I've been thinking a lot about routine and inspiration because I constantly find myself searching for both in my writing. They are curious bed-fellows, seemingly opposite but actually intertwined. "Routine" sounds so blah and workaday and mundane, doesn't it? If "inspiration" is one of those sexy handwriting fonts, then "routine" is Times New Roman.
I could/do spend days, weeks, years waiting for inspiration to hit. I've spend most of my life (and, admittedly, much of my graduate career) "seeking inspiration" as if it's some fleeting, here-today-gone-tomorow butterfly. But recently I've set aside regular, pre-scheduled blocks of time to do the work I've been wanting/waiting/trying to do, both creative and academic.
This all came about from reading a book a professor recommended to me (in truth, she recommended it over coffee, I had it downloaded an hour later and bookmarked/annotated to pieces by the following day).
How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing by Paul J. Silva is geared toward academics in the rather more quantitative fields of psychology etc., but don't let that deter you! His advice is priceless for anyone looking increase her creative output, academic or not. Silva advocates setting a writing schedule and sticking to it. That sounds really "duh" but the whole thing was revelatory. I liken it to opening up the store every day. Even if you think no one will show up, you still need to get there, flip the sign to "open" and sit behind the counter for awhile.
Making writing (and, thereby, "inspiration") a mundane, everyday occurrence will generate much more work than the starts and fits that usually accompany those "binge" sessions of writing. You know the ones I'm talking about. Sitting down for your scheduled writing time (whether it's 10 minutes four days a week or 2 hours five days a week) also eradicates that writerly anxiety that settles in one's brain when one is waiting for inspiration to hit.
How to Make Inspiration a Routine:
1. Analyze your time. Look at your calendar/schedule and find those pockets of time you're willing to give over to whatever creative pursuit you're after. Early morning, during lunch time, midnight, it doesn't matter. See if you can schedule the same time each day you're working.
2. Be realistic. if you can only do two days a week, do two days a week. Too often I fall into the all-or-nothing mindset: it's either work on the dissertation for a full day, or not at all. That is silly. Now I regularly schedule 25 or 20 minute writing sessions on super busy days.
3. Write it down (or type it in). Put it in your calendar and keep to it, like any other appointment.
4. Show up. Even if you think you have nothing to write/you don't feeeeel like writing/you're tired/whatever. Just show up. Spend a few minutes reading if you need to. Tidy your desk. Clean your desktop. It's okay to count this as pre-writing. Sometimes I need to read or take notes for awhile before I write. That's okay. The important part is to get there. Eventually, write. (Note: your time at the store can't be spent on Facebook/idling on the Internet. That's like showing up to your store, then slouching out the back door and hiding behind a dumpster smoking a cigarette. It doesn't count. What if customers come in and you're not there? Exactly.)
5. Repeat and adjust as necessary. It takes something like 11 days to form a habit. So form your writing habit and adjust if you need to. For me, my work schedule changes entirely every semester. So go back to your calendar, and readjust.
6. Tally it up. It's so rewarding to look back after a month and see how much you've produced. Even working 10 minutes a day four days a week will produce more than working 0 minutes a day 0 days a week. I use the free calendar on
I Done This to keep track of my dissertating.
My routine this summer will look much different from the fall when I'm busy commuting, teaching, and grading, and that's okay. From now on, if I have to choose, I'm choosing routine.
