It has been said that to read is to inhale and to write is to exhale. I would expand that to say that experience is inhalation and creation is exhalation. Reading is just one way of experiencing the world. It allows you to live experiences not your own, but it’s also important to gather your own lived experiences.
If you’ve read my work for any length of time, you’re aware of how I exhale (i.e. create), but today I’d like to talk about what I inhale. What you take in has a great deal to do with what you produce, and I’ve found that a balance of the following seven categories goes a long way to keep my creative wheels turning.
- Pursuing My Niche Interests
An obscure castle in the Czech Republic.
The finer details of death care in the United States and how it has progressed over the years.
A famous and controversial shipwreck, and the exploits of the man who uncovered the wreck.
Weird little branches of indie metal music.
Cryptids and urban legends from cultures all over the world.
These are all little alleys of knowledge that have piqued my interest over the past several years, and they provide an absurd proportion of the joy I take in daily life.
I’ve made the mistake in the past of trying to filter out anything “not technically useful” to my career (whatever that means) so I don’t feel like I’m wasting time. But when life got tough and money got thin and a pandemic took over the globe, it was the pursuit of these weird little interests that got me through. And more than that, they showed me the places my interest repeatedly goes. Passion in the author is one of the best secret sauces to work that’s magnetic to readers, so if you know what gets you going, you’re one step closer to building an audience that loves the same things you do.
My second novel manuscript (which—don’t get excited—needs such extensive edits that it’s been on ice for a few years) was inspired by two little niches coming together to spark a whole fascinating fire. That is to say, sometimes these little things turn into the big things. (Not unlike a bit of sand in the shell of an oyster producing a pearl, eh?)
- Learning and Practicing New Skills
What if I told you that learning isn’t limited to what other people have made you do for school or work, and that you can pursue things just because you want to?
This was one of my favorite realizations when I moved out on my own. With nobody to convince or compromise with, I dove head-first into things only I cared about. Podcasts and documentaries loaded with obscure knowledge…I was in hog heaven.
And with an unbelievable supply of resources at our digital fingertips, not to mention the FREE resources at your local library, you can learn languages, research niche topics, and practice new dance moves without anybody around to judge. And if you don’t like it, you can just stop and try something new.
You may find, as I have, that you become someone you never expected. Someone exciting and nuanced and unlimited by past experience.
- Exercise
Research on the benefits of exercise continues to roll in, and the benefits of walking specifically always amaze me. Both mentally and physically, we as humans are made to move.
Stuck on a work problem that just won’t budge? Go for a walk.
Feeling sad or out of sorts? Get up and move.
Overflowing with joy and nowhere to put it? Dance around the kitchen.
Need to have a hard conversation? Ask to walk and talk so you don’t have to make eye contact the whole time.
The blood flow, the feel-good endorphins, the change of scenery, the sense of accomplishment, not to mention numerous benefits to your health…it’s official. The benefits of exercise just don’t quit.
Personally, there’s something about finding a pretty walking path, putting on my favorite music, and walking like I’m on my way to vanquish my foes that does my heart and soul good and gets the inspiration flowing.
- Exploring Places I’ve Never Been
I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of cabin fever, and I think it has less to do with being tired of the same 600 square feet and more the rut of thoughts and smog of feelings that make every day feel the same. So it’s important to go out and air out your brain.
Writing in a coffee shop every Friday has done wonders for me. And once the coffee shop started to feel too routine, I picked a different one. I am also practicing looking up events in the area that I might be interested in in the upcoming month and just going to them. Even if I don’t like it, it gives me a chance to think new thoughts.
If exploration is leaving the dock, then travel is losing sight of the shore, and it’s good for the soul.
I’m of the opinion that it’s important to leave behind the familiar completely every once in a while, to be totally shut off from it. To stay outside your comfort zone long enough for the culture shock to hit, let yourself break down a little, and then regain your footing. That’s how you know you’ve been away long enough to really experience someplace new.
It’ll show you what you’re made of as a person and open you up to other people’s experiences in a way nothing else will. Reminding yourself in a tangible way that the world is exponentially broader than your own life and hometown is a game-changer, and I think it’s a source of empathy like no other as well. It’s a physical version of what we do as readers: whenever we get sick of our own lives, we moonlight in somebody else’s. And that’s where the magic happens.
- Going Along With Someone Else’s Plans
Love means sometimes going to events or locations in which you have no interest and are simply along for the ride. Luckily for me, this provides a channel of inspiration I wouldn’t have otherwise had.
Take, for example, a football game. If you’re like me and don’t care much about who wins and your attention has been wandering since the first whistle blow, you’re probably not going to games because you like them. But, whether to accompany a friend or loved one or be part of a group, you tag along. What can you take from that experience as a creative?
On the one hand, there’s something to be said for serendipity. You might meet someone who becomes important to you. You might have a conversation that gets you thinking. You might hear a snatch of what ends up being your new favorite song. You might just have a night to remember with the person who dragged you there.
But more than that, you can soak in the atmosphere.
Whether you love it or hate it, there’s nothing quite like game day. The tension in the air, the roar of the crowd, the sound of the band, the ways people dress to identify with their team or follow a theme, the smell of popcorn, wet grass, and sweat…Like I said, you can feel however you like about it. But there’s no substitute for being there.
And you might find that, in the most surprising of environments, your creative wheels start to turn. Suddenly you have fodder for scenes and characters that never would have occurred to you, all because you stepped outside of your own preferences for the night. Anything you’ve never experienced before is fair game for new ideas.
- Returning to Media That Mean Something to Me
Another mistake I have been known to make is thinking that just because I’ve been told a story once, there is nothing further to gain from it. But as much as it’s good to seek out new places and perspectives, the stories we can’t get out of our minds also provide a nearly endless well of meaning and inspiration. Rereading a well-known book can be like looking in a mirror. It shows us our desires, hurts, curiosities, and callings. It can also show us how we’ve changed since the last time we read it.
If Substack is any indication, there has been a movement among readers to turn away from what shelf a book resides upon and more to which ones have the dog-eared corners to prove they struck a nerve. Embrace those things and what they mean to you as a creator. If you can’t get enough of a certain trope, chances are good that you’re not alone, so go and feed your readers what you both love.
- Embracing the Meditatively Boring
The great and beloved Agatha Christie once said that, “The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” This jives with the body of research on the flow state by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in that the rhythm of a boring task can provide the perfect blank canvas for inspiration and satisfying mental work.
I think of boring tasks as the white noise of the mind. Though they may be a pain to initiate, they can block out distractions just enough for our brains to dig into the real work in the background. But I would also expand this definition to include moments of forced pauses in life.
I challenge you, as I’ve challenged myself, not to take out your phone the instant the discomfort of inactivity hits. Take a deep breath and embrace the discomfort, and then see what you notice around you. I start with smaller bites of time, like when I’m in line or waiting in the lobby for an errand. You might notice a pleasant breeze or someone with a unique outfit or a hilarious sign in a window. Call it people-watching or call it mindfulness, but this input often provides more satisfying fare than yet another meme or video watched on mute.
If I had to sum up what I’ve found in these seven practices that have improved both my writing and my life, it would be that they point to a balance between maintaining healthy routines, prioritizing novelty, and pursuing joy.
Sometimes it’s not all about word counts and writing prompts, or even creating a good routine. In the lulls of life, it’s good to remember that the first step toward being a better author is taking good care of yourself and participating in the life you’ve been given.
Whatever you find that makes you a better, happier version of yourself, let this be your sign to notice it, name it, and prioritize more of it. Your best creative work awaits.
