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Brandi Bradley

Writing when life gets hectic

Brandi Bradley has a cold.

Or I had a cold, last week. It was a one-two punch of Fall ragweed allergies and being coughed on by two strange little girls in a cafeteria. As a result, I spent several days in a whiney, snotty, voice disappearing, annoying, NyQuil-dosed misery.

All my projects had to be placed on the back-burner, which might have been the most annoying part of the whole experience.

I didn’t get a lot of writing done.

Pages with handwritten notes against a steering wheel.
Editing pages in my truck while my kid finishes practice.

And that has been the trend this month.

My September had me somewhere different every weekend – either writing events, family obligations, or teaching responsibilities have stood between me and my ability to put words on a page.

It sucks.

But sometimes that happens. My writing life completely changes when things get hectic.


It becomes an issue of momentum. I don’t want the habit of not-writing to become the norm. I want to get back to the habit of writing. I love productivity books and advice about having good habits, but what they don’t tell you is sometimes people get off track.


I need a reset.


When this happens, here is how I reset.

  • I grab my journal. Even eking out one page of loopy handwritten text will be enough to remind me of what I love. But I have a rule – no complaining. When I am in a slump, my journals get a little whiny, and that’s not helpful for me. So I try to write about what’s next instead of lamenting.

  • I review the shrapnel. I’ll go through my files and look over half-finished projects. Scraps of ideas that were haphazardly typed up and then abandoned. I’ll dig out old notebooks and review what I scribbled down. I will evaluate the ideas scribbled across the whiteboard in the studio. Sometimes I’ll get a spark to boost my creative juices and I will follow it.

  • I will review my outline. I am a planner and not a pantser, but my outlines are never so set in stone that I can’t make adjustments. I’ll review the outline, determine what’s been written, what remains, and what needs to be done next. Sometimes the time off will provide a little perspective on a story that might be growing stale.

  • I make a plan for the week. I will review my upcoming week and identify the time blocks where I will be able to make time for myself. I’ll make a lunch date with myself or plan to wake a little earlier in the mornings for some journaling time.

  • I will seek inspiration. I will go to the library. I will go to the bookstore. I will get deep in my recommendations on Netflix looking for new content. I like watching documentaries about artists: painters, directors, actresses, writers, musicians. And it will sometimes be things that normally would not be on my watch list. For example, I stumbled on a documentary about the women who pioneered electronic music. EDM has never been my thing, but I liked seeing these women play the theremin or record the sounds of birds outside her window to sample later. It didn’t make me want to take up the theremin, but it got me excited about making things again.


And while these are all helpful to get me going, I also have to avoid things that are fun but ultimately self-sabotaging activities.

  • Check my email and my socials. No one is looking for me, but the idea that someone might keeps me from making things.

  • Play games on my phone. I love this little number game on my phone. It is an excellent way to relax. It is not helpful at 10 am when I set aside time to sketch out some scenes.

  • Shop. Both online shopping or in person shopping. I like shopping; I don’t love shopping. I’m not all about hunting for bargains, I don’t want to make a day of it, and I have no idea when TJ Max drops new things unless someone tells me about it. But when I am unfocused and want a distraction, I will absolutely high tail it to HomeGoods or Target.

  • Saying mean things to myself because I haven’t been writing. It’s not like it helps my creativity. It mostly just gets ugly until I eventually snap out of it. I’m most creative when I create space for things to happen. All carrot; no stick.


So here I am, recovering from a cold, and needing the reset. Already I have watched Hearts of Darkness on the Criterion Channel, cleared my desk, and set up my plan for the week. Because what I have to remember is I am not going to be that perfect, romanticized writer who never misses a day, is never distracted by their loved ones, and never gets sick or doubts themself. All of that’s going to happen. I just have to remember that I can get back on track.


Read Books. Wear Boots.

XOXO,

B.



If you saw me at one of the many festivals last month and were intrigued by the upcoming Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder, don't miss out on this short piece of an earlier Detective Lindy D’Arnaud case where she is tracking down conspiring teens in the Wester Kentucky countryside.


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