By Paula Munier
The writer’s path can be as challenging and frustrating as it is exciting and rewarding. The trick is to hang in there through the good and the bad, the rejection and the bestseller list. This means nurturing, nourishing, and celebrating your writer self. Because if you don’t celebrate your writing self, who’s going to?
Here are some ways—large and small—to help you honor the creative in you:
Treat yourself to a trip to the stationary store.
I’m a sucker for notebooks and pens and have all manner of them. And I always get one of those great big sketchbooks when I start a new project for doodling characters, plot, setting. Note: you can also do this with digital tools as well. If you must.
Subscribe to a literary journal or writing magazine or something to do with research for your project.
From Writers Digest and Poets & Writers to The Paris Review and the Los Angeles Review of Books, there are so many publications that are designed to enlighten and enliven you and your writing. For me that means not only the writing-related resources, but those related to my projects, periodicals about New England and nature and wildlife.
Take a literary pilgrimage.
There’s something about seeing firsthand where your favorite writers have lived and worked that reminds you that writing is simply sitting down and putting words on paper and that writers have been doing it for thousands of years and there’s no reason you can’t do it either. Recently, my Career Author pals Jessica Strawser and Dana Isaacson and I all went to see the Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts. So inspiring—and fun!
Give yourself a (writing) break.
It’s summer, so go to the beach or visit a museum or enjoy a picnic in the park. Do whatever you love to do that you usually don’t give yourself permission to do because you’re supposed to be writing.
Get a dog.
I say dog because cats may be wonderful, but usually it’s the dog you take for a walk. (Although I did know a woman in Silicon Valley who used to bring her cat to the office and every day at lunch she took that cat for a walk. My cat doesn’t go for walks. If yours does, more power to you.) Walking is very good for your writer’s brain, and dogs love everything you write no matter what. Cats can be far more judgmental. I’m just saying.
Go somewhere special.
Go somewhere special, somewhere that will make you feel good about being a writer. This year I’m going to Shetland Noir, to celebrate finishing the eighth book in my Mercy Carr series. Because Ann Cleeves and Lee Child and Lousie Penny and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir will be there and because there was a time when I never thought I’d ever published a mystery, much less write a series….
Sign up for a class with a writer you admire.
The rich and famous writers you most admire sometimes teach classes. When they do, sign up, and be prepared to fire up your imagination. I took a class with Matt Weiner of Mad Men fame through the Los Angeles Review of Books. I don’t have to tell you it was beyond awesome. Now I’m listening to Jojo Moyes talk about writing love stories on BBC Maestro. Also beyond awesome. Try to do this at least once a year, or whenever one of your superstar authors is giving a class.
Decorate your writing space.
If you don’t have a special place to write yet, give yourself the gift of a space all your own. If you can’t do a whole room, set up a writing corner or clean out a closet. This says to you and your family and friends that you take your writing seriously. If you already have a space, then add something fun to that space. I like to add objects related to the project I’m working on at the moment. Amy Tan does, too. Just so you know. And when you publish a book, get that book cover framed and hang it right over your desk. Now that’s decorating!
Visit your biggest fan. Your biggest supporter, whoever that is— your mother, your sister, your BFF, your work spouse, your writing buddy, your college roommate—is someone you need to spend more time with. (Partners may not qualify for this, because those relationships can be too complicated. Pick someone with whom your relationship is relatively uncomplicated.) Make sure to go to lunch or happy hour at least once a month with your biggest fan. It’s a shot in the arm that will do you and your writing good. And they’ll love it!
Start that dream project.
You know, the one you think you’ll never be wise enough or clever enough or talented enough to write. (Someday I’m gonna write a novel set in Lyon, France. You heard it here first.) You don’t have to write anything just yet, but indulge your subconscious by reading around the subject or taking a trip to the book’s setting or keeping a scrapbook of characters who might populate your story. (Oui, oui, I did go to Lyon recently.)
And then you’ll be ready to write it. If not today, sometime sooner rather than later.
Create your own writer’s bucket list.
With any luck, you already have one. Time to beef it up. If you don’t have one, time to make one. Now pick something on that list and go do it…and send photos!
This post originally appeared on Career Authors