How To Write In Springtime
Tips for staying intellectually productive during the warmer, outdoor months
If you live in a part of the world that experiences long, dark, and depressing winters, you understand the feeling of blissful relief that comes with the springtime, and the accompanying itch to get outside and soak it all in while it lasts. I live in southern Canada, and this process is all-too-familiar to me. When April and May begin to sing their heavenly songs I find myself unable to concentrate on my cosy, indoor activities (my reading, writing, and academic work), and thus my intellectual productivity declines. There is a reason we get summers off from school. But for someone who prioritises literary input and output over most things, the arrival of spring is a paradoxical dilemma. I love spring, and thus I hate it. I love that spring draws me outdoors, but I loathe how it dampers my focus on the projects that were, for the past six months of dark days, my greatest delight.
This spring, I want to develop healthy habits and a forgiving but dedicated spirit in regard to my intellectual and literary pursuits. I do not want to confine myself indoors, but neither do I want to be so distracted by the springtime flurry that my projects are neglected. How can I continue to be a reader in spring and on into summer? This question is easy to answer. It’s not a challenge to bring a book to the beach; a laptop, however? The larger dilemma is how I will continue to be a writer in the warmer, outdoor months.
For the benefit of creative persons who relate to my struggle, I’ve come up with several tips and tricks that might inspire and motivate writers to keep writing during the spring and summer months. I hope to test these out myself this spring. Please let me know if you’ve benefited from any of these, or if you have new tips to share!
First, get out into nature and walk. Initially this may seem counterintuitive; it's rather difficult to write a novel and watch where you’re walking at the same time. However, I’ve come across numerous studies and articles lately about how beneficial walking is for deep thinking and creativity. In his article “How Walking Helps Us Think” (published in The New Yorker), Ferris Jabr investigates “the curious link between mind and feet.” Jabr notes that the main characters in Joyce’s Ulysses and Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway travelled on foot across Dublin and London, respectively, throughout the novels; it is on these walking journeys that the characters stumble into their most profound sentiments. Walking was an integral part of the daily rituals of other exemplary writers, from William Wordsworth to Henry David Thoreau. I need no more convincing. If physical exercise can make my body feel great, my skin look healthy, and my mind overflow with new ideas and sensations, then I shall embrace it fully this spring.
For writers keen on describing natural wonders or human nature, spring is the perfect time for observation. The earth comes out of hiding, and so do its inhabitants. I haven’t seen any of my neighbours throughout the winter months, but now I spot them out of doors regularly. Every place around town bustles with happy, hopeful people. The observation of individuals is a key aspect of my writing rhythm, and the busyness of springtime presents an opportunity to do this more regularly and with greater return.
There are a number of smaller, practical ways to motivate yourself to write in springtime. Identify whimsical spring playlists and listen to them in your home with the windows open; this atmosphere may prove to be deeply inspiring. Read spring literature (if you need a guide, check out my last post). A writer must always be reading, and certain literary works hit harder in the springtime and may draw you to pick up your pen with great fervour. Cultivate a space dedicated to springtime writing, and ensure that this space is different from your autumn and winter writing space. Draw in spring flowers and plants, gather fresh notebooks with spring patterns, and display warm art pieces, like those of Van Gogh and Monet. Perhaps do a bit of collaging; working with ephemera that fits a seasonal aesthetic always fills me to the brim with words and ideas. Include quotes and phrases from your favourite springtime literature, or lyrics from songs that make you think of spring.
Finally, because it is easier to read outside than to write outside, make spring and summer your seasons of consumption in preparation for the hibernation (and literary output) of autumn and winter. As Stephen King famously said: “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” Use the outdoor days, on which reading in the backyard under whispering trees or on some sandy shore are most possible, to develop the tools you need to write well. Read, read, read. If the time is not ripe for you to write, read, at the very least. Though this season will be different from the one from whence you emerged, it can be positive and productive in a wholly new and unique way. Happy spring, everyone!