What does meditation have to do with writing?
This is a topic I should cover in full in a future post sometime soon, but for now I’ll say that how you respond to stray thoughts during the rest of your day strongly influences how you respond to them when you’re writing.
Meditation is sort of like strength training for your mind. The process of sitting down to write and struggling to clear your thoughts could be made a lot easier if you practice that skill regularly just like carrying a few bags of heavy things home from the store is easier if you’re already accustomed to lifting weights.
From How to Clear Your Thoughts Before Writing.
Writing this post took longer than I expected, but I’m ready now.
Let’s talk about the connection between meditation and writing.
What does meditation have to do with finishing, or maybe even starting, that blog post, poem, short story, or full-length novel?
Think about all of the mental prep work that goes into creating something. I don’t know about your writing processes, but the things I write rarely slip out of my mind fully formed. A flash of a character appears here and a line of dialogue there. On a different day, the perfect blog post title might show up or I may jot down a funny anecdote that I hope to work into something when I eventually figure out where it fits and whether it should remain nonfiction or be fictionalized instead.
Among its many other uses, meditation is a method for responding to stray thoughts and determining which ones, if any, are worth jotting down.
Find Focus
As one of my relatives said recently, “don’t believe everything you think.”
Not every thought that pops up can or should be entertained. This is as true whether someone is mediating, writing, or was just cut off in traffic and is feeling a sudden flash of anger at the person who made them slam on their brakes.
If you can train your mind to see a thought bubble up without feeling the need to chase after it when you’re sitting or walking quietly, it becomes easier to do over time when one is in any number of other situations.
Silence Your Inner Critic
I’ve been through multiple periods of writer’s block over the years. In retrospect, some of them were caused by my inner critic speaking so harshly about what I was working on that I was no longer sure where to go next.
By learning to turn away from unwanted thoughts through regular meditation, it slowly becomes easier to write without listening to your critical thoughts about what you’re working on.
I’ve never read a perfect first draft of anything. The further away I move from the expectation that I somehow magically do it right the first time.
That’s just as nonsensical as it is impossible. First drafts always need to be corrected and improved upon. The important thing is to create them in the first place.
A Quiet Mind Is a Creative Mind
It’s been my experience that quieting the mind does wonders for creativity.
Brainstorming is easier when one can stop and focus on the task at hand. Everything else can wait while you make lists, free write, or use any number of other techniques to get the ideas flowing.
Sorting through ideas is easier when you have plenty of experience gently releasing the unwanted ones as they pop up.
Writing in general is easier when your inner critic’s voice is quiet enough to ignore.
I’ve even found that revising is easier with a quiet mind as well because I’m better able to remember what it was I was intending to say before I compare it to what I’ve actually typed up.
Live in the Moment
There are so many things that are out of our control as writers, creative people, and human beings in general.
All we can do is release our work out in the world and see what happens.
One of the most beautiful things about meditation in my opinion is the way it encourages its practitioners to experience what is happening at this very moment instead of worrying about what might occur in the future or ruminating on the past.
Simply breathe.
Pay attention to what your five senses are currently detecting.
Focus on what you can control, and don’t fret about the rest.
Have you ever taken a moment to think about how weird the writing process can be?
Some people might eavesdrop for juicy gossip or to learn things that they know others wouldn’t want them to hear.
The upside of all of this research is that I’ve studied all sorts of topics that most people with similar backgrounds probably wouldn’t know.
There’s something about talking to your characters that makes it easier to iron out plans for plot twists or future character development in my experience.
Sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I’m writing that I forget what time it is.
Last month I took a two week break from any sort of writing at all.
Every December I make a list of my most popular posts of the year. This is something I first began doing in 2017 with a roundup of my 
There are books to read and movies to watch that will take you anywhere you want to go, including places that weren’t accessible to mere mortals at all except through our imaginations!
Today I wanted to share some tips for overcoming a reading slump and (hopefully) finding the joy of losing yourself in a story once again.
I’m totally serious about that, too. It feels obvious to me, but so many lists on this topic seem to skip over this solution.
No, I’m not referring to trying a new genre (unless you already have the urge to do so). It’s been my experience that this technique works best if it has nothing to do with books or reading at all.
It’s been my experience that reading slumps are often tied into how I’m feeling in general. I’m much more likely to have them when I’m dissatisfied with other aspects of my life.
Lydia: …
Summer: Obviously. Isn’t this all a contest to figure out why summer is the best season of them all?
One of my college professors sent us out to eavesdrop as part of a creative writing assignment. We were instructed to write down the conversation and then analyze the flow of it in order to make the dialogue in our stories more realistic in the future.
Listening to the way people really speak was also incredibly informative. The conversation I overheard was filled with friendly interruptions and all sorts of detours into other, mostly-related topics.
None of these anecdotes have made it into one of my stories (yet?), but they have taught me about the ways people think and how many different ways the same tale can be told depending on whose perspective you look at.
Thank you for asking this question, Elda! I always enjoy hearing from my readers.
Talk to Your Characters
Describe the Setting or Backstory in Vivid Detail
Take Notes After Each Writing Session
What does meditation have to do with writing?
Why is it important to develop a social media calendar? Well, there are a few reasons why this is a good idea.
A little before lunchtime, I share something like a quote, link to an interesting news article, or photo.
Tip #5: Keep a File of Ideas
Tip #7: Engage with Your Followers