The Busy Life as a Writing Life

Several years ago, I took a long break from writing. There were a lot of reasons—I was busy, I was experiencing post-MFA burnout, someone said something that shook me. I came back, though, and it was surprising. Writing is very forgiving. While the people in our lives may reach a breaking point with us, writing will always welcome us back. Show up with a bouquet and make a little effort, and bam—you’re in. It’s like you never left, except for the fact that you have a lot of new subjects to write about.

            I’m grateful to language—I’m grateful to words for the way they line up for me and wait more or less patiently for me to pin them down on paper. The poem words slide down my pen. The essay words tap out on my keyboard like salt from a shaker. As long as I keep pen or fingers moving, they keep coming. They don’t hold grudges. (Sometimes they’re terrible, but that’s really a different matter—maybe one to take up here later.)

            To show my gratitude, I try to keep limber. I always have a writing project in mind, and I tease out new ones every chance I get. The words may be patient, but I don’t like to leave them waiting.

            The problem is that I’m very busy with teaching and family and all of the other things that occupy our lives. Here, then, are seven strategies I’ve used to keep myself writing—to stave off the next involuntary hiatus.

Keep yourself limber. During a lecture or a meeting, our minds sometimes wander. Let yours wander toward words! I like to await a juicy noun, and then craft it into a metaphor. How, exactly, can love be a ____? (Syllabus, algorithm, budget cut ….)

Make a time picture. It’s a common organizational strategy: write down everything you do for a day, and then reflect upon how you spend your time. Throughout the day, there are pockets of time that can be rearranged—for more work, for focused relaxation, or, for us, for art! Most successful writers work daily on their writing. Before you can build that good habit, you need to find a time that you can dedicate to it.

Take a writing retreat. Try taking turns with your partner and find each other a place and a time to focus on what you care about. While you’re there, you can let the other business of life fade into the background. My favorite place to go on a writing retreat is in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, at the Hidden Springs Bed &Breakfast. One of the proprietors has a doctorate in English. He gets it. Sometimes we need to be alone with our words.

Sit your butt down. I like to say that there is no such thing as writers’ block. Occasionally we suffer from “brilliance block,” but as long as we sit down and keep our pens moving, we’re writing. Making ourselves sit down and write will ensure that words find the page. Something good is bound to show up eventually, if only by accident.

Have a long-term writing project. A lot of our desk time is spent coming up with an idea. If you have a project that you can come back to again and again, you can jump right in, rather than waiting for inspiration. I have a few examples from my own writing life: a set of persona poems, a group of poems about a particular item I carried with me for a period of time, and a long poem in parts, each of which corresponds to a part of the body. With each poem in all of these series, I was able to begin immediately when an opportunity to write came around.

Use calls for submissions as prompts. One of my favorite resources is CRWROPPS—the Creative Writing Opportunities mailing list. (To subscribe, write to crwropps-b@yahoogroups.com.) When I see that a magazine I love has an open reading period or that an anthology is looking for poems on a special topic, I always use that as a catalyst or prompt for my own writing. Recently I wrote an essay in response to a call for submissions in Real Simple magazine (which I subscribe to). Even if I don’t win the contest, I ended up with a piece of writing that I loved.

Carry a topical notebook. When I’ve been away from poetry for a while, I often carry a small pocket notebook to write down thoughts on a particular topic as they occur to me throughout the day. A notebook is especially effective if it focuses on a broad theme—like “water” or “mother” or “love”—and all of the ideas I jot down throughout the day respond to that theme. It’s simple to craft these into a poem later.

Most importantly, be sure to forgive yourself when you fall short of your goals, and remember that time spent away from actively writing can be very powerful. You’re gathering material, and when you put it on the page later, it’s going to blow you away.