Writing with Intention

How I have taken my findings so far and turned them into actionable steps!

FIRST, THE UPDATES

A whirlwind. That is how this week has felt. I have become weirdly addicted to my morning pages in a way that is difficult to describe. I think about them all day and count down for the next day to wake up and do them again. It’s just writing my thoughts down for 45 minutes but it’s so relaxing and freeing that I’ve pavloved myself into writing every morning.

Morning Pages are just the first of the three important building blocks of my new weekly routine, the second is going on an Artist date. This week I took myself to Barnes and Noble with a solid playlist blasting in my ears to keep in the moment. I walked up and down every aisle at my own pace and took pictures of books to get later. With my commonplace journal in hand, I wrote down anything to write about later, interesting, funny, or something to look into further. I ended up there for almost two hours! 

The next and final building block of my routine is going on at least two walks a week for twenty minutes where I take in my surroundings. This has led me to some fun new exercises for myself and has definitely helped the mentally ill artist in me to be more grounded. One thing I do is as I am walking, I write down all the sounds I hear and try to describe them in a new way. I think of different ways to communicate sounds which has gotten me inspired to think outside of the box. I also enjoy trying to draw something simple in the environment. I’ve never been great at drawing but this has helped me see the details of my walks better. Sometimes, you walk the same place too often and you start to miss beautiful things!

With these three blocks now cemented into my writing routine, I have added my own new personal touch. Along the lines of the simple drawing on a walk, I have been stretching my artistic skills by leaning into areas I am not strong in. For example, this week I experimented with watercolor painting! I tried to add a 3D element to it by cutting out the different elements of the environment and then pasting them in layers atop the background. 

All these new tactics have made a massive difference in my creative writing. I have been struggling to be inspired and to just- start. With the morning pages, artist dates, and thoughtful walks, I have written significantly more than I have in awhile. Not only has this helped me gain my writing confidence back, I feel so much more accomplished. It’s hard to feel like what you’re writing is worth reading when it feels so inspired even to yourself.

GOALS

Now that I’ve been able to actually write things I am excited about again, I’d like to define my goals for 2023. Sure, it’s a little early for New Year’s resolutions but it makes a lot of sense for me right now. These goals will be shaping my next few months and I hope to use this newsletter (and all of you) to keep me accountable to them as well!

1. Copywriting. I have been writing copy for myself, friends, and family websites for the last few years. I have designed plenty of marketing materials and written copy for some websites for projects I have worked on as well. In the past, I didn’t see it as a skill set. I also didn’t realize you could make money for that skill set alone. For the next few months, I’d really like to build out my portfolio and get some copywriting gigs. I don’t want it to be my full-time job, I just don’t think I would have the exposure to people that I need in order to inspire my art BUT I do think it would help me feel like more of an accomplished writer. Building confidence to share your work is huge, especially if you are trying to get work published. Which leads me into my next goal:

2. Finish my first novel. I have been reading about autism, learning from and working with autism professionals, and writing about my experiences with autism for the last few years. Now, I am working on putting all this work together into a comprehensive book about the adult autistic experience. There’s lots of nuance to this experience and again, it will be compiling lots of research as well, to build a picture of the future of autism. I am really excited about it and while I am only a few chapters in, I really want to have this book sent out for publishing within the next year. How can I get this off the ground?

3. Become a known writer. I need to gain attention for my writing and credentials for my skills. If I want anything published or made into a TV show (we’ll come back to this project in a couple of weeks), then I need people to know my work. Not only that, but I need people who are vocal about wanting my work out there. That’s where this newsletter comes in. I want to keep this going and build it into something I can use to experiment with my style. I hope to use this format to reach more people and develop a community of like-minded people. 

NEXT STEPS

With my routine established and my goals in mind, I can move through the rest of the artist course with intention. I know what I want and how to get it- all I’ve got left is to actually do it. Just like the Nike ad, I’ve gotta put my intentions into practice.

What I’d like to leave you with for this week is a few questions that you can either email to me personally by replying to this email or below in the comments. Here they are:

1. Do you consider yourself a writer? Do you want to be?

2. If writing isn’t your thing, what is?

3. What motivates you most when you’re struggling to keep up with your passion?

You don’t have to answer all of them, or any of them, but I would love to have a dialogue with you. Part of being an artist is learning from others and contributing to your community of fellow artists. 

I want to get to know you, too. So feel free to reply to my emails or write in the comments things you’d like to share back. A conversation is encouraged!

Until next week,