Our Writing Seasons
One of the things I’ve struggled with throughout my writing career is the acceptance that even our writing practices have seasons. I erroneously believed that once you picked your specialty, that was it — that was all you really wrote. And for me, the stars always shone the brightest for fiction writing. But I know now that just as there are internal and creative seasons, there is a season for what kind of writing we need to include in our practices. If you read my article on The Creative Seasons, you may also recognize the mind map I’ve built out for the Writing Seasons.
Fun & Experimental Writing
I often find myself in this season after I’ve spent a significant amount of time with my head down, working on dedicated projects. For me, it’s a bit like having a palette cleanser from some of the deeper and more directive writing I do most often. There have been times (just recently) when I felt like I was in a bit of a creative rut and just wanted to have some fun! I really wanted a loosey-goosey project and a way to put my writing muscles into a more fluid and relaxed state. Luckily, I have a good friend and fellow writer who was willing to help me make that happen with co-writing. I’m so thankful she wanted to tackle the project together. We always have fun writing together, and we both loved the topic for this one. So what does this look like in a season?
Writing something that is completely out of your comfort zone
Writing in a genre that you’ve never written in before
Pursuing that crazy, pie-in-the-sky book idea you have
Experimenting with different forms of writing and even mixing them (ex: fiction with poetry or essays with art, etc.)
Letting yourself write in a way that feels uninhibited and free of pressure
Income-Driven Writing
Whether you love or hate the idea of writing for money, the fact remains that someone must do it! Sometimes, a writer gets the chance to write what they love and be paid for it. That’s great! But sometimes, it’s less about a labor of love and more about feeding our families. And that’s great too! This season can look and feel very different for everyone and can even change from season to season. For example, right out of college, I landed a copywriting job as a creative writer. I couldn’t believe that I was getting paid to write all day! But as most college grads in their first corporate job find out — it wasn’t that simple. While I enjoyed most of my time at that company, I found out fast that even if I was getting paid to write, I didn’t love what I was writing. I wanted to be writing novels… not copy for college brochures. Fast forward to today, and while there are no plans to retire on the income I’ve made from my writing, I can say that at least the writing I do get paid for are things that I enjoy writing.
Here’s the good news: there are more avenues than ever before to get paid for your writing. Google “writing for pay” and watch the magic of a search engine deliver all the various opportunities available.
“White Whale” Writing
Ah, the rarest and most elusive writing season there is. The “White Whale” writing season is rare for a reason — because it’s when we face our fear of writing about what scares us. And this isn’t just any old kind of writing — this is the kind of writing that keeps you up at night. That beckons you to take the leap off the scary cliff and dive in. It’s rare because we don’t usually face those fears until we’re ready to. And that takes a lot of time, patience, and self-awareness. It takes a lot of courage, bravery, fortitude, and perseverance to pursue “White Whale” writing, but when you’re in the midst of it — you’ll know. It’s an electrical charge unlike any other writing, so if you find yourself in that season, cherish it. Don’t wish it away or hide from it because you may never get the chance to experience that season again.
Life and Legacy Writing
This is one of my favorite seasons to be in because it feels so natural to me. Life and legacy writing sounds big and important, but it doesn’t have to be. This season is really about using your writing to tune into your beliefs about who you are and how you exist in the world. It’s about making connections between lessons learned and who you are becoming. It’s about figuring out what you want to say or how you want to feel about a subject and then telling others about it. It’s about leaving behind a trace of you for future generations to find. Here are a few examples:
Memoirs
Blogs
Essays
Co-Authored Family Stories
Creative Non-Fiction
Writing to Heal
I think writing, in general, offers us great healing benefits. But I do think there are seasons in which we are energetically, emotionally, and creatively focused on what writing can do for our healing journey. There is a difference between finding the healing and directing the healing, which makes this writing season so special. When we intentionally approach the page in service of healing, the page offers us space, safety, and a “witness,” so to speak, to process our emotions on the page. Writing to heal can also look and feel different depending on how you’re approaching writing.
Obviously, I’m a huge fan of writing fiction to heal and encourage my clients and students to try it at least once, but that’s just one way you can write to heal.
Directive journaling or expressive writing is another way to write to heal. As is writing letters to yourself or others. Poetry and song lyrics. Graphic novels. Seriously, you can find healing in any kind of writing you do as long as you have the intentionality behind it that you’re attempting to use the writing as a healing mechanism.
Self-Introspection & Self-Maintenance Writing
This may seem the most mundane of all the writing seasons, but it’s far from it. Daily introspective or maintenance writing has the capacity to change your life. I know it did for me and many others. When I zeroed in on using my daily writing practice for introspection, I found epiphanies, a-ha’s, and answers to questions that I didn’t expect. And in looking back over those daily entries, I can see the trajectory of my patterns, my emotional states, and my obstacles. I write about this in my article The Gifts of Journaling Maintenance and encourage you to check it out if you’re interested in what benefits a daily writing practice can offer you and the benefits of looking back at that writing later on.
Writing For Change
This season is top of mind for me as last month’s issue of The Augurly was all about writing for change. In those articles, I go more in-depth on how you can channel your writing gifts into making changes in your own life as well as the lives of others. Here’s the article I wrote on 10 Ways You Can Write for Change if you’re interested in looking at the different ways you can approach writing for change.
What’s particularly powerful about this season is the electrical charge that comes with the nature of this writing. When we write for change, we are often passionate and deeply invested in the topic we’re writing about. You know that adage: “Never underestimate a woman scorned?” I adapt that when I’m in this season to: “Never underestimate a writer scorned or determined to change a mind.” Writing is that powerful. And let’s be honest — we all want to believe that we can use our inherent gifts to help make a difference in the world. Writing for change allows us to do just that.
One of my favorite examples of this comes from one of my writing role models, Caits Meissner. Her newest book is a collection of writings from people she’s met during her work in the prison system. She has done so much beautiful work around this underserved population and uses her voice in writing to make a difference for those who have stories to tell within the incarceration system. The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting A Writer’s Life in Prison is such a powerful book that it should be required reading for every writer. It’s a true testament to the power of writing and how it can help heal, empower, and educate every single person, even those behind prison walls.
I hope this brief look into our writing seasons has given you validation, hope, or awareness of what it means to be a writer in all its incarnations and seasons. And if you’re looking for a safe space to talk about this more in-depth — consider joining me in my Write Minded Community where we discuss topics like this every month!
