Find Your Wings for 2022 Creative Work

Well, the Sallmans started off 2022 with an ill household and a broken furnace during a cold snap. Not unlike the rest of the world, our original January plans failed to hatch, forgotten in a snow-covered nest crowded with other unexpected tasks. Any fledgling plans we created anew this past week had about a 50 percent survival rate. Some found their wings. Some did not.

Among those plans were some writing goals. And if there’s one month that for my mental health I’d prefer not starting out with a feeling of “already behind,” it’s January. But the world right now has a few hiccups, to put it lightly. And really, in any given year, what certainty do we ever have of control over our own plans? 

So, if I may, let me share with you my motto for myself this year:

My writing is essential. 

It may not be essential to anyone else, but it is to me—to my creative spirit, to my writing goals, and to the continued definition my platform for future work. Only you can prioritize your creative goals. No one else can or will do it for you. Each day will steal your wings, if you let it. So don’t let it. 

Here are some thoughts for how to keep flying:

1. Schedule your writing time as a recurrent routine. Set your daily and weekly rhythm with frequent writing “appointments” rather than infrequent or undefined blocks of time. If unavoidable circumstances cause you to miss a session, you won’t have lost your week or month’s whole plan. Regular sessions also keep your creativity muscles primed. I cannot overstate the importance of this first step. If you look at your calendar and routine and can find no room to schedule your creative work, consider that it might not be the priority you want it to be.

2. Adjust time-stealing habits. I used to be a night owl. But age and an early-rising husband have moved me to value mornings. I tend to have little creative energy after dinner, and if I do practice my writing loop-de-loops late in the evening, I often have trouble falling asleep, setting me up poorly for the next day’s work. So I’ve realized that the lure of the morning newspaper is a threat to my writing goals. Those headlines will still be online in the evening. My favorite phone game app at breakfast also does nothing to prep my mind for writing, not even the word games. Ugh. I don’t like giving up these routines. But I want to write poetry more than I want these comforts.

What procrastination habits and time-stealers are you willing to let go of for the sake of your project? Do you need to stay current with every television show you watch? Do you check email or social media just as it’s time to write? When do you put your phone down to think or be still? Only you can set this priority for yourself.

3. Learn a transition technique. Especially when you’re beginning a new routine, you need to help your body and mind acclimate to it. Whether you use the clustering technique of Gabrielle Rico that I teach or any freewriting or reading process to push into pattern-mind thinking, or even just take a walk around the block to focus your thoughts, train your brain to move into your creative space on cue so you can make the most of the all the time you have allotted for writing.

4. Build in breathing space. Let’s face it, especially when the world-anxiety quotient is turned up, some days you just won’t have enough mental energy to write well. That’s okay! On these days, take a moment to step outside and breathe in some fresh air. Take a walk and pay attention to sensory input (the wind on your face, the sun on your back, the smell of the pine). Take a nap. Read Scripture. Pray. Driving forward incessantly will merely send you into a nose dive. Find some wind to keep those wings afloat. 

Prayerfully consider all that the Lord has placed before you, and if true, write yourself this solid reminder to keep you flying high all year: “My writing is essential.”

May it be.