By Tara Pauliny, Ph.D, Faculty, General Education
Q&A
- Do you ever feel overwhelmed or anxious when presented with a writing task?
- Do you ever procrastinate or avoid a writing assignment?
- Do you ever doubt your abilities as a writer or give up before you’ve even started?
If you answered YES, to any of these questions, mindful writing strategies might be helpful to you.
Q: What is mindful writing?
A: Mindful writing is when you apply the practices and approaches of mindfulness to your writing.
Q: What are “mindful practices”?
A: Mindful practices are activities that encourage your mind and nervous system to slow down and calm down. They can include things like meditation, yoga, timed writing, and self-reflection.
Q: How can these help my writing?
A: If you are someone who gets anxious around writing or avoids it, mindful practices might help you be less stressed when writing and they might help you get started on a project earlier. They can also help you stay focused as you work and to work consistently and with less distress.
Q: How do I get started?
A: First, identify what your writing challenges are. Do you put off writing tasks? Do you find yourself distracted when you are writing or do you have trouble concentrating? Are you plagued by thoughts of self-doubt? See if you can identify how you respond to a writing task and make a note of this.
Q: What’s next?
A: Once you have identified your challenge(s), choose a mindful practice that counters this.
Q: What mindful practices should I try?
A: You have lots of options and can try one or all of these, in any combination. Try them out and see what happens!
- For restless thoughts/racing mind, try meditation.
- Start small! Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Breathe slowly in and out and focus on your breathing. When your mind wanders or starts to think about something else, gently remind yourself to focus on your breath. Don’t judge the wandering–just return to your breathing. Try to do this for 1 minute and work your way up to more time.
- For general anxiety around writing, try breathing exercises.
- You can simply take a few deep, cleaning breaths or you can do some more focused techniques.
- One approach that might balance your emotions is to inhale and exhale for the same amount of time: Sit comfortably and inhale, slowly, through your nose for a count of six. Hold it for a second or two and then exhale, slowly, through your nose, for a count of six. You can try this for less or more time, as is comfortable for you.
- For procrastination, try journaling and setting small, clear goals.
- Before you write or even instead of writing, do the following: jot down how you are feeling and then literally turn the page. Try to leave those feelings on that page and choose a plan for a short writing session.
- For example, if you are having trouble starting a project, your goal for your first session might simply be to review the assignment and make a list of two things you can do to get started.
- Before you write or even instead of writing, do the following: jot down how you are feeling and then literally turn the page. Try to leave those feelings on that page and choose a plan for a short writing session.
- For self-doubt, try timed writing sessions.
- Set a timer for 20 minutes. Do this literally: use your phone or a kitchen timer or download a free timer and set it for 20 minutes. Then, work on your writing project for those 20 minutes–commit to working steadily for that short period of time. When the 20 minutes are up, you can do another 20 minute session or stop. Either way, congratulate yourself–you wrote!
Q: Do I need to follow these strategies exactly?
A: No, absolutely not! Try any or all of these strategies in any combination, for any reason. See what you like and what works for you. And keep track of your responses so you know what works and what doesn’t.
Q: Any other suggestions?
A: Yes, you can also try these more physically active strategies–some people respond more to movement. Sometimes “getting out of your head” can break the anxiety cycle. Try one of these activities followed by one of the strategies above…
- Take a yoga class or try a few yoga poses at home.
- Do a “shake-out”–stand up and shake your limbs, your torso…move around however feels good to you. Try this with and without music.
- Put on music and sing along for a few minutes.
- Go outside and get some fresh air and/or sunshine
Q: These are interesting ideas. Where can I find more information?
A: There are lots of free resources available online as well as some you can purchase. Here are some to get you started:
Free online resources:
- 5-15 minute Guided Practices from the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society
- Free Timer for Timed Writing Sessions or Meditations
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center’s resources page about working with writing anxiety
- Tara Branch’s webpage where she offers a wide variety of guided meditations
- Yoga for Writers: a free 30-minute yoga session by Yoga with Adrienne
- Also check YouTube for lots of free yoga and meditation sessions–look especially for Yin Yoga or Restorative Yoga, practices designed to calm the nervous system
Resources you can purchase:
- Boice, Robert. How Writers Journey to Comfort and Fluency: A Psychological Adventure Praeger: Westport, Connecticut, 1994.
- Moore, Dinty W. The Mindful Writer. Wisdom Publications: Somerville, MA. 2016.
- Stahl, Bob and Elisha Goldstein. A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook. New Harbinger Publications, Inc: Oakland, CA, 2010.
- There are many other authors who write about these issues; you might look for work on mindfulness and meditation by Pema Chodron, breathing by Doug Keller, and self-acceptance by Jessamyn Stanley.
