Finding Your Focus as A Writer

In this blog post, I will be discussing what it means to lose your focus as a writer, and how you can look at regaining that focus through writing. You may be wondering how I came across this idea. Well — news flash — I was losing focus with my writing, and therefore I decided to write about it. I was feeling unsure, and that is literally what this post became! 

I feel like it's worth differentiating between finding your purpose as a writer, because finding your purpose as a writer would be looking at your process as a whole, and what you prefer to write, and what it feels profound and emotional for you. Whereas finding your focus is feeling like you are going in the wrong direction, and then finding the right path. What I mean to say is, for the last few weeks, I have been consistently publishing a new blog post every week — and I've been lucky enough to be several weeks ahead of myself. Until the last two weeks, where it has felt as though I have been trying to catch myself back up again, and as a result I have found myself trying to find my focus again. However, it's difficult when you don't actually know how you have lost it.

I was struggling with what to write about one day, and I came to social media and said that I needed a focus and asked what I should write a poem about. A lot of people suggested that I write about a unique sensation in life, or some deep profound notion — but then a lot of people mentioned that I should write about the lack of focus. In doing so, I will find the focus. Whilst this is most definitely not a poem, it feels profound to have lost my focus and then be writing about it in the here and now. It's using what I feel I have lost to find my sense of direction again. It's as if I keep writing and eventually the way forward will reveal itself. I am aware of how whimsical that sounds. 

Here are some pointers that have helped me

 Find something within your creative process that is consistent

For example, some people would like to type with a specific keyboard, because it either looks a certain way, feels a certain way, or sounds a certain way. I, for example, prefer to write with voice-to-text dictation, because I know that I will be able to just think about my ideas and get them onto the page. I won't really have to worry about the editing until I come to edit and format the piece. Having said that, it might also be something completely separate to the writing itself — such as a tea or coffee — that signifies to your brain that you need to start thinking about writing. Once you can think about writing. you can then think about how to make things easier for yourself. 

Make the writing accessible

You don't need to write the next PhD thesis. You literally need to stick with something that you feel familiar with. So, for example, for me that would be writing a blog post. The actual writing structure is not too complicated, because my blog posts are very conversational. In the same way as if you were to write fiction, you can start in the middle of the action.

I have been struggling to focus on my writing, and therefore I need to focus on my struggle with writing because I know that it will help me, and it also helps somebody else out there.

If you're writing fiction, you might like to write about a duel between two wizards (make of that what you will). You don't need to write about the surrounding story, the political industry, and the emotional nuances of the last ten years in each of these characters' stories. You could literally describe the fight — it doesn't have to be good writing, it just has to be writing. If you're anything like me, you might automatically resort to something like poetry, and start writing really sad poems. Honestly, sad poems seem to fall out of me in whatever mood I'm in.

What do you have to offer?

I haven't actually written a blog post about completing a fictional piece, because I haven't published a novel or anything like that yet, but that doesn't mean that I can't draw upon my experience of publishing a poetry anthology to at least provide some insight. It's literally what I'm doing now. The experience of being a writer is to get into the routine of writing and then suddenly realising you have not got a clue where you are going. This blog post is physical proof of an existential crisis within my identity as a writer, and by itself is allowing me to create something for you to read, and allowing me to consider the different directions that I can go.

I like to consider the fact that — although I seem to have reached yet another bump in the road and I continue to publish blog posts — it's also highlighted to me that I need to change up my routine so that it fits within my level of energy. Potentially, my brain is telling me that there needs to be a new focus. I discussed quite a while ago, for example, that I would be publishing more fiction on my blog, and I haven't yet started that. So this could be my chance to turn that around.

This feels like a ramble, so let me help break this down even further. In order to find new focus, you need to consider what you like writing about, what you feel you have experience writing about, and what you can offer in terms of what you can write about. Ultimately, it's about starting from square one in regards to what you know, and taking your time and lowering the stakes, so you can at least take the first step.