A good friend of mine, K. M. Enright, once said, “I can’t afford to be precious with my writing.”
We were talking about rituals — the things we do to indicate to our brains that it’s time to write. Some people light candles. Others listen to music or brew their favorite drink. It differs from person to person.
I wish I could say my ritual would make a good Reel. But it’s pretty uneventful. I update my Notion. I review what needs to be done and remind myself of the day’s goals. I check social media, because otherwise I would go weeks without scrolling Twitter. And then I get to work.
The older I get, the more fluid my practice becomes. I still have containers of deep work — two to three hours of immersive time where I focus on a particular project. But I also work on my phone between appointments. I draft Instagram posts in my clinic’s waiting room. Some weeks I am too busy — or tired — to go deep, so I work when I can, committed to carving out as much time as possible.
I’m starting another round of revisions this week. Part of me wants to be precious about it. I’ve been revising this book since January, and I could not be happier with how it’s turning out. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be querying by the end of the year.
I want to make this book the best it can be, which is maybe where the preciousness comes from. But the fact remains that I can’t afford to be precious. In an ideal world, I would be able to work two to three hours a day on deep work. I would always feel energized and motivated; I would never doubt my creative vision. I would finish my revision with time to spare.
But I can’t afford to be precious. Some days I will exceed my expectations; some days I won’t even touch my manuscript. Some days I will work for hours in a state of flow; some days I’ll write on my phone during moments of calm. I won’t always be able to ritualize my practice, and that’s okay.
I am learning to be fluid. To follow the rhythm of my days. Art is precious, but to do good work, I must be sacrilegious. There are no right ways to create.