You are in my brain, in my life! I have also adopted the Writing Glimmer phrase and practice and have scribbled notes everywhere (in paper and electronic form) but then no good routines for turning those glimmers into something more. And earlier this morning, when I should have been doing a number of other things, I was typing frantically while words bubbled out of me. I hadn’t planned to write but didn’t dare staunch the flow! So glad to know I’m in good company and I appreciate your reminders about the seasonality of life and how that includes things we love 💚
I can safely say you, too, are in my brain! I have a backlog of Substack posts of yours I still want to comment on because they resonated so much with me as well. Keep on scribbling!
More than anything I believe you have to listen to your heart. Your instincts will never steer you wrong especially in terms of life balance. You know what you need in your gut. I remember as a stay-at-home Dad how I would try to steal away time to write when my still at home daughter took quiet time or got caught up playing on her own. Then she'd come an interrupt me, and I had to shift my focus. I would look at her and realize how much my time with her fills and fuels me, and makes me the writer I am. For years as a newspaper reporter I had to sit down and write whether or not I was ready. So when it comes to my personal writing, I only write when I have something to say. And I savor and cherish the life moments in between because each one has an affect on me.
Belated thank you for this wonderful comment. You're so right about our instincts steering us well. My dad worked as a newspaper reporter and then editorial page editor for 30 years, and I always admired how that work gave him the ability to focus and produce writing whether or not the muse showed up that day. My brief journalism career was in the magazine world, so a little more forgiving timeline (at least until the pressures started mounting to churn out more online content on a daily basis), but I totally appreciate and can relate to what you said about now really only writing when I have something to say.
Thank you so much for writing this! I cant tell you how much I appreciate you for putting this out. While I am not a writer this post/article? resonated with me so much in terms of the struggle i’ve been facing to balance as a relatively new dad, work, trying to spend time with my wife, friends, things i enjoy doing - reading, games, crossword, cooking, TV/movies and of course running/weightlifting. Good reminder that there are seasons for everything and that even my everyday heroes also go thru the same struggle and trying to figure it out, gives me hope that I am not alone. Thank you so much for this again! Will be cheering for you for Hardrock!!
Thank you for this! These are definitely universal struggles for so many of us, regardless of whether we identify as writers. I'm glad it resonated, and thank you so much for all the kind words!
I've been struggling with this for the past couple years as my big writing project (a book telling the story of the largest trailrunning club in New England) has taken much longer than planned while still maintaining the regular week-to-week coverage on the local ultrarunning site that I've do, actual work, my own running, and other life obligations. I spend a lot of my solo runs chewing on parts of the project, and have also begun jotting down ideas, sentences, occasional paragraphs, into the notes app on my phone so I can reference back to them when I actually get an hour or two to focus on the big project. It's tough, especially when the big project weighs heavier and heavier on my brain, but I either can't - or simply don't want to - set aside the other obligations for my time.
Long overdue thank you for taking the time to read and comment! I SO love hearing about the bigger (often, behind-the-scenes) writing projects others are working on, and particularly how/when/where the inspiration and time to work get slotted into daily life. I can definitely relate to the feeling of a big project weighing heavily! Sometimes the sense of urgency that comes from a big project like that is really motivating and wonderful, and sometimes (at least in my experience!) it can feel like a guilt-laden obligation, no matter how much passion I have for it. In any case, I appreciate what you wrote about using your solo runs for "chewing on parts of the project" ... love that! I'll look forward to reading your book someday when the finished product is out in the world.
100% agree with you that inspiration cannot be planned. I was at a conference last week on a completely unrelated topic to running. In the middle of a session I had an idea for an article. I grabbed some paper and started scribbling an outline because I knew if I didn't, I would lose the thought. I missed part of the session but came away with a "writing glimmer" (love that term - thank you)!
I relate to this so much, even though I'm an empty nester now. I often think about how much more writing I could accomplish if I didn't spend so much time running (plus caring for our horses—my "children" now). But the running time sparks creativity, and I use the Notes app mid-run to dictate ideas. My weekly Substack eats up a lot of time I would otherwise spend on my big writing project. Early morning is the only time when I write effectively. These past three days, we've been on a running getaway (Moab Run the Rocks stage race), with each afternoon blissfully unstructured and open, but I've felt too braindead to write anything so instead I've been reading and walking around town. I realize the need to prioritize writing the way I do running, so I try. I skied much less this season to make more time. One strategy I suggest: make dates or appointments to go somewhere else to write (such as the library) and line up childcare for those blocks of time. I know, easier said than done. Keep trying! "Some is better than none."
Clearly I need to write a follow-up post with the title, "Substack-commenting time, where you at?" Did not intend to let a month go by before replying to this wonderful and thought-provoking comment of yours.
Ironically, I tend to struggle most to write amidst "blissfully unstructured and open time" ... I think because getting into a creative writing groove takes time and is often (at least for me) emotionally challenging--so if I know I have many more hours available in front of me, I tend to procrastinate even more on getting started. (I don't have this same problem with running, haha.) I love your suggestion of going somewhere else to write for a block of time; certainly, when I take Sahale to the YMCA and have that two-hour block of time to work with, I'm amazed how much writing I can often get done vs. how much I typically accomplish in a larger swath of time when writing at home at night after she goes to bed. The change of scenery and "deadline" (of the end of my time block) definitely helps me buckle down in a different way than when I'm flopped down on the couch at home with "the whole night" to write.
You are in my brain, in my life! I have also adopted the Writing Glimmer phrase and practice and have scribbled notes everywhere (in paper and electronic form) but then no good routines for turning those glimmers into something more. And earlier this morning, when I should have been doing a number of other things, I was typing frantically while words bubbled out of me. I hadn’t planned to write but didn’t dare staunch the flow! So glad to know I’m in good company and I appreciate your reminders about the seasonality of life and how that includes things we love 💚
I can safely say you, too, are in my brain! I have a backlog of Substack posts of yours I still want to comment on because they resonated so much with me as well. Keep on scribbling!
More than anything I believe you have to listen to your heart. Your instincts will never steer you wrong especially in terms of life balance. You know what you need in your gut. I remember as a stay-at-home Dad how I would try to steal away time to write when my still at home daughter took quiet time or got caught up playing on her own. Then she'd come an interrupt me, and I had to shift my focus. I would look at her and realize how much my time with her fills and fuels me, and makes me the writer I am. For years as a newspaper reporter I had to sit down and write whether or not I was ready. So when it comes to my personal writing, I only write when I have something to say. And I savor and cherish the life moments in between because each one has an affect on me.
Belated thank you for this wonderful comment. You're so right about our instincts steering us well. My dad worked as a newspaper reporter and then editorial page editor for 30 years, and I always admired how that work gave him the ability to focus and produce writing whether or not the muse showed up that day. My brief journalism career was in the magazine world, so a little more forgiving timeline (at least until the pressures started mounting to churn out more online content on a daily basis), but I totally appreciate and can relate to what you said about now really only writing when I have something to say.
Thank you so much for writing this! I cant tell you how much I appreciate you for putting this out. While I am not a writer this post/article? resonated with me so much in terms of the struggle i’ve been facing to balance as a relatively new dad, work, trying to spend time with my wife, friends, things i enjoy doing - reading, games, crossword, cooking, TV/movies and of course running/weightlifting. Good reminder that there are seasons for everything and that even my everyday heroes also go thru the same struggle and trying to figure it out, gives me hope that I am not alone. Thank you so much for this again! Will be cheering for you for Hardrock!!
Thank you for this! These are definitely universal struggles for so many of us, regardless of whether we identify as writers. I'm glad it resonated, and thank you so much for all the kind words!
I've been struggling with this for the past couple years as my big writing project (a book telling the story of the largest trailrunning club in New England) has taken much longer than planned while still maintaining the regular week-to-week coverage on the local ultrarunning site that I've do, actual work, my own running, and other life obligations. I spend a lot of my solo runs chewing on parts of the project, and have also begun jotting down ideas, sentences, occasional paragraphs, into the notes app on my phone so I can reference back to them when I actually get an hour or two to focus on the big project. It's tough, especially when the big project weighs heavier and heavier on my brain, but I either can't - or simply don't want to - set aside the other obligations for my time.
Long overdue thank you for taking the time to read and comment! I SO love hearing about the bigger (often, behind-the-scenes) writing projects others are working on, and particularly how/when/where the inspiration and time to work get slotted into daily life. I can definitely relate to the feeling of a big project weighing heavily! Sometimes the sense of urgency that comes from a big project like that is really motivating and wonderful, and sometimes (at least in my experience!) it can feel like a guilt-laden obligation, no matter how much passion I have for it. In any case, I appreciate what you wrote about using your solo runs for "chewing on parts of the project" ... love that! I'll look forward to reading your book someday when the finished product is out in the world.
100% agree with you that inspiration cannot be planned. I was at a conference last week on a completely unrelated topic to running. In the middle of a session I had an idea for an article. I grabbed some paper and started scribbling an outline because I knew if I didn't, I would lose the thought. I missed part of the session but came away with a "writing glimmer" (love that term - thank you)!
YES, scribble away! So important to catch those sparks of inspiration when they come, even if at otherwise inopportune moments.
I relate to this so much, even though I'm an empty nester now. I often think about how much more writing I could accomplish if I didn't spend so much time running (plus caring for our horses—my "children" now). But the running time sparks creativity, and I use the Notes app mid-run to dictate ideas. My weekly Substack eats up a lot of time I would otherwise spend on my big writing project. Early morning is the only time when I write effectively. These past three days, we've been on a running getaway (Moab Run the Rocks stage race), with each afternoon blissfully unstructured and open, but I've felt too braindead to write anything so instead I've been reading and walking around town. I realize the need to prioritize writing the way I do running, so I try. I skied much less this season to make more time. One strategy I suggest: make dates or appointments to go somewhere else to write (such as the library) and line up childcare for those blocks of time. I know, easier said than done. Keep trying! "Some is better than none."
Clearly I need to write a follow-up post with the title, "Substack-commenting time, where you at?" Did not intend to let a month go by before replying to this wonderful and thought-provoking comment of yours.
Ironically, I tend to struggle most to write amidst "blissfully unstructured and open time" ... I think because getting into a creative writing groove takes time and is often (at least for me) emotionally challenging--so if I know I have many more hours available in front of me, I tend to procrastinate even more on getting started. (I don't have this same problem with running, haha.) I love your suggestion of going somewhere else to write for a block of time; certainly, when I take Sahale to the YMCA and have that two-hour block of time to work with, I'm amazed how much writing I can often get done vs. how much I typically accomplish in a larger swath of time when writing at home at night after she goes to bed. The change of scenery and "deadline" (of the end of my time block) definitely helps me buckle down in a different way than when I'm flopped down on the couch at home with "the whole night" to write.
If the kids are home, I get nothing done. School decides no afternoon? That's ny day gone. Just gotta not worry about projects getting delayed.