Releasing Rules & Finding Your Writing Process
Last updated: July 25, 2024
This summer, I checked off a bucket list item and attended the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon. It’s a week of quilting classes and show where the entire town of Sisters is covered in stunning quilts.
One class I took was on hand piecing and improvisational design. To start, the teacher had all the students stand around her to demonstrate her methods. She pulled a wrinkled piece of fabric from a bag, sort of pressed it flat with her hands, and grabbed some scissors.
What?!? She wasn’t going to press it? You can’t work with wrinkly fabric. Everyone knows that, right?
My teacher laughed at our shock and reminded us that 150 years ago, women didn’t work with perfectly pressed fabric, cutting mats, rulers, and rotary cutters. They had a bag of scraps, scissors, needle, thread.
As someone who’s studied quilting in the 19th century and written both my Master’s thesis and novels highlighting quilting during that time, I know this.
I clearly needed the reminder that how I’ve learned to do a thing or always done a thing is NOT always the best or only way to do that thing.
When it comes to creative work, sometimes throwing out the “rules,” which are really just ways that other people work, can be the best way to find our own process.
This was a reminder I got in every class I took, and it also applies to writing.
Writing a book is fairly simple. We decide we’re going to do it. We sit down and write the words. We finish it when our book is done.
That’s it, but we get all kinds of caught up in the middle part of sitting down and writing the words. How writing happens is different for everyone though we often think that if we just follow the “rules” we’ll get it done, and it’ll be easier.
Instead of exploring our own writing process, we adopt other’s writing processes and attempt write every morning for X amount of time or until we hit X amount of words. This can lead to a lack of progress and frustration.
What if you explored what works for you? And did more of that?
I invite you to get intentional about figuring out your writing practice.
This fall (2024), I’m teaching a workshop at the Chase the Chaos Digital Summit to help attendees intentionally explore and discover a writing practice that works for them. I’d love to see you there.
This summit is fully digital — if you have a computer, you’ll be able to attend. It’s for neurodivergent women, but all neurodivergent adults are welcome. There are a variety of speakers and topics that you’ll find helpful. Early bird pricing ends Aug. 5, 2024, so check it out now if you’re interested.
Exercising the muscle of allowing yourself to discover your own writing process will work wonders toward building your confidence and identity as a writer.
It will also help you write your best book.