start. Just put those words either into the computer or on a page or on
00:30:52.714 --> 00:30:54.854
the back of a note card or on the back of your hand.
00:30:54.974 --> 00:30:58.634
I don't care where you write, but get those words out of your head and on the
00:30:58.634 --> 00:31:01.154
paper. give us your stories.
00:31:01.414 --> 00:31:08.114
Stories help us make sense out of a world that doesn't make sense many times.
00:31:08.354 --> 00:31:15.234
In our lives, in the world at large, stories help us and they always have helped us.
00:31:15.594 --> 00:31:22.494
So turn off your phone, create before you consume, limit the noise,
00:31:23.174 --> 00:31:27.694
take a walk, dump the junk out of your head, and give yourself some grace.
00:31:28.534 --> 00:31:33.594
Hold on to that attention that you've been giving to everyone else and pour
00:31:33.594 --> 00:31:39.154
it into your work, into your art, into your truth, because you deserve that.
00:31:39.794 --> 00:31:45.194
And the world, the world needs what only you can say.
00:31:45.654 --> 00:31:53.214
So until next time, stay tuned, stay inspired, and keep going. We need your voice.
00:31:53.894 --> 00:31:57.654
Thanks for tuning in to Writing While Distracted, where we navigate the whiny
00:31:57.654 --> 00:32:00.314
roads of creativity amidst the chaos of distraction.
00:32:00.794 --> 00:32:04.814
If you've enjoyed this podcast and found it useful, please share it and tag me.
00:32:05.454 --> 00:32:09.054
DM me and let me know what you found most useful. Please leave a review.
00:32:09.254 --> 00:32:11.754
It really helps get the podcast in front of more folks.
00:32:12.214 --> 00:32:16.234
And remember, in the dance between focus and diversion, every stumble is a step
00:32:16.234 --> 00:32:17.674
closer to mastering the art of writing.
00:32:18.114 --> 00:32:21.394
Join us next time as we continue to unravel the mysteries of the writer's mind.
00:32:21.394 --> 00:32:25.914
Until then, keep writing, keep wandering, and embrace the distractions that
00:32:25.914 --> 00:32:28.534
fuel your creativity. Stay tuned.
00:32:29.360 --> 00:32:39.431
Music.