In a previous post I discussed writing poems as a mindfulness practice. It appears that the benefits of writing and mindfulness practices are bi-directional – writing develops mindfulness and mindfulness practices (such as meditation) can facilitate writing. This latter concept was a sub-theme of the recent Healing Through Writing Festival hosted by Janelle Hardy.
Mindfulness for writing
During the Healing Through Writing Festival, April Davila offered a pre-recorded session on ways to use mindfulness practices to make writing flow more easily. April made the point that there are many obstacles that can impede us as a writer, including perfectionism, distractions, negative self-stories, imposter syndrome and fear about outcomes. Even writers as famous and accomplished as Simone de Beauvoir were beset by self-doubts and fears of not being good enough.
April explained that writing becomes more difficult and more painful as you become more accomplished because your own expectations and those of others increase – it is harder to please yourself and others about the quality of your writing. You can become a constant self-critic, finding fault with every aspect of your writing. Simone, for example, started a new novel in 1933 but abandoned it because she thought “characters in her first novel lacked depth”.
After completing her Graduate Certificate in Writing in 2010, April found that writing her first novel was very difficult. While undertaking a marketing job, she would get up at 5am to begin work on her novel – a practice she employed for years without achieving her desired outcomes. Her short stories were being rejected and her novel was not progressing. However, in 2016, everything changed for her with acceptance of her short stories and publication of her award-winning novel, 142 Ostriches, in 2020.
April explained in her session that what changed in terms of her writing approach was the integration of mindfulness into her writing routine. She spoke of “habit stacking” – using existing habits as a lever to develop new habits. Her existing daily habit began with coffee followed by journal writing and then writing her novel/short story. By interposing a 10-minute meditation between journalling and beginning her creative writing, April found that she increased her focus, overcame writer’s block, became more creative in character development and more resilient in dealing with rejections by publishers.
April contends that “writing demands attention, clarity and emotional presence” – all of which are difficult to achieve in a world full of “noise”, but which are identified benefits of mindfulness meditation. She offers a “10-Minute Reset for Your Writing Brain” in her blog post, Mindfulness and the Writing Life: How Meditation Supports Creativity. In another blog post, How Mindfulness Can Make Writing Easier, April advocates for starting small with mindfulness practices and applying the same small principle to writing sessions.
April offers a 6-weeks course, Write More, Suffer Less, covering topics such as mindfulness practices, finding focus, managing resistance and fear, and developing calm and equanimity, The online classes incorporate writing exercises, guided meditation and brief lessons. Writers are waiting expectantly for April’s new book, Sit. Write. Here: 6 Mindfulness Practices to Help You Write More and Suffer Less.
How does mindfulness help the writing process?
There are many benefits that accrue through regular mindfulness practices, especially through daily meditation. Some of the benefits relevant to the writing process are discussed below:
- Developing positive habits – Leo Babauta, a world leader in habit development, contends that “mindfulness is the key to habit change”. This relates to whether we are developing a writing habit and/or other habits related to writing, e.g. reading, reflecting or making notes. Sometimes this will involve overcoming bad habits which Leo found in his own life because of his addictions. Leo maintains from his own experience that mindfulness can help to overcome obstacles that impede forming a new habit. He is the author of The Habit Guide: Zen Habits’ Effective Habit Methods + Solutions and creator of the Zen Habits blog. Like April, Leo argues for starting small both in terms of developing a mindfulness habit and creating any other habit change.
- Cultivating flow – engaging in a mindful practice before writing creates the preconditions for achieving “flow”. These include preparation, focus and attention. Adopting a mindfulness practice, however brief, before commencing writing serves as a preparation ritual and facilitates what April describes as “dropping into a state of flow”. Mindfulness develops both focus and attention – the other preconditions for ”being-in-the-zone”. In his book, Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, Daniel Goleman maintains (from his research) that mindfulness meditation can cultivate excellence through developing focus and concentration. Janice Marturano argues that we can develop focus and clarity in our endeavours (such as writing) by undertaking a mindful pause through one of the many mindfulness practices available today.
- Identifying blind spots – our blind spots can impact many facets of our life besides writing. Blind spots can operate cognitively and/or behaviourally. They can negatively impact our writing by making us blind to what is going on within us and outside of ourselves. Mindfulness trainer Kelly Boys, author of The Blind Spot Effect: How to Stop Missing What’s Right in Front of You, offers a meditative exercise to help us to identify our core blindspot.
- Developing self-awareness and emotional regulation – Daniel Goleman, co-author of Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain and Body, describes emotional self-awareness as the capacity “to recognize our own emotional reactions” and considers it foundational to developing emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence, in turn, enables us to better manage our emotions and achieve what is often termed “emotional regulation” – the capacity to handle emotions such as resentment, envy, frustration, disappointment and anger. In his book, Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, Daniel contends that mindfulness meditation helps us to manage our emotions as well as our focus and attention.
Reflection
I wrote the following poem after reflecting on what I have written in this post and drawing on my own experience of the impacts of mindfulness on my writing:
Mindfulness for Writing
A small start to a long journey:
exploring within and without,
a journey into the inner landscape,
knowing and understanding triggers,
identifying feelings and initating thoughts,
throwing light on blind spots,
making space for creative solutions,
opening to the needs of others,
seeing the world in a new light.
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Image by Thomas G. from Pixabay
By Ron Passfield – Copyright (Creative Commons license, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives)
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