Lessons from Oxford: How I build my writing muscle
Today’s letter explores ways to build our writing muscle + an announcement. This is a 7-minute read.
Hello and Salam alaykum friends 👋🏾
I hope you’ve had a great week so far! I’m recovering from a bad flu, and today’s the first day that I’ve felt like myself in nearly two weeks. Today’s also the second day I’ve been able to work on one of my writing projects and my joy knows no bounds. I’ve felt stuck for weeks and even though I wrote while at Oxford (coming back to this in a sec), I couldn’t understand why I struggled to move forward with any of my writing projects.
In hindsight, I think a significant part of the difficulty in writing was due to pressure, both internal and external. My YA novel has been out on submission (to publishers) and I’ve received some feedback + some not entirely positive responses. So, whenever I sat down to work on my other novel-in-progress, I had other people’s voices in my head. I read over every paragraph – which I never do during the first draft stage – and asked myself if it’s “good enough” or whatever other comment was made.
Taking a step back and coming back to the work with fresh eyes has been refreshing and fulfilling. It motivated me to strengthen my resolve of writing my first draft fast and not sharing my work until I’m ready to receive feedback on it. My first draft is usually where the characters guide me through the story, so it’s a lot of “telling” and not showing, and it’s also heavy on dialogue. Once I reach the end of a first draft, I take a break, then read it on another device (or printed) like I would any book. Only after this, do I begin taking it apart. I ask myself:
What’s working? What’s not working? What do I need more of or less of?
🏋🏾♀️ Building Your Writing Muscle
My intense couple of days at Oxford exceeded my expectations. I won’t go into the details of every moment, but I wanted to share my biggest takeaway: you can write on command. What do I mean?
You can sit down and write something creative in the moment without thinking too much about it or having planned what you intend to write.
In one of the sessions, we were given a ten-minute research task, and then asked to spend another ten minutes writing a fictional piece using as little or as much detail from our research, to be shared with the rest of the class afterwards. The first thought which crossed my mind as I picked up my pen to write was ‘I don’t even have a plan’ which was quickly followed by, ‘Oh God, I have to read my first draft out loud.’ I barely ever share the first draft of anything I’m working on, let alone a “freestyle” piece.
But I didn’t have the luxury of time to ponder my problems, so I simply started writing. Once I got into it the words kept coming, and when we were told to stop, I had a couple more sentences in mind to keep the story going. Truth is, I may never go back to work on that story, but the experience was pivotal for me. It reminded me of a time back in 2019/20 when I was studying full-time, working part-time, yet writing everyday. It feels like such a long time ago, and the pandemic threw a wrench in my life routine, but this workshop made me feel like I could go back there again.
Routines may not work for everyone, but they mostly do for me. I usually have buffer times for when life happens, but I generally schedule everything. I’ve been teased about this a lot, and recently, someone called me a robot for this, but I wear my robot badge with pride. It’s how I get things done. The only way I was able to write daily with my responsibilities back then, was because during the weekdays, I’d schedule my writing time for 2 hours before my work/class was due to start. So I’d arrive at campus (or work) early because I had to be there anyway and get writing. 7-8am was always writing time, and the extra hour allowed for whatever life wanted to throw at me. I didn’t always keep what I wrote, but the routine made the process easier.
Knowing yourself is key to creating a writing routine.
Mornings are my favourite time to write or get important things done because my time is more likely to be affected by people and others’ responsibilities in the evenings. I also love the quiet of the early morning. This may not be the case for everyone, but once you figure out your optimal writing time, that’s one less obstacle for you to worry about.
While I’m a firm believer that you don’t have to write everyday to be a writer, I also believe writing is a muscle which can be built and should be strengthened regularly. I would encourage writing everyday (or whatever frequency suits you) while bearing in mind that not everything you write has to contribute to a project. The focus is on building your writing skills, such that the words come a little easier each time you sit down to write.
My writing goal over the next two months is to build up consistency again, focusing first on quantity, and worrying about quality and editing later.
What’s your writing goal for the next month?
📣 Announcement
I’ll be starting a weekly drop-in writing session. I haven’t settled on a day, time or frequency yet, but I’d love to open it up for you to join me. Kindly complete this poll if you’ll be interested, and I’ll be back with more info on how to join.
Just to clarify, it’ll be a super relaxed environment. You can bring whatever you want to work on, and I’ll also be happy to bring along a prompt if you just want to exercise your writing muscle. The plan is a 2-hour session with half-hour writing sprints + 5-minute breaks after each sprint, but I’m open for other suggestions. You don’t have to stay for the entire 2-hours; you can join and leave whenever you please.
✍🏾 Writing Prompt
Writing may be a struggle sometimes, but it’s only through showing up to the page and trying that we can become better. Here’s a prompt to experiment with:
Rewrite the final scene in your favourite book or the last book you read, so that the protagonist comes away with an opposite ending. Don’t overthink the process, try to surprise yourself!
If you’d like to share your work with the community (can be anonymous) or for feedback on your writing:
⚡️ Creative Opportunities
This week, I’m sharing three newsletters I’ve found very beneficial for writing opportunities and events:
Sian Meades-Williams Freelance Writing Jobs Newsletter: I look forward to this newsletter every Thursday because Sian always has a range of opportunities on offer including writing competitions.
National Centre for Writing: Today’s newsletter includes this free resources package for early career writers, and they have several other resources too!
📚 What’s on my reading list?
Glory by Noviolet Bulawayo: I love writers being experimental with writing and form, so I knew I’d definitely be reading this when I first heard about it. I didn’t love the author’s first book, but I liked her writing well enough to decide I’d be reading her next book (I try not to judge authors based on their debut). In her new book, the story is told from the perspective of animals, and I can’t wait to dig into it.
Tomorrow I Become a Woman by Aiwanose Odafen: I picked it up on the recommendation of my favourite bookstagrammer, Tasnim, and I recently read an excerpt on AFREADA, which made me immediately fall in love with the author’s writing. I’ve only heard great things about it, but I’ll try to approach it with no expectations.
Dead-End Memories by Banana Yoshimoto: A collection of stories of five women who, following sudden and painful events, discover their ways back to recovery. The stories took on a reflective style where you know the protagonist is looking back on a life event, and though I sometimes enjoyed that style, there were moments where I wished I didn't already know how things panned out for the women. I'd recommend it to anyone who's searching for hope after bleak experiences.
What are you currently reading?
🎁 Giveaway
In anticipation of our next author interview, fill in this form for a chance to win a copy of Anu’s non-fiction book, Black and Brave History: 30 Sheroes Who Shook Britain.
P.S. I’ll be doing more of these over time, particularly for craft books I’ve found beneficial, so watch this space!
And that’s it, folks! If you enjoyed reading this and found it beneficial, why not spread the word?
Wishing you a blessed and splendid weekend! :)
Till next time,
Suad x