The Holistic Writer
Becoming a lifestyle writer
Holism /hō′lĭz″əm/
noun
The theory that the universe and living nature are made of interacting wholes that are more than their sum.
A study concerned with wholes or complete systems.
Sounds an awful lot like Aristotle’s famous quote, doesn’t it? That the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Holistic, as a word, is our attempt at unifying those parts and creating something grand. It’s the same as I’m trying to do here with all your separate parts as a writer.
What’s important about becoming a holistic writer is the effort to bring many skills together and integrate them into your daily life. Some people consider writing a job, and some people consider it an identity. I happen to be the latter. It is also a job, yes, and you ought to place proper boundaries in respect to that.
However, being a writer means you are observing and creating all the time. Your mental door is always open to new ideas. If you were to tell that part of yourself, it’s only okay to come out between 4pm and 7pm, your stories will reflect that.
In this article, I’m going to list some ways in which you can be a whole writer. Not a once-in-a-while writer. When you integrate your writing into the rest of your life, it will gain nuance. Though be warned, this list aims quite literally for that idea of holism. It is not for the faint of heart.
It's a Lifestyle Business
I’ve heard the term “lifestyle business” used before in regards to the self-employed. It’s because, when you own your own business, you are on all the time. This can be exhausting, but it’s also the dynamic you chose. In exchange for a schedule that switches on and off at a whim, you get to make your own rules.
Writing must be treated like this kind of business. You have to be prepared to break out that idea notebook when the light bulb strikes. You need to commit to that 2,000 words per day, whether it happens at 8am or 8pm. You should be ready to talk about your work whenever the opportunity strikes. You’ve also got to plan for fluctuating income. It’s not a standard paycheck, after all.
Because there is no hourly punch card, your task list will follow you everywhere. You might be doing laundry and remember you forgot to draft social media posts for the week. Or you may have to take character notes while in line at the DMV. I recall a writer who wrote her novel almost exclusively while sitting in parking lots.
It can be overwhelming, and burn out is real. It’s definitely important to have boundaries. The best way to do this is ensure you’re managing your time and energy properly. Recognize when your brain and body are saying they’re done for the day. But up until that point, writing might have to knock a few other things off your schedule you’d rather not. This is a game of priorities and discipline, so tighten that belt.
The Time Factor
Time is hands-down people’s biggest challenge. Ask anyone who has the desire to write a book why they haven’t yet, and they will say, “I can’t find the time.”
Notice that word “find.” That’s the villain right there. You will never find extra time. You have to make it.
Take a hard look at your weekly schedule and determine what you can cut. Be realistic. You must omit something to make room for something else. Everyone’s schedule is packed to the hilt so we all understand what it is to be busy. But if you want to write that book badly enough, you have to eliminate some things.
It was helpful for me to take a week and track my hours and what filled them. According to my calendar, I shouldn’t have been that busy. Yet, I was still exhausted by the end of every day. Writing down everything I did showed me loud and clear how much time went into housekeeping, errands, and menial tasks. These days, the writing comes first and my son gets to do the dishes more often.
I will take a moment and address those of you with young children. The things I said here only half apply to you. Do what you can. As I sit and write this, my kids are upstairs entertaining themselves because they’re 14 and 9. Trying to write with two kids under 8 was not a battle I won. I wrote as much as I could, and that was important for getting good practice in, but I wasn’t able to produce a long-form top-tier novel during that stage of life.
Go easy on yourself and know that this is a passing phase. Your kids won’t be small forever and you will be free again someday to chase your dreams. Until then, dabble and learn.
Live in the Story
There are so many moving parts in a story that you’re bound to lose touch with some of them. To mitigate this as much as possible, live in the story daily.
That means keeping the story fresh in your mind, thinking about it every day, containing your writing of it to a chunk of months rather than through the span of years, staying in the mindset of the characters, and maintaining a comprehensive outlook on the plot trajectory.
When you’re actively drafting, you can see where you’ve been and where you intend to go. If you come out of that state for an extended period, you lose sight of that and can only see where you currently are.
To achieve this, it’s better to write 500 words per day than it is to have six 2,500 word days in a month. The story will come out the other side feeling more like a thing that was created in one breath, versus something stilted and cobbled together.
Treat Work as Practice
You’re going to be at this for a long time. It takes most people years—sometimes decades—to come to the point of writing saleable material. Don’t be in a rush, thinking it all needs to be perfect today. Don’t start off with the mindset that you need to publish three books a year, either. Work up to it.
When you consider your work practice, you’re more open to constructive criticism and you’re more willing to learn. You’re more malleable. As writers, I think we want to be malleable forever. Your ideas are your craft and your presentation of them your art. There should never come a time when your process is perfected.
In fact, one thing I notice about career authors, is that their early work is usually their best. It’s edgy and original and rejects all molds. By the time they’ve put out twenty books, they’re in a routine and things are more formulaic. You want to encapsulate that early-work vibe. That means, being willing to experiment and make mistakes.
Get Fit
I don’t mean physically, though that’s always a good idea too. I mean, treat your creativity like the muscle it is. It needs exercise and good nutrition.
Get enough sleep so your brain is rested and ready to go. Read good fiction and limit the scrolling. Create a writing space that inspires you and allows for optimal concentration. Hydrate well so you function at your prime. Implement self-care, however that may look for you. That might mean meditation, long walks, gratitude, or a sacred practice.
The overall point is, writing a book is a marathon, and you need to be in tip-top shape. Make yourself a priority so you can perform your best when you sit down to draft.
A good story is a complex and multi-layered bite of life, and it’s going to fall flat if it isn’t treated as such. These are all tips to help you integrate writing into your daily self so you can bring everything you can to the craft.
Next up is our final installment of the Greater Than series. A post titled Applying Glue. I’ll take a look at this skill from the top-down and hone in on what allows you to truly piece all these parts together into a whole book.