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Hello, creative soul, and welcome back to Letters from the Burrow! A few changes and new adventures lie on the horizon, so make sure to read to the end so you don’t miss a thing.
The downside of productivity
As a writer, what’s your relationship like with the concept of productivity?
Does it inspire you? Wear you out? Excite you? Overwhelm you?
Being productive isn’t inherently a bad thing (I love a good to-do list) but these days, we’re kind of obsessed with it. Lately, I spend more time looking up how to be a productive writer than a better, more creative writer. Articles abound with suggestions on how to get more done in less time, how to stay focused, and how to prioritize your day so you can eke the most out of it. I’ve written about productivity for writers myself!
While I stand by those posts, and many resources I’ve found, there’s something to be said for a different approach, which is exactly what I found in a YouTube video the other night.
The joys of creativity
Ana Mascara, a psychology graduate, creates topnotch videos about how to take better notes, study effectively, learn a new language, and – you guessed it! – be more productive.
A recent video of Ana's (“How to Be Productive All the Time” - no captions, unfortunately) explored the idea that to get more done, we need to focus less on productivity and more on creativity.
One of the things I took from this video is the idea that productivity has come to feel at times like a mechanical process that puts us on a never-ending hamster wheel, while creativity still holds those associations of freedom, joy, and infinite possibility.
For example ...
While Ana gives numerous examples in her video, let me share a few of my own with you, storyteller to storyteller.
Rather than producing 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo, you’re creating a story that’s going to be inspired by the collective energy of thousands of other participants.
Rather than producing an overwhelming pile of notes for your story set in Ancient Greece, you’re creating the foundations for a richly realized setting.
Rather than producing a manuscript riddled with red ink (yay for revisions!), you're creating the next stage of a story that's already so much closer to the story it's meant to be in the end.
What can we do with this information?
How we view our day-to-day lives as storytellers has a powerful impact on how we show up to the page. Putting the emphasis on the act of creation lifts us out of the drudgery that focusing on productivity often entails.
As an experiment, for the next week, when you’re sitting down to write, research, or edit, focus less on the mechanics of what you’re hoping to produce and more on the concept of what you’re hoping to create in that time. You can still set quantifiable goals (no need to drop your practice of aiming for 500 words a day), just don’t make the productive aim your primary focus.
You might even try writing your creative aim on a post-it note and sticking it on the desk or computer screen, so that aim stays front and centre.
I’d love to know how the concepts of productivity and creativity feel to you. Is there a difference, like Ana Mascara suggests in her video and I’ve expanded on here? Do you find that focusing on one or the other makes you feel more satisfied and fulfilled? What does your writing practice thrive on?
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A writing prompt just for you ...
When your character needs a quick stress fix, what do they turn to? A run along the waterfront? A snuggle with their significant other? A night on the town in their sassiest outfit? Knitting a complicated lace pattern? We all have comforting habits we turn to after a rough day, so something like this is a great way to tip off the reader (and other characters!) that something has gone awry.
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Lately on Something Delicious ...
" How to Have a Proper NaNoWriMo Mentality": a guest post I wrote for Shelby at Get Writing Done, drawing on my experience in pursuing and completing lengthy creative projects to help lay out the kind of mindset that makes an epic journey like NaNoWriMo more possible than ever!
If you tackled the Find the Write Spark challenge a few months ago, you might be interested in the wrap-up notes I added to these previously published posts:
Introducing the Find the Write Spark Challenge (linked directly to the section with a new addition, "After the Challenge")
Midpoint Reflections on Find the Write Spark (scroll to the italics portion at the end of this one)
There's also a new feature on my website that provides options to make it more accessible, such as having a larger font, more text spacing, a different colour scheme, and so on. Click the icon of the purple-and-white wheelchair user, give it a moment to load, and a menu should pop up.
There's lots to do yet to make my content more accessible to those living with disabilities, like adding captions to videos (such as an edited version of the Vive la Writing! workshop), and I'd welcome feedback if there's anything in particular you find hard to navigate in any of my content. Just reply to this email or send a fresh one to victoriafry@somethingdelicious.co.
If your website is also in need of an accessibility boost, here's a link to the (free!) feature I added to mine: Userway.org
And here's a list of accessibility guidelines for blog posts, social media, YouTube videos, and newsletters: Website Accessibility for Writers |
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Changes to Letters from the Burrow
From now on, these letters will be a quarterly adventure. Letters just like this will arrive in your e-inbox every October, January, April, and July, with more streamlined round-ups arriving during the other months of the year.
You're also welcome to receive only the streamlined round-ups each month, with no letters at all.
For clarity, these monthly round-ups won't include the more in-depth exploration of a writing topic. They will include the latest writing prompt, links to any new content and resources I've created, and a quick list of inspiration.
You can choose which option you'd prefer by clicking here and updating your profile. If you haven't picked one by November 10th, I'll assume that you're happy to receive the quarterly letters, but you can update this preference at any time, now or in the future.
If any of this is confusing, my inbox is totally open to your questions and feedback! Just reply to this email or send a new one to victoriafry@somethingdelicious.co.
Oh, and one more thing! While these newsletters were always able to be forwarded and shared, I'll now be sharing them more openly myself. This means that even if you unsubscribe (due to preference or necessity) you'll be able to check out the new letters at any time by (a) visiting this archive link or (b) clicking the link I'll be sharing on social media (likely Twitter and Facebook).
As a home for these letters, the Burrow was always meant to feel cosy and welcoming, not like an exclusive club. If anyone is more comfortable keeping their email completely private, or these emails always seem to end up in their spam folder, keeping the letters under lock and key means they can't join us and share in this space, and I'd hate for them to miss out.
Let's put some soup on and open the doors to the Burrow ... together! |
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Whew! That was a doozy. If you're still with me, I think you deserve a treat. Here, have a blueberry scone!
... I think I'll have one, too.
All baking aside, I hope you've found something to chew on in this letter. There may be a lot of productivity going on in my neck of the woods, but the best part is what's being created: mental and physical space to bring you all the blog posts that have been promised for a while now, along with a whole raft of posts on topics that have never been covered on Something Delicious before.
Which topics, you ask? That's under wraps for now, but let me just say this ... if you're a historical fiction writer, or at all interested in shows like Dark Matter or games like Mass Effect, some of the blog posts I have in the offing will be right up your alley!
And on that note, let's get back to creating, shall we? ;) Happy writing!
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