What inspired me in February

What I did to meet my deadline, beat creative block, and write a sex scene

You know how Olympic athletes are super disciplined? They do multiple workouts a day, prioritize sleep, and eat a ton of protein? That was me this February—but the literary version.

Hurdles competitors at the 1930 Women’s World Games in 1930. (Photo: Public Domain)

I’m not sharing this to brag. It kind of sucked, being super disciplined. But I knew it was only for a month—the shortest month. And the result? That I will brag about—my fourth draft is complete, and I’m on pace to wrap things up before the month officially ends!

Since I’ve been living, breathing, and sleeping (and not sleeping because it has been hard to turn off my brain) book-writing, I thought I’d share all the things I’ve been doing to keep myself motivated.

Whether you’re working on your own manuscript, pursuing another creative project, or tackling a personal goal, I hope these might inspire you to take your dreams seriously. A little bit of intentionality goes a long way. Please prioritize the things that matter to you! 🫶

Okay, on to that list! Here are all the things that helped me finish my draft:

Notion

On a recent writing group call, Georgia (our fearless leader) reminded us of the importance of setting realistic goals. I tend to be very good at dreaming big and absolutely terrible at mapping my course.

If I wanted to finish my fourth draft by the end of the month, how was I planning to get it done? How much would I write each day? And how many days would that take?

A peek at my Notion Writing Hub

I’ve already been using a (free!) program called Notion to keep track of my writing, but it was time to add a new table to realistically map out how much editing and writing I could do each day.

I definitely didn’t follow it exactly, but overall, it helped me stay the course and complete my draft. If you’re interested in learning more about Notion, check out this post where I share how I’m using it to (try to) organize my life.

How I’m organizing my life using Notion

If it would be helpful to get a closer look at my updated writing hub, let me know in the comments—I’d be happy to go deeper in a future post!

Morning Pages

I imagine you might be sick of hearing me mention The Artist’s Way, and I’m sorry to tell you—I’m going to keep bringing it up because I still haven’t actually gotten past the intro yet. 😂

However, I didn’t want to let that stop me from diving into one of the book’s primary exercises: writing “morning pages.”

Much like my Notion writing schedule, I didn’t follow the morning pages instructions exactly, but instead, I focused on the objective, which—so far as I understand—is to loosen your brain and allow your words to unabashedly flow onto the page.

I used the Olympic athlete analogy earlier, and that’s how I treated my morning pages—as a warm-up. I didn’t do them every day. I didn’t do them first thing in the morning. I wrote two pages instead of the suggested three.

But even with my modifications, it was beneficial. I just saw an image from my friend

Maria Hanley

’s new writing space that reads “Write without Fear”—and that’s what morning pages helped me do!

Romance Books

Some of you caught my real-time Instagram story earlier this week in which I attempted to tackle a section I’d been procrastinating—writing the sex scene.

Anyone who’s ever attempted to pen a romance novel knows that writing a sex scene is a mind-bending task. We’ve been given general writing advice like “Write what you know!” and “Write from a place of truth!”

Yeah… no, I’m not doing that. 😂

So, the only way I knew I was going to pull it off was to get some inspiration. I took to my bookshelves and gathered a stack of some of my favorite romance books. I flagged all the sex scenes and then pulled them apart, taking note of pacing, dialogue, interior thoughts, action, and all the creative ways these authors have found to describe body parts.

By the grace of those books, I pulled off my scene—and, most incredibly, I ended up having fun writing it. Expect an increase in spice level for my next book. 🌶️

Podcasts

I am a steadfast believer in normalizing our creative work. Even if you come from a creative family or have like-minded friends, doing things like turning your garage into a painting studio, applying for an artist residency, or writing a novel—these are atypical endeavors.

Even with all the lovely and supportive people in my life, on most days, I find myself asking, What the hell do I think I’m doing? Writing a book is something that real authors do, and that’s not me!

It’s why I’ve found it incredibly helpful to hear from these real authors—my favorite way being through podcasts like Elin Hilderbrand and Tim Ehrenberg’s Books, Beach and Beyond—and to be reminded that, though they may be famous and talented, they are also human, with the same insecurities I have.

Listening to Books, Beach and Beyond throughout the month gave me little nudges of encouragement that writing is hard—but we can do hard things.

What I Read and Watched in February

Reading, writing, TV, and movies went by the wayside this February, but I did squeeze in a few things!

📚 What I Read

📖 Sweet Fury by Sash Bischoff—a twisty homage to F. Scott Fitzgerald about an actress and her director husband who are adapting Tender is the Night. It was a tad darker than what I typically read but I so appreciated the way the author creatively wove many F. Scott Fitzgerald references into the story.

🎧 The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins—a self-help guide about focusing on what’s in your control and letting the rest go. I’ve always enjoyed Mel’s style and appreciate the way she translates scientific studies into easy-to-understand concepts. There were a few chapters that especially hit home for me, and I’d definitely put this book in the category of things all humans should know.

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📺 What I Watched

🎬 Tick, Tick… Boom!

My friend Lauren reminded me about this film—Lin-Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut, a fictional story about Jonathan Larson, the creator of Rent. Like Sweet Fury, it was layered—a story within a story within a story about another person who wrote a story—so at times, it was a little mind-boggling. But overall, I enjoyed it, especially the opening number, 30/90. Have a listen below!

🎬 Unfrosted
After somewhat irrationally and stubbornly avoiding this one, I finally suggested it for family movie night with my in-laws, and… it was okay.

I’m a huge fan of Seinfeld, and I think my hesitation to watch Unfrosted was that it wouldn’t be the same (and it wasn’t). That said, there were things I did enjoy—it was very silly, stylized, set in the ’60s, and, of course, the cast was fantastic.

✍️ Creative Exercises/Journal Prompts

1. If you could set everything else aside for an entire month, what’s the one thing you’d love to focus on?

2. Feeling stuck? Gather reference materials or inspiration and study how other artists have tackled the thing you’re trying to accomplish.

3. Listen to a podcast or watch an interview with an artist to remind yourself that everyone experiences self-doubt.

☀️ Five good things

When we can recognize the things that bring us the most joy, we invite more of them into our lives. Here are five things that made me happy this week. Share yours below!

Five good things that happened this week:

1. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a couple of nights, and it was pure magic to wake up, step onto the balcony, and see beautiful, sweet creatures roaming outside.

2. I had a coffee-and-book hang with my friends Brooke and Muriel at Barnes & Noble, and I could not be more thrilled to learn that their stores are having a resurgence.

3. It’s officially strawberry season, so I made this cake to celebrate. 🍓

4. I took myself on an outing (an artist date?) to my favorite coffee shop, where I read and started outlining ideas for my next book.

5. Can I say it one more time? I finished my fourth draft! 🎉

💬 Share your intention

Whether it’s a giant leap, a tiny to-do list item, a habit change, or something else, there is power in accountability, and this is a safe space to share your aim. Some weeks, we’ll fail, others we’ll soar, but with support, we’ll always keep going together.

Until next week, get out there and make something beautiful.

Michelle

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