I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what writing looks like when you simply don’t have much to give.
Maybe you’re exhausted and your brain feels foggy. Your body keeps asking for rest, but there’s still a small part of you that wants to write.
I know those days well.
There have been plenty of times when I’ve opened my notebook, stared at the page and thought, I just don’t have it in me today.
I used to feel disappointed in myself on those days. If all I could manage was a few lines, I’d look at the mostly empty page and think I should have done more.
It took me a while to stop seeing that as a failure.
Some days, a few lines really are all I have. And I’d rather let that be enough than push myself past what I have to give.
So this September, we’re beginning a new three-week series called The Slow Pour.
It’s for the days when writing for thirty minutes feels impossible, but two minutes might be just right.
Instead of pushing ourselves through long writing sessions, we’re going to experiment with writing in very small amounts.
Maybe that looks like writing a sentence while the kettle boils, or jotting down a few words before you go back to bed.
Over the three weeks, we’ll begin with The Two-Minute Micro-Dose, where I’ll show you how I now approach writing when I have very little energy and how to let yourself stop when you’ve reached your limit.
Then we’ll move into Foggy-Brain Prompts, for those days when you want to write but your mind feels like it has absolutely nothing to say.
Our final week will be about rest and the guilt that so often comes with it, especially when you’re used to measuring your creativity by how much you managed to produce.
I don’t want The Slow Pour to become another writing challenge you have to keep up with.
Quite the opposite.
I want it to be somewhere you can come when you’re tired.
Write for two minutes.
Close the notebook.
Go back to the couch.
The first lesson will arrive during the first week of September. I’m really looking forward to doing this one with you.
Debra 💕
If this series sounds like something your writing practice needs right now, I’d love to have you with us. The full three-week series will be available inside The Healing Garden for paid subscribers.
Come join us inside The Healing Garden before we begin.
All three lessons from Tending the Soil are still waiting for you inside The Healing Garden:
Lesson 1: Tending the Soil
Lesson 2: Tending the Soil
Lesson 3: Tending the Soil
If you want something gentle to use between now and September, you can also download The 5-Minute Writing Check-In for the days when you want to write but aren’t sure what you have the capacity for.
It’s free to download, with the option to leave $5 — around the cost of a coffee— if you’d like to support my work.
Debra King is a writer, poet, and trauma-informed creative with training in somatic therapy, exploring emotional healing, chronic pain, childhood trauma, and the hard work of rebuilding yourself after survival. Beautiful Things Grow Here is her space for personal essays, poetry, and honest reflections on the body, grief, healing, and becoming softer with yourself.
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