It may look to the outside world that I have failed in my one-month writing experiment. I haven’t been posting every day like I said I would. I haven’t even posted anything here for a week. And yet, I would argue that I have achieved my goal of kick-starting my writing habit again, which had previously been a big fat blob of sluggish nothing.

I may not have written on this blog for a week, but I’ve written on my other blog. I’ve written in my journal, too. I’ve even been to a creative workshop and had a play with words and painting there. And I have done this writing despite being in the middle of a nasty, tear-inducing depression, which, if you want to know more about, you can read it over here.

It was quite interesting, actually, going to that workshop while being depressed. If it weren’t for the fact I booked it months ago, I wouldn’t have gone – there is no way I would have booked into it while in this state. The workshop was Wish Flags, which is similar in intention to the Treasure Maps one I did a while back, only it involved more play with fabrics, paint and embellishments and less with writing and collage.

I worked very differently at this workshop to the way I normally work. With my Treasure Map there was a lot of planning, and a lot of attention paid to the aesthetics. With my Wish Flag, I literally banged something out in paint in 10 minutes, and then I was done. No planning, no revisions, no caring about what it looked like. I had a vision, a symbol that I wanted to get out onto the canvas, but I didn’t fuss over it. There was glitter and beads and all kinds of shiny things that I could have used, but I ignored them all and just did my simple little thing. I guess the depression altered my attention span and my care factor.

I felt a bit weird about how little effort I had expended on my flag, until I realised that I had done all I could. I simply wasn’t in a frame of mind that could have fussed and primped over my painting. I couldn’t have sewn sequins or woven ribbons. I could only paint and do a bit of drawing with pastels. When I realised that, I realised that it was okay to have produced what I had. It was right for me then and there, and it was a success.

Along the same lines, my writing has also been a success. I have done a lot more writing since starting this experiment three weeks ago than I had done in the two months before that. I’ve given myself a little injection of writing mojo and it feels great. I haven’t done a post a day – but I haven’t needed to. I have done what I have been capable of, inside this depression, and I know that what I have done has been exactly what has been right for me.

posted by Kelly
Filed under: Writing practice