Forward Motion
By Kathleen McCleary | August 9, 2023 |
You’ve been there, I’m sure, as have I: You hit a stretch when life seems to hand you one setback after another, a fusillade of adversity that makes it impossible to even think about things like, say, writing a novel. Or maybe it’s not even adversity, but simply the small demands of the everyday—a child’s illness (or your own), a work project, houseguests, holidays, financial worries—that keep you from writing. I have lived these scenarios over and over. But I discovered this summer that these are not the roadblocks to my writing I believed them to be. Instead, they are an essential part of the creative process, what poet Maggie Smith calls “Keep Moving.”
For me, “Keep Moving” looks like this: Reading— anything. Writing: poetry, essays, letters, social media posts, emails. Watching movies and TV shows. Talking to friends about their lives and my life. Absorbing everything. Letting go of self-criticism about not writing.
Example: Every year for the past 55 (!!) years, I’ve spent 2-5 weeks in the Adirondack mountains in upstate New York, renting a cabin from the same family on the same small lake. I planned to make my Adirondack time this year a 35-day writing retreat, to immerse myself in my current novel, my characters and their stories, and write 20,000 words or more.
That didn’t happen. A stream of houseguests and weather catastrophes and my own lack of motivation stopped me. The big surprise: The minute I got home the creative floodgates opened and I’ve had several weeks of amazing productivity on this book. I’m in that phase where the characters speak to me in my sleep, where I sit down to write for an hour and find that three hours have passed, where I re-read what I wrote the day before and realize, It’s good.
When I stopped to think about how I got here, I realized that over the last two months I’d read half a dozen novels, seen some brilliant TV shows and movies, chatted with friends and family about friends and family and all the drama contained there-in, written at least eight poems, and had a three-hour cup of coffee with a fellow writer. I also witnessed an amazing sunrise from the top of a 5,000-foot peak, bushwhacked through boreal forest to spot a woodpecker’s nest, startled four fox kits playing by the side of a road, hiked, swam, canoed, worked, argued with my kids, cried, laughed, sweated, and walked the dog. And all those things, my friends, are the drops of creativity that built up and built up until the dam burst and I am writing and writing.
So what does Keep Moving look like?
- Reading. I know many writers can’t read fiction when they’re writing fiction, and I get it. But I read terrific novels in a wide range of genres that sparked ideas, motivated me, intrigued me, and kept me immersed in the world of plot and character and story. I read a murder mystery by David Roberts, novels by Andrew Greer and Maggie O’Fallon and Marisa de los Santos, memoirs by Maggie Smith and Michelle Zauner and Tahir Izgil. I noticed the details that made characters spring to life. I got caught up in wanting to know and then what happened? or I can’t believe they did that! I felt the richness of place— rural Ireland, suburban Ohio, western China.
- Watching TV and movies. I have been watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel for five seasons and it’s been fantastic and it’s been okay but the series-ending finale was one of the most brilliant hours of TV I’ve seen. After watching it I tried to dissect what made it so great. I came up with several answers, but the primary one was that the obstacles and solutions presented in that episode seemed inevitable, so clearly the result of the characters and who they were that it was impossible to imagine any other scenario. It was organic. It reminded me that the best stories are seamless, with characters who are thoroughly themselves. It had an emotional truth that resonated long after the show ended.
- Gossiping. I don’t mean to gossip in a say-terrible-things-about-someone-behind-their-back kind of way. Every summer when I return to the Adirondacks I spend time with friends there who also have been coming up for decades and we catch up on the past year. Someone had twins and someone got divorced and someone got married and someone’s house flooded and there are stories of all the things that have happened. Again, it’s character and story and plot and narrative, the real-life version. Listen.
- Creating. Since the pandemic began, I’ve met via phone with my friends Martha and Julia at 9 a.m. every Monday to share poems we’ve written and decide on a prompt for the following week. I’ve written a few great poems and many bad poems and some OK poems. But there’s this: Every single week for three-plus years I’ve created something out of nothing. So make pottery. Knit. Cook. Sing. It’s all creativity, and it’s all practice, or maybe it’s a workout.
Look, I know the dam can dry up just as quickly as it overflows, and my current creative stream won’t last forever. But when it slows, I won’t panic. I will open a book. I’ll pick up a pen. I’ll call a friend. I’ll write a poem.
I’ll keep moving.
What keeps you moving forward when your writing isn’t flowing? Are you ever surprised by the things that turn out to have fueled your writing? What works best for you?
Kathleen McCleary is the author of three novels—House and Home, A Simple Thing, and Leaving Haven—and has worked as a bookseller, bartender, and barista (all great jobs for gathering material for fiction). A Simple Thing (HarperCollins 2012) was nominated for the Library of Virginia Literary Awards. She was a journalist for many years before turning to fiction, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, and USA Weekend, as well as HGTV.com, where she was a regular columnist. She taught writing as an adjunct professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and teaches creative writing to kids ages 8-18 as an instructor with Writopia Labs, a non-profit. She also offers college essay coaching (https://thenobleapp.com), because she believes that life is stressful enough and telling stories of any kind should be exciting and fun. When she’s not writing or coaching writing, she looks for any excuse to get out into the woods or mountains or onto a lake. She lives in northern Virginia with her husband and two daughters and Jinx the cat.
[coffee]
Congratulations on those open floodgates! That’s the best, isn’t it? May you ride that wave all the way to shore.
I call myself a Creative. Writing is my first love, but not my only love. I’m creating something every day. If it’s not with words, it’s with metal, fiber, paint or random found objects.
I find writing requires more deep focus than anything, though. To keep moving with it, I have a few tricks.
First, I make the time for it. I promise my WIP the crazy small minimum amount of time each and every day of 15 minutes. It’s not hard to sneak 15 minutes from even the busiest day. But if somehow I don’t do it, that’s okay (period).
Like you, I’ve found excellent writing on current TV shows is fueling my need for story. I’m usually crocheting or mending-embroidering while watching.
No matter what I’m creating, I can’t help but see the parallels from one medium to the next. Lessons from one can be translated to the other. Contrast, for example, translates easily. The light looks brighter if it’s next to the deepest dark. So prickly texture next to smooth, makes both more intense and in writing it’s the darkest despair gets followed by the brightest joy.
Lately I’ve been thinking of the lesson of threes, a fundamental concept in visual design. How does that translate to writing? Three acts is obvious but what about three main characters? That’s always more interesting.
I guess what I’m saying is it’s all good, as long as I stay creative and stay open to story it fuels my creativity and teaches me the lessons I need for the next writing session.
Thank you for the post.
What wonderful insights, Ada! I love the way you apply what you see and discover in one medium to another. I’m a visual artist too (pastel is my medium of choice) but hadn’t thought about the way I work light and dark in my paintings and how that may translate in my writing. Really good food for thought. I think most of us are Creatives with a capital “C.” Thanks for the thoughtful comment.
Wow, this resonates. I had an eight-year stretch a while back of parents aging and dying, of me cleaning out and selling a house while welcoming (and babysitting) two grandchildren into the world, and being stretched like a piece of taffy between all the pieces of this glorious crazy. True confession; I had to fight off resentment. But then I had that moment you describe where I said whoa, this is life dummy, and life is why you write, right? So shut up and live it. Take notes. Scribble in the margins, but embrace the chaos and terror and awe. That was a game-changer. Fast forward to now and the well is till brimming. Thank you for the beautiful reminder. I hope your well keeps re-filling!
I’m glad this resonated, Susan. I’ve been there too (caring for aging parents, dismantling the family home, continuing to parent, etc.) I like the “life is why you write” reminder. I’m so glad to hear that the well is brimming again. Best of luck and may it continue to overflow.
Love that image of the ocean wave, Kathleen. During my break times, I read and listen to classical music, take nature walks too. My go-to reading is May Sarton’s journals, poetry, essays, and fiction. Because she is a broad writer and her prose is so inviting, I’m often restored creatively. And then, of course, there’s indulging in ice cream!
Hi, Paula. It’s interesting that you’ve found a writer whose work in all kinds of genres inspires. I feel that way about some of my favorite authors, too, the writers I turn to again and again for inspiration, like the poet Ross Gay. I haven’t read much May Sarton but you have me intrigued so I’m going to check that out. My indulgence is chocolate, but I firmly believe that fuels creativity too. Happy writing!
Hi Kathleen, I have been enjoying your photos on FB and know how the freedom of travel can ignite ideas. I still have creative notes I wrote while on vacation…being out of one’s element always sparks creativity. Then when back home it can increase creativity at the keyboard. This summer, just taking long walks can often do the same!
Hi, Beth. Yes, a change of setting for ourselves can spark a lot of creativity, even if we’re not writing while we’re there. Such a good point. And I take walks every day—the challenge is to remind myself to walk a different route as often as I can. Again, getting out of any routine is good for inspiration. Hope your writing is going well and you enjoy the fleeting days of summer.
I love this so much. Probably because that’s where I’ve been this summer. I reached the half-way point of a new novel and then took a break to read fiction, to move my adult son back home, to garden, to watch movies, to get a new day job, to daydream about my WIP. It’s been really good, and they all did feel like forward motion, although they weren’t writing. I’ve had some key insights, and now it’s time to dive back in! Onward :-)
Sounds like a lot of real life, Natalie! It’s good you’ve had some key insights—that makes the writing faster, more efficiently and just better, I think. Hope it flows!
Hi, Kathleen — Such a brilliant and thorough view of the writerly life. Thank you!
I find my writing flows best when I listen most. That can be sitting in the tea house & tuning in to the words around me or walking the sidewalks around my neighborhood & tuning in to the birds & vehicles & leaves & people moving nearby or reading in a library and tuning in to the words filling my mind, building images of another world. And that’s just a beginning. The more time I spent listening, the deeper my word-well rises and the more vital my stories become.
It’s taken me 66 years to make the connection. Debut novel underway!
Thanks, again, for sharing your wisdom…
Melanie, it’s so funny that you said your writing flows best when you listen most because that’s the theme of my new novel: Listening. I published my first novel at 48 and have high hopes I’ll be publishing this new one now that I’m in my sixties. Best of luck with the novel.
Kathleen, what a beautiful post on the ebb and flow of the creative life. Thank you. It’s so wonderful when you find yourself having a creative burst! May it continue for a long stretch. Because I’ve been chronically ill for years, I had to accept that I can’t always do what I want to do and to make do the best I can with what I have. Even on the worst days, I can read, scribble in my notebook, sing, watch funny movies, pray. On good days, I’m catching up on the things I’ve neglected, my writing among them. Lately we’ve been going to beach in the evenings and it’s been so restorative. I’m very blessed to live near the ocean.
Vijaya, I so admire anyone who manages to do creative work while also coping with chronic illness. I like your attitude that on the days when writing isn’t an option, you find what you CAN do and I believe all of that fuels your writing. Enjoy your summertime beach evenings, and may your writing flow. xo
Was so inspired by your weekly poem share that I’ve decided to try the practice of a poem each week. I found these sites for prompts, and thought I’d share in case anyone else was so inspired:
https://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises?genre=31
https://www.writersdigest.com/be-inspired/poetry-prompts
Thanks for the creative inspiration to let fun keep me moving towards progress on my novel!
This is wonderful, Christine. Thank you! And you’ve found two terrific sites that I use frequently. I’m always overjoyed to find anyone who shares my love for poetry—writing it, reading it, listening to it, sharing it. It is such a good workout for writing fiction. And so many great authors are also great poets. I’ll look forward to hearing how your poetry experiments go.
Ah, for a freshet of inspiration like that! Point well taken: sometimes we clamp down so stubbornly on the dictate to write no matter what, butt in chair and words on paper, that we strangle the very creative flow that makes writing productive, rewarding — and fun!
If you haven’t encountered John Cleese’s ‘Creativity- a short and cheerful guide’, i’d highly recommend it. He discusses the many facets of creativity and puts forth the idea that even tho a project may be on the back burner, it it still simmering. Notice when we ‘sleep on’ an issue, we often wake to discover a solution. The mysteries of the mind!