Mental hacks for creative writing when the northern isolation hits hard.
Waiting for the perfect moment to write is just fear wearing a fancy coat.
We get trapped in our heads, especially up here where the isolation feels heavy. You sit down to do some creative writing, and suddenly you’re convinced everyone in a big city collective is doing it better, faster, and cooler. That is just the insecurity talking. The silence of a Northern Ontario winter can be deafening when you are trying to find your voice, but that quiet is actually your biggest asset if you stop fighting it.
First, you need to embrace the “Zero Draft.” This is a classic reframing technique. Stop trying to write good sentences. Your goal is simply to exist on the page. Give yourself permission to write absolute garbage. Tell yourself, “I am just shoveling sand into the box so I can build a castle later.” When you remove the pressure to be brilliant, the paralysis fades. You can fix a bad page, but you can’t fix a blank one. Let it be messy.
Second, ground yourself in your geography. We often try to escape where we are when we write, imagining we need to sound like we live somewhere else to be relevant. Don’t. Before you start your creative writing session, take two minutes to just notice your immediate reality. The way the light hits the snow, the specific sound of the heater, the distance between your house and the next. This is mindfulness. By accepting your physical space, you stop disassociating and bring a raw, honest texture to your work that feels authentic to our region.
Finally, practice self-compassion when the words won’t come. If you sit down and nothing happens, don’t bully yourself. The “tough love” approach usually just kills creativity. Instead, try the “ten-minute rule.” Tell your brain you only have to write for ten minutes, and if it still sucks, you can stop. Most of the time, once you hurdle that initial friction, you’ll want to keep going. But you have to treat yourself with the same kindness you’d offer a friend who is struggling to start.
Exploring the arts in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario
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