Tips for Writing During Tough Times

May 24, 2020 | By Aine Greaney | Reply More

These days, it seems as if thinking or speaking about anything else except our COVID-19 pandemic seems frivolous or selfish.

I mean, why should any of us bother to create or write anything good when our inner and outer worlds have gone so bad?

Self-Sabotaging Our Creative Selves

In the face of crisis, many of us suspend our writing or knitting or painting or jogging or meditating. During the early days of our lockdown, I took a grim, utilitarian pride in this, all the while knowing that I was abandoning the very thing that, during past crises, had helped me, and, in turn, helped me to help others.

Here’s what I know: Since I was a 14-year-old school girl in my native Ireland, writing and reading have calmed and sustained me. Years, later, I would discover that over 300 clinical research studies (on the physical and psychological benefits of expressive writing) would endorse what, for years, I had been experiencing myself.

Here’s what I also know: When faced with our own denial or despair, we need to document the hard evidence, the proof that we have survived past challenges and that we have what it takes to survive others.

So during these recent weeks, I made myself get back to writing. As well as my novel in progress, I began to write about times when I faced down adversity. Then, I read what I had just written and said, See? There I was walking through those doors, even while my heart was racing. I put one foot past the other to keep on keeping on.

6 Tips for Writing During Tough Times

Redefine “Writing:”Forget about being a “good” or “successful” or “productive” writer. Instead, let yourself write what makes sense for you. Let yourself write what will bring you comfort. Let yourself write or do or create whatever it is that will make you feel better—and be a better person to those who need you.

Use a Miniature Notebook:Fifteen years ago, following some family bereavements, I put a tiny, 3″ x 2″ spiral notebook by my computer monitor. I filled one of those tiny pages every day. I wouldn’t even attempt to classify that writing by genre. I didn’t need to. All I needed to know was that each tiny page would bring a few moments of joy and a sense of control over the losses and events that had happened. Job done.

Switch Up the Medium:If you usually hand-write your first drafts, remember that there are many online journals out there. Write short, small pieces on your phone. Or get yourself a pen and some post-it notes or white cocktail napkins. Or try a gratitude journal.

Edit:Now might be the time to find and edit those old drafts sitting in your computer. Or go through your online photo albums to pick out some accompanying photos for those pieces. Writing? Who said anything about writing? You’re just sprucing things up, dotting a few i’s and crossing a few t’s.

Don’t Write, Walk: There are few things that a walk outside cannot make better. Wordsworth did it. So did Thoreau. And Mary Oliver. I love this interview with Oliver where she speaks about being out in nature and “listening to the world.”

Resurrect and Read Your “Blankie” Poems (or Stories or Essays or Songs): In this published essay from 2016, I list a few of the poems that, for years and years, have been my emotional “blankies.” Find yours. Read them again. Learn them by heart. Or contemporary poet Tara Skurtu is hosting #InternationalPoetryCircle on Twitter, where she invites us to read, record and share our favorite poems (written by us or another writer). Sharing is about courage, not fear.

Now, speaking of fear and courage, sometimes, the most courageous thing we can do is to look away from the crisis. Instead of watching the news updates on our TV screens, give yourself a few minutes of comfort, joy and writing.

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Bio: Áine Greaney in an Irish-born author now living in the U.S. In addition to her five books, she has published essays and stories in Creative Nonfiction, Books by Women, The Irish Times, Litro, The Boston Globe Magazine, Salon and other outlets. She teaches non-fiction and fiction writing at various locations, and has developed a virtual seminar, “Writing for Stress Relief and Wellness.”