The Groundbreaking Technology I Used To Start Writing More

And my writing routine that feels like magic.

The Old Mindset

At the beginning of pandemic lockdown, 2020, I was lucky enough to have a job that could not be worked from home. So my company paid me to stay home doing whatever I wanted every other week. Finally, the moment I’d been waiting for. My entire life I had to work full time to barely afford rent and food and by the time I got home, I was much too exhausted to write. Now I had a week long vacation every other week, paid, to create the art I had always wanted.

I present the fruits of those precious weeks below:

“.”

If you blinked, you may have missed that there’s nothing there. I did nothing with that time but be sad and angry and pay my favorite bands $10 to watch them play live from a basement studio.

I would eventually get a job I could work from home which lasted about a year until they pulled us into the office three days a week. If I didn’t have the time nor energy when I worked from home (and not at all), surely I would not be able to write when commuting across state lines every day.

Nay, it is because I commute across state lines every day I am able to write so much! Such is the power of public transit.

If this is starting to sound like return-to-office propaganda know that I would never wish commuting to work in a personal vehicle on anyone and if I didn’t have the option of bus or train I would have quit then and there.

At first, I had a hard time. I was getting used to how long it would take to get in to work, and anxious about missing my stop. On the way home I was tired after the day of work and often wouldn't feel like writing. That was the first major lesson that led to writing exponentially more: I felt like I should be filling every free moment with words, and disappointed in myself when I couldn't. Confidence plummets and the cycle continues. Learning when to write was the first step in breaking out of that loop and building discipline.

Concocting a Routine

I started a schedule. If I was too tired to write after work, then I would write on weekends. Saturday and Sunday mornings. I met with a writing group of close friends every Monday to talk about what we've been working on so this would also be good for getting things done right before that deadline. Right away I knew this was what I'd been missing. The excitement I had for writing returned immediately and I was busting out 1500-2000 words twice a week. I built a routine around it that felt like magic.

I wake up on the weekends between 6:30 and 7:00 AM. I let my dog out and give him a treat while my coffee brews. I let myself watch as my cup fills under the nespresso machine and take in the smell of the earthy Mexico blend, my favorite flavor. I've found I greatly prefer the flavor when I mix in the foamy layer as opposed to drinking it straight from the top so I always gently stir my coffee before sitting down.

Then, and this is important, I watch a show or play a video game. Whatever I want to watch or play. I've found that one of two things will happen when I do this.

A. I'm so excited to write about a topic or story I've been thinking of all week that I don't finish the episode or play very long and just get right to the writing. That I was able to put the media down and write is a reminder to me of my growing passion and love for writing.

Or B. I watch the entire episode or play for an hour, then do a free writing exercise about what I'd just seen or played, warming me up to begin my writing session.

Both have been equally rewarding and helpful in building my discipline for writing. Often times those are the things that inspire my writing as well, such as playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and watching Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

The final step is creating my atmosphere. With a clearer idea of what I would be writing that morning, I’ll choose a soundtrack to listen to. The "Citizen Sleeper 2" soundtrack by Amos Roddy was perfect earlier this year on overcast mornings with hot coffee. As it's gotten warmer I've been making iced lattes and listening to Evan Call's "Frieren: Beyond Journey's End" and Lorien Testard's breakout "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33" OSTs. All of these have set a mood for my writing that is invaluable to my process.

And then I just write. Freely and as honestly as I can, I write. When I get stuck, I edit, or outline. I'm lucky enough to have a writing group where I receive valuable notes I can implement. I guess I should mention the disclaimer that I have an incredibly talented group of close friends I trust and respect. I'd recommend that for whatever routine you decide on.

Representing BART, the extremely passable Bay Area transit system with it’s own anime mascot.

The Technology is Trains and Busses, By the Way

Two days a week was only the beginning but they continue to be my favorite sessions because of this ritual. This is how I've learned (along with weekly therapy) to coax the words out of me and my excitement for these mornings has spread to almost every aspect of my life. I no longer drink on Friday nights. I will still gladly accept an invitation from friends to go out but if I'm staying in watching a movie with my wife, that no longer includes a shot of tequila and a Modelo. I wake up at the same time everyday, weekday or otherwise and I have so much more energy when getting up, even for work because now I know I have a bus ride to work on ideas.

After building the discipline on the weekends I was able to expand my work to the morning commute. No longer groggy, and familiar enough with my route to know when to look up and exit the bus, I was free to commit to my writing. I lose myself on that bus some mornings, only being ripped back to reality by the ding that signaled my stop on 13th street. The low rumble lulls me into that space, the silent community around me, all of us headed to different places but in the same direction for the same purpose. That's my atmosphere for weekday writing and it is just as inspiring. I still don't write on the way home after the day of work, too tired to collect my thoughts and put pen to paper, but I've learned that's part of it. Writers write and I've only recently felt I can call myself a writer. Like any other title, writers also rest. I can't fill every free moment with words, nor should I, but I can find the times where the words fit best. And so can you.