Waiting for Words: Why Patience Matters More Than Habit
In Bodies in Motion and at Rest, Thomas Lynch describes the essential, exquisite calm that comes with a life of the mind, a life in books.
“All you need is a little peace and quiet and the words will come to you—your own voice or the other’s. Your own voice or the voice of God. Perspiration. Inspiration. It feels like a gift.”
Thomas Lynch, Bodies in Motion and at Rest
The writer's life requires an ocean of patience. If you can find a place in your life for that patience, you will reap the rewards. There is peace to be found in the practice of patience, in the stillness that books and writing bring, in the act of waiting for words. Most writers crave stillness, a quiet hour and a quiet room. I think we crave it more in times of chaos. There is a place you go to in the mind, a cocoon of safety: books can be the vehicle to take you there.
As a writer you will have times of great productivity and times of nothingness, times when you can’t stop writing and times when you can’t write a word. The writing ebbs and flows. You must make the most of it when it flows and, when it ebbs, have patience. It will ebb, but if you can get past the low tide, if you stick around for your writing practice, the high tide will come too.
Some people think it’s all about habit: a writing habit, they believe, cures all writerly ills. But I think habit is less important than openness—be open to writing on those days when it comes to you, when it feels inevitable, and be open on days when the words are out of reach. But don’t feel that you must force it on days when every sentence feels like a chore. While habit can help you break through certain barriers, I don't entirely believe in forcing the words when they aren’t there, when they don’t want to be conjured. The value of that kind of practice may be overrated.
Patience, on the other hand, will be a friend to you. If habit too often conjures feelings of guilt, patience evokes a kind of generosity with the creative self. So this week, this month, be patient with yourself. Be open to the words, but don’t despair if they aren’t present.
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Michelle Richmond is the New York Times bestselling author of two story collections and six novels, most recently The Wonder Test. She mentors writers through her annual nine-month writing program, Novel in Nine.
Shoutout: A big thanks to Lisa Amico Kristen, who upgraded to a paid subscription to The Caffeinated Writer this week with these kind and encouraging words:
I'm discerning when choosing paid subscriptions to substacks, and I've chosen only a very few. I'm happy to pay for the content on Michelle Richmond's: engaging, instructive, and beneficial. I highly recommend it! Great writing prompt this week!
One of the earliest lessons I needed to learn in my writing life is that creativity is cyclical. I really love nurturing a consistent writing practice, working as close to every day as possible. But sometimes that just doesn't happen and I've learned to accept it. Thanks for this reminder.
Wonderful Michelle! Love your observation that "patience evokes a kind of generosity with the creative self." And there's a beautiful sense of calm and opening in your writing itself