I recently had a Zoom chat with two writing friends—all of us have been nonfiction writers for work for years but we’re trying to become fiction writers. We admitted that we’re stuck right now, for so many reasons. Summer doldrums? Out of the normal routine? Scared to start a big revision? Yes, all of these.
After talking through what is helping (or not), I came away with the idea that I need more snacks, but not food. Let me explain.
Writing Snacks
In the chaos of summer (vacation, kids’ changing schedules, unexpected travel), we discovered our regular writing routines have been fighting to stay on schedule. Each of us felt we’re losing the battle. Carefully carved out time chunks that worked during the regular part of the year don’t work in summer. As we talked it through, we realized those routines need to give way to smaller, less well-planned micro-chunks of time. “Snacks.” Instead of three hours three days a week, I may only have an hour, twice a week. Or even less: a few minutes each day or every other day. The time chunks may be smaller, but they need to be there. One of the women has given herself the task of writing a small essay every Friday morning. She writes thoughtful comments on Substack, about 200-250 words, and that anchors her writing. Brilliant. And those essays get done, every week, even if the novel is still percolating.
Nap Snacks
My buddies told me about a woman they had talked with at a writing retreat who is a “dedicated napper.” She takes 20-minute naps on a daily basis. My friends commented that they didn’t have the discipline to do that. The woman, knowing that these two women are dedicated athletes (one is a big mountain biker and the other runs races) said, “You’d never forego your exercise and athletic discipline, right? It’s the same thing with naps. I need them and so I build in a discipline to take them, every day.”
As a napper-in-training, I love this idea. Another experiment for August: a nap snack to refresh mind and body, every day. My dog, Matisse, offers a good role model.
Inspiration Snacks
The two women join Zoom weekly and write together. They were kind enough to invite me to the chat as well. We are each writing books that are way outside of our normal nonfiction writing, so we are definitely new at this. We spent 15 minutes talking about (OK, I guess the right word would be “commiserating”) how we’re doing on our projects, what’s helping (books we’re reading, new resources, ideas), and how we’ll move forward. In that short chat, I came away with more energy than I’ve felt in a long time. I needed the inspiration that they offered and hope I did the same for them. Even though it was far too early in the morning for me, I jumped from my chair when we finished and raced to get more coffee so I could get to work.
My friend just posted her weekly essay on Substack (Noticing | Kristi Spence | Substack). Her writing snack has given me an inspiration snack for the day.
Now I need to take a nap snack.