I’ve said it a couple of times on this blog about how important it is to have a collection of hobbies. Not only is that variation good for decompressing from life in general and keeping yourself occupied with lighter and brighter things than whatever else might be going on in your life, but also because, if you are singular in your hobbies, they can become consuming. If all you ever do is write (cough cough me cough cough), your mind isn’t ever getting to rest from that part of your life. Without that rest, your mind can’t fully recuperate, and that ends up impacting your creativity.
Now, I have said these things before, but have I followed them? Not always. This was very much a case of do as I say, and not as I do, which we are all culpable of at one point or another. I might have argued that, yes, I did write in almost all of my evenings and weekends, but I also read! Doesn’t that count?! Maybe it does in theory, but they’re not too dissimilar from each other really, are they? If you’re writing novels, reading novels falls into a very similar category of hobby, so it probably doesn’t give you the same kind of break that doing something completely different would.
So, because of that, progress can slow down. I’ve mentioned that the beginning of this year wasn’t as productive as I would have liked, that projects were taking longer to complete than I’d anticipated, and that could lead to frustration. And we all know frustration is never conducive to productivity. But I can be stubborn, and I would often just keep going, pushing through even when progress was minimal, staring at the words on the page and pretending that was helping. I do believe there is a lot of merit in perseverance and that projects don’t get their ends without it. But, as I always say, balance is everything, and I probably haven’t always written in the most balanced of ways.
The past couple of months have been very different, and I think there are multiple reasons for that. One is that I’m feeling very inspired by the project I’m currently working on, and thus feeling incredibly motivated to refine and edit it. Maybe that’s because this particular project is nearer its end (at least, an end where I’m beginning to feel confident it’s ready to send off). Or maybe it’s just that inspiration has struck, and I was ready to claim it after a slower period of the year.
Another factor, and a very important one, is that I’ve been fully engaging with other hobbies. Writing will always be the most important thing to me (and perhaps not something I should even class as a hobby, if I’m pursuing it in the way I am), but there is something truly satisfying and rewarding about making something with your hands and getting to hold it.
This does happen with writing, of course, when your work gets printed. But that can sometimes be years beyond its inception (and sometimes be never as well). So it’s different with something like painting or sewing, where you get to see physical progress in a way that’s much harder to see with pen to paper or keys to screen.
It’s also reinvigorating. I find, when my days are broken up and I’m embracing something different, I’m much more engaged with my writing when I come to it. My motivation is stronger, and I think that’s because I feel refreshed. For the past couple of months, the progress I’ve been making is much more visible than the first half of the year. And that’s not to disregard the fact I finished a first draft of a novel a few months back, but there’s something about the progress now that feels more tangible. It could be because this project is further along than the other, but it’s also because, with a refreshed mind, I’m seeing my projects in a new light, and that only leads to positive progress.
So this is definitely one of those things where taking your own advice (and the advice that has definitely been passed around plenty before me and will be passed around plenty after me too) is for the best. I’ve always known it’s important to have variation, to live as balanced a life as you are able. It’s not always the easiest thing to do, there might be deadlines to adhere to or there could be things going on that detract from that precious time you have to dedicate to creation. But when you are able to get that balance, you can see real progress, and that’s never something to ignore.
Now, it is crucial for me to say productivity is not the most important thing in the world. There’s a lot of chatter about monetising your hobbies, making use of every single second of the day, never letting a moment go to waste, and I don’t agree with that. I believe that you can and absolutely should have hobbies that exist purely because you enjoy them. It’s different when you’re chasing a creative career because that line between enjoying something and making it a source of income can become a little blurred. But, even then, it’s so important to do things that aren’t about making something to show the world, they’re about making something just for yourself.
This productivity it brings can be excellent, especially if you’re pushing forward with a career you’re actively chasing, but it doesn’t always need to be like that. I, as I’m sure many others feel too, struggle with feeling like I need to constantly be making progress, but I’m trying to be better about that. So, when there are days where I don’t write because I’m busy making something else, I am trying to ensure I appreciate it for what it is: a creative day where I’m enjoying myself, and if no progress is made elsewhere, there should be no negativity in that whatsoever.
The point of hobbies is to decorate your time, to allow yourself the freedom to create in whatever way brings you joy and comfort. If it does bring productivity, that’s amazing. And, if you are simply enjoying your time making something, not caring about the result or what it might bring you, that’s just as important.
We live in a world that cares a lot about results, seeing what’s been done, who’s doing what, what we can make and where we can go with it, and it doesn’t have to be like that. That progress I’ve been making is important, but equally as important is the fact that my mind feels lighter because I’ve got more variation going on (and that probably factors into why I’m able to make more progress as well, it can become a very positive cycle).
I’ve always been a firm believer that balance and variation are crucial. In practising more of what I’ve been preaching, I get to see the true value in that. Things might change, you never know what is around the corner that might impact you, but the past couple of months have really shown me how positive progress can be when your mind is in the right place. And I also know (or at least am trying my best to know) that it isn’t always about that progress, that the simple act of creation, even if it’s just for you (or maybe especially if it’s just for you) is something precious, something we should strive for if we’re able.
So, go, create, and enjoy bringing something into the world that wasn’t there before. If it brings you productivity, that’s excellent. If it simply brings you pleasure, then that is just as valuable.
Robyn x
R. A. Howard 