Write On, Though All Distractions

One word that prevents the holidays from upending your writing practice

The Story Writer’s Path

One word that prevents the holidays from upending your writing practice

Photo by Demi-Felicia Vares on Unsplash

One of my favorite things to do when I’m not writing is to knit. For many years, until she died in 1999, knitters were blessed with the teachings and books of Elizabeth Zimmerman. And here is one of my favorite quotes from her:

“Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises.”

I think we writers can adopt that saying as well, substituting the word “write” for “knit,” so that we have:

“Write on with confidence and hope through all crises.”

So maybe we wouldn’t all call the holidays a crisis, per se (though I’m sure some would), but at the very least they are a major distraction, right? And for some of us that constitutes a crisis.

This is a time of year when there’s more to do than usual: decorating and parties and luncheons and shopping and present wrapping and holiday meal planning and food shopping and preparation and all kinds of other events. It’s enough to exhaust even the most dedicated Christmas lover.

And rob writers of their time to write. Maybe in years past you have hung onto your writing time by the skin of your teeth, barely eking out a few minutes to devote to it and then finally giving up when it just seemed like too much effort.

But it doesn’t have to be that way

Wouldn’t it be lovely if you reached the end of this hectic month with a few more thousand words under your belt instead of panic because you’ve lost so much time working on your story?

I believe you can. It comes down to making a simple tweak in your mindset. One word can do it all for you. We’ll get to that word in a minute. But, first, let me remind you:

What you focus on, happens

Yes, I know this is a terrible, awful, horrible cliche. But often there’s a reason things become cliches — because they are true. People cringe at this dictum because it seems so simplistic: just think about what you want and it will come true! Which is not true at all. (There’s action involved, in case you were wondering.)

But here’s the deal: your attitude does count. A lot. Do a little experiment and try to count how many times a day you’re focusing on the negative rather than the positive. If you’re like me, you’ll probably lose count. And are some of those negative statements you’re tell yourself having something to do with the fact you’re so busy this holiday you don’t have time to write? Keep telling yourself that and it’ll happen. But if you tell yourself the opposite it will open up your mind to find ways to make it happen.

Once you’ve gotten your attitude straightened out, now we get to the magic word.

Choose

You have free will. Nobody is forcing you to watch yet another Christmas movie with your family. You could go write instead. Yes, family time is important. Yes, the kids are growing up fast and you want to spend time with them. Yes, your spouse will be annoyed with you when you choose writing over spending time with him and the kids.

But my point is, you have a choice. If something is important to you, you’ll do it. Right? You will. Yes, yes, you will.

And lest you think me a terrible ogre, let it be know that I love a good Hallmark Christmas movie. And I adore having a glass of wine at the end of the day, while chatting with my husband. I’m probably not going to give either of those activities up. But I might be convinced to get up a little bit earlier and forego email until I’ve gotten my word count it. Or to not linger over my breakfast and the New York Times crossword and instead get back to work so I can steal some time for writing later.

Because we all have free will and we can use it to make the choice to keep up with our writing.

So this is the magic word that will prevent the holidays from upending your writing: choose.

— Choose to keep up with it.

— Choose to make time for it.

— Choose to end the year happy with your productivity instead of fretting about you lack of it.

— Choose to continue to do the most important thing in your life: write.

As above, so below

Because a funny thing happens when you choose to write on through all distractions. It affects the rest of your life, too. Astrologers have a phrase for it: as above, so below. This is often used to intimate that what happens in the stars affected life on earth. But it can also be thought of in a variety of other ways.

Such as, your internal state is reflected in your external appearance.

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

You get the gist. And to me, it applies to writing. Because if my writing is going well and I’m doing it regularly, the rest of my life will likely be going smoothly as well. When I do the most important thing, the rest of it all falls into place.

I think this is because I’ve got enthusiasm and energy to spare. For one thing, a good writing session always energizes me. And for another, I’ve got extra energy that was previously being used up in worrying about how I wasn’t writing.

Thus, choosing to continue your writing practice throughout the holidays will actually improve them overall.

And if your family squawks about it too much, send them to me. In the meantime, go write.