Advent for writers

Be kind to yourself, but firm.

Writing in December is hard. There are so many other tasks. So much more to do than fill the page with what we fear may not be quality work anyway. This time of year is supposed to be meaningful—it’s Advent after all. But it can feel stressful. Your writing gets pushed to the margins of life, or off the page altogether.

Last week, we talked about journaling, and I hope you’re giving that a try. (If you missed it, read last week’s newsletter here.) How is it going? Please leave a comment and tell us about it—good, bad or otherwise.

Journaling unlocks our stuck brains. It warms up our intellect and creativity. But don’t stop at the warm up, friends. When I go for a run, I don’t go back to the couch after my warm up. I actually run. Do the same with your writing.

Set a goal to write this month. Be specific. Warm up with your morning pages or journal, then actually sit down at your computer and put in some time on whatever your current work in progress happens to be. In her book Making a Literary Life, Carolyn See advises writers to write 1000 words a day. (That doesn’t include your journal, by the way.) But 1000 words on your work in progress, or a newsletter like this one (which is about 500 words), is doable if you focus.

I realize, this month, that it’s hard to focus. The people you live with may have countless questions and demands. Your boss may expect you to give more than you think you can. I think I can safely predict that someone in your life will behave badly between now and Christmas.

Advent redirects our attention to hope, peace, love, and joy. When you feel stressed, just breathe and focus on one of those words. Take a moment to be fully present.

And then—keep writing, even if the writing is not great. Be kind to yourself, but firm with yourself. Write. Take a walk. Write more. Set doable word count goals. Celebrate when you meet them. Don’t self-edit or revise right now. Then, the next day, show up at the page once again, to keep going on that first draft, to meet that word count goal.

As the first week of Advent hastens on, I know how hard this can be. Things are busy at my house. We have a weekend guest arriving tonight, so I’ve put dinner in the crock pot and cleaned up the guest room. I’ve got to make a dessert or two for a holiday party we’re attending tomorrow night. I’ve got shopping to do. I bought my son a gift but then found out he already has the same thing I bought him! So something I thought I got done is not really done. Writing can feel pushed to the margins, or to the bottom of the to-do list. But I sit at my desk and make myself put words on a page. Part of my kindness to myself means taking this time.

This week’s Advent theme is hope. You may not feel much hope lately, so I want to encourage you—just keep walking forward. Advent is about waiting, anticipation, trust. This week, I want to remind you to wait, trust, and hope.

Be kind to yourself in this beautiful and fraught season, my loves. Write, but don’t force it or stress about it. Just get your butt in the chair and trust the process—January will be the time for revision and honing and self-editing. For now just get some words down each day—shitty first drafts are just fine.

Keep going with your morning pages. Take a little time each day to read and reflect. Then carve out an hour or two to just write—even if you’re not sure where you’re wandering, even if you are still in the research phase.

Not sure how to balance work with self-care? Maybe I can help.

For the rest of Advent, I’m going to share an entry from my book The Gift of Christmas Present with you once each week. I’ll read it to you like a bedtime story, offering you a short time to listen and reflect. Maybe you’ll want to respond to the journaling prompt, maybe you’ll just want to take a minute to pray about your writing, your life, the upcoming family gatherings that are stressing you out.

Today’s reading is about hope.

I’ll also have this video on my Instagram, so feel free to follow me there.

P.S. Amazon links in this post are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing in this way!