As a professional ghostwriter, it pains me that I haven’t been able to publish more of my own writing. All the “shoulds” in the world about how to build a consistent writing habit get ignored when I sit down to write my own articles.
It’s been embarrassing and frustrating.
I know I can write—I’ve produced writing for clients for more than 20 years. But there’s something about putting my thoughts and ideas on a page that is a million times harder than doing the work for other people.
I just finished reading Holding Change by adrienne maree brown and realized that the practices for creating incremental change she shares in her book might help me break through this frozen stronghold I’ve been buried in for more than a decade.
I am a long-time fan of brown’s work and her collection of work in the Emergent Strategy series is excellent.
While Holding Change is focused on facilitation and mediation work and is much more extensive than this list, there are four concepts I’m using to help break my writing barriers:
- Accept that change is non-linear
- Resist practices that are connected to capitalism, patriarchy, and other oppressive systems
- Support the change through somatic bodywork
- Monitor and assess change progress, not just success/failure at the end
Here’s how I’ve been applying these incremental change concepts to create writing habits that are starting to stick.
Think of writing non-linearly
At the core of incremental (or “emergent”) change is the reality that change can rarely be planned with a defined start, middle, and end. We change as the work unfolds, leading to new challenges that require additional planning or interventions.
This led me to realize that I’ve been trying to establish my writing practice in an antiquated, neurotypical way: “Just set the plan, follow what the experts do, and stick with it. Just have some discipline and make it happen.”
And the opposite invariably occurred. I would get stuck at various steps in the process and feel the only way forward was to solve the friction at that particular point before I could keep going.
Writing by following a set practice designed by “experts” isn’t working for me.
If I step into an incremental change mindset and see the work of establishing a writing habit as something that will ebb and flow as I work on it, I need to focus less on the outcomes and more on the process itself and continue to analyze the path that will support me in publishing written work consistently. I also need to be ready to add new elements to support my writing habit if my needs change along the way.
Resist practices that are connected to capitalism, patriarchy, and other oppressive systems
I hesitated to include this element because I worried it might generate angry reactions. “How could capitalism be affecting your writing? Just own up to your own failings!”
However, most writing advice has a strong “hustle culture” vibe. Things like: write every day, measure the number of words you’re getting on paper, track the number of articles you publish, and adjust your tactics based on the number of views or likes you received.
We can’t measure our art only by the value it generates for others.
Thinking this way has negatively influenced my mindset as I started to write. I’m choosing topics I think others expect to see, and I’m measuring success only by whether or not it gets finished, published, and is well received.
Instead, I’ve changed how I look at writing. Yes, there are some articles that I need to write that explain key facts or solutions others are seeking. But I can also use my writing as a way to clarify my thinking, work through a problem, or share something that has been impactful to me. (Like this article. So meta.)
It might end up that much of my writing stays in my Google Drive, and that’s ok. Letting go of the expectation that I’m only doing it in service to others allows me to step back into the enjoyment of it. I can use it along the path of my work and see where it goes.
Support change through somatic bodywork
As I explored the emergent change space, I was introduced to the concept of somatic practices—-focusing on practices in my body that give me more energy for my work. The a-ha moment was the realization that I’ve only been using my head centre of intelligence to write, and ignoring the heart and body centres. I’ve been trying to think my way through the challenge of writing, instead of remembering that my emotions and signals from my body can help me.
This means not just thinking about writing, but tapping into my emotions and senses to expand my thoughts on a topic.
I’ve been building a collection of somatic practice books (I’ll publish the syllabus soon) and have built up a knowledge of how somatics can support my work. Then one of my clients, who is a trauma-informed facilitator and somatic practitioner, gently reminded me that somatic work happens when we actually practice the work, not just read about it. (Ohhh right, I actually have to do the work!)
I’m still only a beginner, but I’m bringing breathwork, mindfulness, centering, and other somatic healing practices into my daily space. It’s hard for me as a head type to use body signals for my work, but I’m pushing through the resistance.
Use ongoing signals as the habit emerges: monitor change progress, not just success or failure at the end
I’ve been using the number of words written or published as the scorecard for success, and I’m weary from the continued failure. I’ve been teaching change consultants about emergent change signals for years (partly by sharing the work of Dr Gilpan-Jackson in Grey Zone Change), but completely missed the benefit of applying it to my own change work as I try to become a prolific writer.
It occurred to me as I finished the Holding Change book (and now find myself feverishly writing) that the signals are wrong. Publication is far too late in the process. Too many distinct things need to happen well before anything gets published.
So let’s break that down:
Get enough sleep the night before
Ever since menopause hit, the quality of my sleep has felt largely outside of my control. Rarely do I sleep through the night unless I’ve exhausted myself during the day, but sometimes that also pushes my nervous system into overdrive.
But when I do manage to sleep well for a couple of nights in a row, the benefit to my brain is significant. I need to do everything I can to create the conditions for a great night’s sleep and give myself some grace if a writing session goes sideways because I’m tired.
Read quality work before a writing session
I’ve been reading a lot of junk this year—both fiction and non-fiction junk—and it’s not inspiring me.
I have noticed that when I read something deeper and more insightful, it sparks new ideas for my writing. Plus I’ve got a treasure trove of excellent quotes in my Readwise app from the reading I’ve done over the years.
I rarely set a reading window ahead of a possible window for writing, so I’m watching to see if that helps.
Set a writing container
I’m not talking about time blocking—I’ve tried setting a specific time every day to write and putting it in my calendar (like the “experts” tell me to do) and it doesn’t work if my brain is struggling with fatigue in that moment.
But when I’m ready to write, a few times each week, I’m creating a set of physical and mental practices that help me reset my brain to focus on my writing work.
This looks like shifting to a different part of my desk for writing, setting the topic for what I want to write, and then doing a series of breathing exercises that bring me into the space and mindset to write.
Let go of expectations (all of them)
In the book, brown emphasizes “Release perfection. The idea of iteration is that we are repeating—not failing, but practicing and learning.”
Instead of berating myself for not writing or publishing, perhaps a more fluid, incremental approach might be better. Instead of saying, “I must write 500 words every day,” I’ll switch to, “I’ll focus on creating the conditions for writing to happen, and observe if they were the right ones.”
So the only expectations I have are focused on setting myself up for writing success and becoming a scientist to measure whether the writing happened or not, plus noting what helped or hindered my writing work that day.
How would I measure this? I’ve created a practice for centering that lets go of this expectation, plus keeping notes about what I’ve observed and learned.
Use somatic practices to stay in the work
Rather than only thinking about writing, I’m using movement and physical activity to help me push through the friction and brain “freeze” that happens almost every time I sit down to write.
In my incremental change practice, this involves stepping out of the writing work to reset my brain using body work. These activities could include:
- Completing (or repeating) a centering exercise (you can find lots of them online)
- Stretching
- Changing my writing space (light a candle, add a scent)
- Take a sip of water
- Reminding myself of the “why” or thesis of the article
- Pausing to mentally reconnect to the identity of a writer as my ultimate vision or goal (How does writing this article help me in my goal to be a prolific writer? Why does this message matter? What does being a writer feel like?)
Set breadcrumbs and systems to keep going
Because one of the challenges with my brain is things “put away” are essentially invisible to me (including writing drafts), I’m using Google Tasks to bring me back to previous writing drafts for my next writing session.
I put a checkbox at the bottom of a Google Doc page, tag myself, and add a date, and a reminder will pop up in my calendar, email, and the Google Tasks app to bring me back into the work to continue or complete it.
I’m also experimenting with Notion to change how I manage my writing workflow; I’ll share more as I land on a solid practice.
A checklist for tracking conditions for writing could look like:
To keep these reminders front and centre, I’ve created a checklist—if today is going to be a writing day, did you:
- Get enough sleep?
- Do quality reading?
- Create a writing container?
- Let go of all expectations?
- Use somatic practices to push through friction and stay in the work?
- Set breadcrumbs and systems to keep going?
Again, because hidden things are invisible to my brain, I’ve printed this cheat sheet for my new checklist and put it beside my computer:
Because this change has a specific outcome in mind (become prolific), I also can’t ignore outcomes. I’ve also created a short checklist to observe progress at the end of every week. I’m tracking this in Notion:
For now, I’m happy to explore this new path. (My brain also loves shiny, new things.) Ultimately, my frustration comes not from wanting to be prolific, but because I have a lot to say. I’m hopeful this new approach and set of practices will create the change I’m craving.
Only time will tell. I’ll keep you posted.
