4 Tips to Help Us Declutter our Writing Lives

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Recently, my wife and I cleaned out the clutter from one of our rooms. The stack began innocently enough with just a couple of boxes. Then we stacked on a couple of more. And a couple of bags. You know how it works.

Things you have lain to the side, over time, becomes clutter. The Merriam/Webster defines clutter as a crowded or confused mass or collection. I define it as a mess.

The pile in our room didn’t happen overnight. It was a little over time.

Then, soon, it became the room we didn’t want to enter. The one we hid from guests.

One of the biggest problems the pile gave us was that it took up space in our house that we really needed to use. 

It seems we are in good company. One in eleven Americans pay to use a self-storage container. According to 2018 statistics, there are over 23 million individual storage units in the US. 90% of them are filled.

And recent studies show that 25% of people with two-car garages never park in them.

Now, having things isn’t wrong, but when it becomes clutter and keeps us from enjoying them and the space they take up, it becomes a problem.

I can also see how clutter has snuck into my writing.

Where Clutter Can Sneak Into a Writer’s Life:

1. Physical Space

Virginia Woolf said that “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

Wouldn’t that be great? To have a room or place dedicated to our work, where we can leave our papers lying out without worrying that someone will disturb them. But that’s not how it works for many of us. Especially if there are kids in the house. A kitchen table, a local coffee shop, or part of the couch might have to do.

I have some friends whose office became their car during their children’s sport’s practice.

Looking at my desk, I see that the clutter blob is threatening to take over. The papers that I’ve stacked on the ‘organizer’ — that were too important for me to throw away, but now I don’t have a clue why they’re here — keep me from spreading out the papers I’m using.

I feel like I need to wear a hard hat in case of an avalanche. 

2. Mental Space

Writing takes focus. Which isn’t easy to find with work, family, chores, doctor visits, friends. Just life taking up so much energy. We try to pack so much into our lives and sometimes, as they say, life happens.

We laugh when we hear about someone coming back into the den with a look of deep concentration on their face.

They’re trying to remember why they went to the kitchen. Then they realize they’re holding their empty coffee cup.

I love how Cindy Sproles says that we need to remember to give ourselves grace. Maybe take a day or so off. At least take a walk and listen to the songs of the birds.

3. Emotional Space

One reason writing is so hard is it demands an emotional cost. When a writer tries to make a point in a story, or tries to connect to the reader, it often involves emotions. And whether the emotions are historical or fiction, they still feel real. They still take energy.

We only have a fixed amount of emotional space, and life can fill it up quickly. A bad thing about life, you usually don’t see it coming. It doesn’t ask for permission.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a life editor? She would look at our thoughts and redline those we don’t need.

4. Spiritual Space

Many of us seek a relationship with God. We want to honor and please Him. But at the end of the day, who has the time? Our plans to start the day in His word gets derail because we hit the snooze button once too many, or our sweet darling forgot to lay out her school clothes. Again.

Time demands, worries, our desires. They squeeze out the time and energy we could give to our Lord.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

If we look at what He said compared to what we do, He must have it backwards, right? No. We let life’s clutter reverse what is the most important in our relationship to Him.

Getting rid of clutter helps you to see your resources, enables you to work more efficiently, and to experience life around you. As my room and my desk have taught me, cleaning out clutter takes consistent work and commitment. You must identify and then decide on what to keep or, give away, or toss. 

Barbara Hemphill, in her book Less Clutter, More Life, wrote, “I believe God created every person for a specific purpose, for a specific work. We are to not only accomplish our work, but we are to enjoy our life. . . . Clutter prevents you from reaching your purpose, but getting rid of clutter helps you reveal your purpose.”

TWEETABLE

4 Tips to Help Us Declutter our Writing Lives from author @TimSuddeth on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Tim Suddeth is a stay-at-home dad and butler for his wonderful, adult son with autism. He has written numerous blogs posts, short stories, and three novels waiting for publication. He is a frequent attendee at writers conferences, including the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference and a member of Word Weavers and ACFW. He lives near Greenville, SC where he shares a house with a bossy Shorky and three too-curious Persians. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter, as well as at www.timingreenville.com and www.openingamystery.com.

Featured Image: Photo by Ferenc Horvath on Unsplash