The Renovation Bug

Do you write at a desk when you’re stuck at home? Or do you have a designated corner of the couch with your favorite throw blanket? Or do you rough it at the kitchen table amidst the bustle of everyone going about their day? Personally, I’m a bit of a wild card — recently, I’ve been jumping between all of these options for a few reasons. For one, I am in the process of moving, so my desk is at The New Place while I’m still living at The Old Place. But I can’t always focus at the table and if I sit somewhere comfy, I’m likely to fall asleep. It’s quite the conundrum…

One of my quarantine goals (now that I am officially [semi] quarantined) is to create the writing space I actually want — the space that makes me feel relaxed, energized, and inspired. I’ve got a nook at The New Place all picked out and a few ideas of how I could go about creating this kind of space, so I thought I’d share some of them. Maybe they’ll spark some ideas for your own home-based work space.

• Get a new house plant to liven up the space
• Paint a canvas with a favorite writing quote
• Have an organized stash of supplies — paper, pens, laptop charger — at the ready. Venture out into the world for a cute storage container if need be.
• Ensure there is a place to set coffee or tea
• Incorporate a basket or shelf for prompt/craft books: suggestions include Bird by Bird (Anne Lamott), On Writing (Stephen King), The Making of a Story (Alice LaPlante), Poet’s Glossary (Edward Hirch), The Poetry Gymnasium (Tom C. Hunley), 300 Writing Prompts
• Make sure there’s enough lighting — use fairy lights if need be
• Hang a bulletin board or magnet board to keep track of goals
• Print photos of your biggest supporters to hang and keep motivation up

What are some ways you want to renovate your writing space? What is your dream writing nook? Minimalistic or artsy? Modern or vintage?

Happy redecorating and happy writing!

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A list for the anxiously-creative

Being cooped up puts me in the mood to create, but necessarily sit down to work on my WIP. I get an anxious energy to do without the mental capacity to focus on a long, complex project.

Here is a list of ways to work on writing-esque things without killing your quarantined brain.

• Create mood boards for your characters
• Compile a playlist for your WIP or your favorite character
• Make a list of potential character names — jump down the babynames.com rabbit hole
• Describe things around your house in obscenely-poetic phrasing
• Start world building that fantasy society you’ve been dreaming of creating.
• Drink some coffee.
• Work on organizing or redecorating your writing space — create your dream nook!
• Plan out your writing goals for this year and brainstorm ways to get/ remain inspired

What are your favorite ways of staying creative when stuck inside?

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Quarantine Creativity

The past few weeks have been crazy for everyone. Life in general has become overwhelming, full of panic and fear. I have heard more than a few people claim it is the end of times with comments ranging from the straight-forward, “The world is literally ending,” to the coping-mechanism, “I thought the zombie apocalypse would be more fun than this.”

As an easily-stressed person, I do not take these types of comments lightly. I have learned over many years to process any information I take in (which I am better at doing some days compared to others) and luckily I have been able to do so, for the most part, amidst the chaos of the past week.

First off, I would like to say the world is not ending. While I cannot know this for sure, I can say it with relative certainty. The Bible says we will not be able to predict Christ’s second coming; it says it will happen when we least expect it. If we are expecting the end of the world, it probably isn’t coming.

Secondly, I will say although the world is not ending, sometimes it still feels like it is.

Yes, I am aware that this post is reading like a corona-themed rant and as nothing to do with writing, but bear with me – I promise I’m getting there.

I will refrain from getting into the politics and my personal opinion of corona-quarantine, but I will say that it can be a blessing or a curse, disregarding the effects toward the virus itself. For writers, usually the ultimate introverts, quarantine could be the most productive, most relaxing few weeks you’ve had in a long time. But if you’re simply overwhelmed by the changes and the adapting and the alone-ness of it all (even if you aren’t physically alone), these few weeks may be the most stressful and least productive.

And that’s okay.

Even if you know the world is not ending and you know there are people who care about you and appreciate your writing, sometimes the atmosphere of fear and chaos can squeeze its way under your skin without your wanting it to, or even realizing it. And this overwhelming feeling can make simply forming a sentence the more difficult thing you’ve tried to do all day.

If you’re in this boat right now, I encourage you not to fall into the potential downward spiral of looking at “productivity tips.” If the idea of doing something to write more or focus harder makes you never want to write again, then don’t do it. Instead, ask yourself what your favorite part of writing is. Whatever your answer is, do that thing. If you love writing description, come up with a list of your favorite adjectives and metaphors. If you love characters, create a new one and make a mood board for them.

If the thought of writing makes you want to puke or sleep for three days, please know there are other ways to keep those creative juices flowing — ways that will hopefully help this unexpected quarantine be relaxing and reinvigorating instead of stressful and lonely.

I’ll be posting a list of creative ideas to do when you want to improve your writing… without actually writing… so stay tuned for that list and comment your favorite creative tasks below!

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