Finding Your Writing Flow

Some tools I use to make my daily work easier

Photo by Bench Accounting on Unsplash

I have found that using the same playlist every time I write helps me get into flow on those difficult writing days. I turn my playlist on and the words start flowing from my fingers. I find the motivation to write and write longer than I usually would while my playlist plays. I have trained my mind to write when I hear this music so my mind writes on command. It is an excellent tool to use to help me improve my production and make my self-imposed deadlines.

On the days that my mind resists even my playlist, I have other tools to use which I will share below.

1. Writing around the same time every day; morning and/or evening.
2. A hot cup of tea or coffee
3. A quiet space
4. A change of space in my home. I like to write out on my balcony, sitting at the dining room table, or on the floor in my bedroom when my usual desk and chair is feeling too confining.
5. A change of place. Some days you just have to get out of your house and go visit a coffee shop, park, or sit in your car somewhere to get away from all the distractions of home.
6. I will pull out a pen and notebook on the toughest days or when I want to go low-tech. I usually have a notebook with me wherever I go in case I need to write.
7. Sometimes I need to get up and pace the floor while I work out a difficult writing problem.
8. Call it quits. If the struggle of life is too distracting I will stop fighting to write and take a nap or do something else to care for myself. Writing is not a punishment and I need to be careful not to treat myself like a robot.

On the most difficult of writing days, I try to remember that writing is a gift. Many people do not like to write and will never know the joy of working through the challenge of getting the right words down on paper. No matter how much I may fight my writing I am drawn to it day after day.

I am blessed to have a way to work through my thoughts and feelings and come out feeling better than I found myself before I began. I think being gifted with a creative passion makes writers some of the luckiest people in the world. A little sappy? Maybe. ;-)

What are your favorite ways to get into writing flow?

Nerding Out on the Process of Writing

Thanks for reading. I’m on Facebook. Here’s my podcast, Learning to Live Free, where I explore topics of interest to survivors of narcissistic abuse and domestic violence.