by CL Walters
Consistency seems to be one of the most difficult things for creatives, and it is one of the most often asked questions I get as a writer:
How do you maintain consistency?
There’s a phrase people use when they achieve a flow of output consistent with their expectations: getting into a rhythm. I’ve heard it used in a variety of capacities both creative and non-creative, though for the sake of this blog post, I’m specifically thinking about the ways we are able to create that rhythm and sustain it in our writing lives. Sure, consistency is about making the choice, but I think there are ways to support the choice of writing each day and maintaining the creative rhythm.
Here are my five tips to maintain the writing rhythm in your day-to-day experience:
1). Write everyday.
There are lots of examples out there of people who don’t write every day and are still able to produce work. Yay for them! It’s completely possible (and a lot of this comes down to knowing yourself as a creative and as a doer. Here’s a post about that). For those of us who might struggle with consistency, those spans of time might prove to be more detrimental. My suggestion is to plan a space for your art (whatever that might be) in your schedule everyday (even if the first go is 10 minutes set on a timer to get you started). I wake up everyday and write for myself in my journal. This is still writing. The act of setting aside time and committing to the time clears a space for that rhythm. The constant beat of that time you’ve created for your writing. What are you doing? Building a habit. So write. Every day.
2) Find ways to make the act of writing enjoyable.
I love music. I love discovering new music. I spend time on my Spotify making writing playlists for different moods, then I listen to them as I write. This makes the act of writing enjoyable for me. For some it might be pairing a glass of wine with writing, for another it might be going to a coffee house (when it’s available again). Find a way to make this activity fun for yourself so that it’s pleasurable rather than something you “have to do.” If it’s just another thing on your “have to” list, you’ll never find a way to enjoy it.
3) Stop writing when you know where you’re going next.
Hemingway wrote about the idea of not depleting the well in A Moveable Feast. He described writing until he knew exactly where he was going and then stopping and walking away. Why? Because then, when he sat down to write the next day, he knew where he was in the narrative and had a goal in mind. This mental checkbox functions to not only create the feeling of accomplishment for that particular day, but sets up a future day of accomplishment followed by the day after that. Productivity, then is measurable, and the expectations for each day are met. When we structure ways to achieve success, we want to recreate that feeling. This allows you to maintain that rhythm of writing. Win! Win!
4) Surround yourself with things that inspire you
For me, I love books. I am surrounded by them. I read them. I stack them and look at them. I remind myself that these books were written by someone who had to write them one word at a time just like me. Maybe it’s pictures, character aesthetics, a mood board or a dream board. Find ways to support yourself by carving out a “space” (whatever that is) that will inspire your creativity.
5) To Thine Own Self Be True
It is so important to know yourself and your process. I can tell you what works for me, but that won’t make it true for you. Know what makes your creative process work (here’s another post about that). Knowing who you are as a creative and what works for your process rather than listening to the distractions of others telling you what should work for you is a big part of the battle of finding that creative rhythm. When you understand your process, you can let go and trust yourself (even with the doubt and the imposter syndrome plan sneak attacks). Then when you get stuck (and we always do), you can trust in your process to help you write through it.
I wish there was a quick guide to say “here’s how you do it,” but creativity doesn’t work that way. It’s comes from inside you which means you are the number one factor in whether you will create or not. Who knows you best? Hopefully you. Finding that motivation whether it’s intrinsic or extrinsic and making a purposeful effort to meet those needs will help you in finding—and maintaining—that creative rhythm.