This past week, I took two steps forward to redefining my writing life. The first step I took is I had a writing session with a coworker. We met at lunch time and wrote on two prompts. Writing in community is the foundation of my history as a writer. I started and participated in about three writing groups at the outset of my career. They were invaluable in helping me figure out how to be as a writer. One of the things we did was read our pieces out loud—for a speed-reader such as myself, that practice was everything. Whenever I got up to read, I just wanted to get out of the way as quickly as possible. Through reciting my work on a regular basis, I became more comfortable representing my words. Here I am now, many many years later. Much more accomplished, but still vulnerable and uncertain, needing to lean into community as I move into my next stage.

A few posts back, I wrote about a woman whose novel development process is writing as many disconnected scenes as she can imagine for a set of characters. Only when she’s exhausted all the possibilities, does she go back and review the scenes. She fits them together like a puzzle, letting the scenes tell her what the novel’s arc is going to be.

I’ve written without a plan many times before, but I’ve only ever written chronologically. Despite the fact that I don’t have edits on the final draft of my YA novel, I know there is a second book in the cue. I have low-grade anxiety about what the book is going to be about and how I’m going to develop a new concept for the follow-up to this YA novel. So I took the plunge—twice.

The first plunge is setting up a series of co-writing sessions with my colleague. The second plunge is trying out this chaotic new writing style. Using randomly selected prompts, I am writing scenes using characters from my book. My hope, dream and fantasy is that I’ll be able to develop a story arc from the process without too much stress. I’m hoping I can organically unearth a plot that is unique and surprising, but very much an extension of the first book. We’ll see how it goes.

The day after I started the lunchtime writing workshop, I sent the manuscript for a new project to my agent. This project is in the realm of spirituality. It’s not fiction, there’s no story arc, it’s a completely new direction for me. And I developed it in a looser fashion. I had a few set topics and randomly decided to write 10 pages a day on each topic for as long as I had something to say. The process went smoother than I could have imagined. Through sustained, doable effort, I’ve created a manuscript that could chart a new direction for me in my writing career. [Insert mind-blown emoji here.]

I’ve been welcoming flow and loosening control in my everyday life, so it makes sense that it would be spilling over into my writing life. How incredible it is to be finding new, fresh ways to work that help sustain my energy and uphold my need to rest.

Deeply hoping that you are finding some flow in your life, and finding ways to move in a supported, easy fashion.

We all deserve process of unfolding that do not destroy or drain us.

Here’s to supportive creativity!

Onward.

—K.