by Sheree Crawford
Mindfulness is the hot thing right now; it’s being talked about, summed up, and debated in all corners of society, and so it’s reasonable to ask whether or not mindfulness can be applied to writing. Well, the obvious answer is of course it can! How is another matter.
If you’re one of those still in the dark there are plenty of resources which will help you to get a grip on it. At it’s heart, however, mindfulness is about self-awareness; being aware of our thoughts, feelings, and our bodies, and recognising how these things affect our behaviour, moods, and even mental well-being (you can use mindfulness to control anxiety, for example.
For writers the effects of anxiety, depression, and emotional exhaustion are just as, perhaps more, disastrous as for those in more “mainstream” employment, but while mindfulness can help you with all this I’d argue it can help with things like lack of focus, writers block, proofreading, and even serial abandonment of writing projects. Here’s how;
1) It helps you to remain present
Mindfulness is largely about being present, being in the moment, and choosing to be that way. No-one is 100% focused, but when we are mindful we can steer our trains of thought into productive directions. It’s not about ignoring the tangents your brain takes you on (these can be key when you’re writing), but rather about learning when to abandon them.
Much like with meditation you should not aim for “nothingness” when you practice mindfulness in writing (in this case, nothing but your goal rather than blankness), but instead be aware of when and how you stray. Follow the train of thought to the end, if its useful, but be aware of where it’s leading you; if it becomes entirely unrelated or of no use remove yourself and refocus on your writing.
2) It can help you circumvent writers block
Old school gamers will get me here; remember when your console used to overheat after a full day of playing, and suddenly it wouldn’t do anything and you were worried it would never ever work again….
That’s writers block, but the overload happens in your brain.
Mindfulness can help you to combat this in a few ways. Firstly, if you practice mindfulness you will learn to recognise when you need a break; take breaks, it is allowed. Secondly, when you choose to be fully in the moment you can remove yourself from the fear of underproduction (or non production) because very often it is this fear which creates the block. Thirdly, you can also use this to distance yourself from internal judgement.
“Waiting for the muse” is one of those things that stems from consistent judgement of unfinished work; not everything you commit to paper must be gold, and you’re not actually, you know, committed to it. Mindfulness can help you to de-clutter your brain; when you’re aware of your thought processes and the ideas floating around you it’s easier to order them efficiently.
3) It makes you a better editor and proofreader
Mark Twain famously and aptly said that when you think you are reading “proof” you are really reading your own mind; we fill in what we thought we wrote, or what we intended to write with our minds when we proofread our own work. This is why mindfulness is so key to efficient proofreading and editing.
Proofreading is a complex, draining, and time consuming process which requires you to be focused at all times. Now, there are many tips and tricks as to how you can make it easier (I’ve written one blog post about that myself), but at the heart of it all is being mindful. You need to realise when you’re getting fed up and skimming, skipping, or filling in from your mind, and when you catch yourself you need to either re-focus or tale a break.
Editing, too, is intensive, and practising mindfulness is useful here in many of the same ways it is when proofreading, but additionally it can help you to recognise sections in need of cutting or editing. Focusing on how each section makes you feel, and how it engages you will make you a better editor. Are you tempted to skip because you’re tired, or because it’s poorly written?
Mindfulness exercises for writers:
The Flush; this is a really simple exercise that I call the “flush” because it’s literally designed to wash out all of the detritus first thing in the morning/when you first sit down to write. This is simple; sit down with a notepad and a pen or pencil ( there are plenty of claims regarding writing by hand, but I say this just because it works your hand and wrist muscles, and eases the eyes into focusing before hitting the harsh light if a screen).
Now, whatever has been rattling in your brain, whether its a scene, some dialogue, or just a word, write it down and let that lead you. It might be nonsense, of course, but follow the train of thought to its natural end point. Et Voila! The Flush.
The Clapback; if you get completely derailed by negative thoughts or doubts, as we all do at some point, get yourself a fresh document or piece of paper and jot down positive responses to the worries/fears/criticisms you’re plagued by. This will let you exorcise them, and might even make you feel better.
Block-Be-Gone; when writers block makes a scene impossible to finish close your eyes, take three deep breaths (cliche, I know) in through the nose and out through the mouth s l o w l y… and root yourself in the scene. Write your own reactions as the characters, or the description as you see it in your mind as best you can; it might not be “Just Right”, but it’ll act as a placeholder until you have something better to replace it with. This lets you move on without skipping.
The Duracell Bunny; another block-buster (not in the Hollywood sense, obviously) is what I call the “duracell bunny”. Pick the part of your scene that most interests you and write from that point, perspective, or about that thing as fast as you can, ignoring spelling, grammar, and sense, for two minutes. Let your excitement carry you, and you’ll be surprised how much can change in 120 seconds!
Guest post contributed by Sheree Crawford. Sheree is a UK based content writer and ghostwriter and often writes about the art of writing.
I feel that being mindful of everything can be applied to our entire lives and not just writing. It really is a way of living.
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Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.
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I agree about being mindful about writing because it adds that much more meaning to the story you’re telling! 🙂 Those exercises are great ideas, too! Thank you for sharing!
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Reblogged this on The Business of Writing and commented:
Helpful advise for a distracted age.
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Thanks for the reblog!
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It might be good when reading, too:)
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The best way to unblock the mind is by quieting it. In my opinion, art, yoga and/or playing an instrument are the ultimate means of doing so.
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You might be interested in this “Ruskin did not only encourage us to draw on our travels, he also felt we should write, or as he called it ‘word paint’, so as to cement our impressions of beauty. However respected he was in his lifetime for his drawings, it was his word-paintings that captured the public imagination and were responsible for his fame in the late Victorian period.” Written about John Ruskin, the Lakeland artist/writer/philosopher from Victorian times and currently inspiring some of my travel writing.
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This was a wonderful post full of ideas that we can all use. Thank you.
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It definitely helps to get over the writer’s block.. Mindfulness kind of resets the mind
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I’ve been practicing mindfulness for a few years and have definitely used it to remain present during writing projects I felt were slipping away from me. This was a good read and I think others will find it helpful.
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I’ve heard so much about mindfulness and your post has been really helpful.. looking forward to looking into it more!! Thank you!
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Thanks for reading.
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Your welcome! 👍🏼
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Love this post!
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Fantastic post, really enjoyed reading this. I had always considered reading to be a great mindfulness practice but had never really thought about writing in the same way. I have to admit I am a guilty one for Duracell bunnyingy way through my writing, then having to go back and filling in all the boring bits. It is almost like I have to get all of the distracting, exciting stuff out of my head before I can fill in the sensible bits like the introduction.
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Wonderful topic… It’s easy to get locked into our dwelling when writing. Mindfulness is slowly, steadily getting its due.
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Similar to ‘The Flush’ one thing I have learnt to do which has greatly helped with my writer’s block is ‘Pre-Writing’.
For example, if I have a blog post to write, I will sit down and write whatever it is currently on my mind as if it were to be the post and sometimes it’s a keeper. Most times it stays in the drafts for another day when I can sift through and find the real nugget I was trying to get at before I write the ‘real’ post.
I see it like stretching before exercise, it gets my mind in the writing space and gets momentum going. Even if it isn’t ‘gold’ in the end.
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