WEEK 9 — STAYING WITH THE WORK

Focus: Consistency, boredom, and commitment

By now, the excitement of starting has settled. This is usually where it gets harder on us. Not the dramatic kind — the quieter kind. Showing up when things feel ordinary and blah blah blah, right? It’s hard, staying with a project even when it doesn’t feel especially inspired. I’m going through that right now with a novel that I started and finished and revised and have come back to yet again. 

Many writers and artists talk about this phase. The middle stretch. Where doubt creeps in. Where the shine wears off. The mundane. Some of my writer friends actually seem to love this section but they are the kind of people who love routines, knowing exactly what happens next, which toilet stall to go to in Costco, the list at the store never changes. I’m not that person…and so this time of any project is hard on me. Here are a few of my suggestions to help us all keep going, claiming a routine that works. 

Inspiration

Agnes Martin once said that inspiration comes from clarity, not excitement. Does that work with you? But where does that clarity come from? For some of us it’s complicated. The author, Haruki Murakami, talks often about routine — walking, writing, repetition — as the structure that allows imagination to move freely. That leads into something that I read recently that is helping me stay on track, that action leads to inspiration which leads to motivation that brings us back to action. For me, I’ve been experimenting with this idea and it has oddly kept me going. It’s winter as I write this, 10 degrees Fahrenheit, snow on the ground, biting cold and my fitness routines have hibernated. However! Action leads to inspiration to motivation to action has actually helped. I set up a rowing machine in the sunshine (New Mexico, a sunshine state if snowy) and set myself to using it for five minutes after walking the dogs in the morning. That’s morphed into a few times a day, I sit and row with hat and gloves on. Why? It’s become easy to do, I feel good about getting on there and using my body and so I keep doing it. On his podcast, Dr. Rangan Chatterjee reminds us that habits are not about discipline for its own sake, but about reducing friction so we can keep going. I’ve made it easy to do this simple physical exercise and now I’m doing that with my creative projects. I now have the art supplies and paper taped and ready for me to paint, all I have to do is reach for them. Same with my writing. I have this laptop handy and charged at all times and there’s a small (not overwhelming) number of notes next to it on ideas for the novel. My only goal is that if I work on it, I have to finish that chapter, no leaving one half edited, I have to do that chapter, save, take a few notes for next time, and walk away. 

Prompts

• What project are you currently “in the middle of”?
• What usually pulls you away when things get dull or difficult?
• Write about boredom — not as failure, but as information.
• Finish this sentence: “If I stayed with this a little longer…”

Activities

Movement:
Keep walking. Take your notebook along and jot ideas that float into your mind as you walk. 

Food:
Cook something simple on repeat this week. Notice how familiarity frees attention. Your mind drifts. And your belly is happy too. 

Pause:
Before working, say quietly: “I don’t have to be brilliant today but I will finish this little section anyway.”

Explore More

Revisit something unfinished — a notebook, sketchbook, folder, half-written piece. Don’t fix it. Just spend ten minutes with it. Fiddle with it, potter as we say in England, look at it with a different mindset of ‘hmm, what happens if I change this little bit?’

Optional To Do

• Edit instead of create for one session.
• Rewrite one paragraph or redraw one small section.
• Photograph the same subject three days in a row.

This painting above had started out horizontal as a landscape and it bored me so I flipped it upright and picked up a marker and played, no image or goal in mind. Now when I look at it, I’m inspired to grab other paintings that just don’t feel right, and maybe I’ll add pens or crayons or pastels and play more. I’ll let you know. Do you have something like that to mess with? Low stakes? Incomplete somehow? Have a look…

Closing Thought

Nick Cave (Australia)
“Your imagination is the divine spark that animates your work—follow it, even when it frightens you.”

More Resources: 

If you’re curious about finding more prompts because it’s just one too many drains on energy to prompt yourself, I’ve got a month’s worth here that you can download. Save it to your desktop or print it out and the great thing about lists like these are that you can come back to the same question or idea repeatedly and each time will inspire a different reaction Check it out and let me know if you have any questions, okay? I’m around. 

31 Days of Creativity – downloadable PDF

WEEK 10 — SHAPING & CHOOSING

Focus: Editing, discernment, and creative decision-making

Creativity isn’t only about making more. At some point, it becomes about choosing. What stays. What goes. What gets your time and energy. 

Editing isn’t punishment. It’s attention. It’s respect for the work. That’s what I’m told. I kind of don’t like this phase though but I do it and afterwards am glad. It’s a bad attitude held over from high school which was decades ago but let’s not go there…

In 2017-2019 I studied for my MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing and loved it, the amount of great conversations, ideas, suggestions and resources that came made it so worth while. One of the ways I’ve carried on from there is with an ever growing list of how to revise the written word and not be bored. It’s possible, honestly. You can play with sections at a time, or look for any habits of phrasing or tempo that could become repetitive to readers. A find and replace but for ideas or characteristics. Or you can pick a page, any page, and check the verbs. Do they fit that narrator? The tone? Are they clichéd? Boring? Look at the descriptions of objects, are they mundane, mainstream, or do they capture your true way of seeing and appreciating them? 

Inspiration

Toni Morrison spoke about clarity as generosity to the reader. They will fall into your world so much more if the language is clear and grabs attention and emotion. Look at your project with that in mind. 

Natalie Goldberg reminds us that revision is where we learn what we were really trying to say. Like I said, I struggle with that but I know it’s also quite true. I’ve come back to this novel, Rocket, after a yearlong break, and now the parts that seemed clear to me aren’t. I had images or details in my head that I hadn’t put to paper. They needed to be there to make it easier on the reader and well, to make the story come to life. I’m working on it. I’ll let you know. Which reminds me, sometimes we need to ADD to the story so remember, editing isn’t only about cutting out or trying to get to the end faster but can be about taking a much needed detour. 

Here’s the link to that page of revision ideas for you:

https://sarahleamy.com/2018/01/07/writers-craft-revision/

Prompts

• What are you ready to let go of in your creative life?
• Where might less actually help more?
• Write about a piece of work that improved after being shaped.
• Finish: “I know this is finished when…”

Activities

Movement:
Take a shorter walk than usual. Notice what changes. Try a longer route, now what shifted? 

Food:
Edit a recipe you know well — simplify it.

Pause:
After creating, wait a full day before looking again.

Explore More

Choose one piece of work and ask:
What’s essential here?
What’s decoration?
What’s fear?

Optional To Do

• Edit one page instead of starting something new.
• Limit your tools for a week.
• Rework an old piece using fewer words or colors.

Closing Thought

Leonard Cohen said he spent years removing what didn’t belong. What remained mattered. And finding the balance is the practice…I love those conversations with other writers about what they want it to feel like for the reader and how do we get there? 

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I offer writing and painting workshops through Eventbrite so sign up to find anything that might keep you inspired and creative — that’s my goal here. Find me there! Thanks for being part of this little community, take care.

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My winter home! January 2026