Creative Hibernation begins 25 November!
Overwinter your story with me
Are you ready to crawl under a crispy pile of autumn leaves and sleep until January?
Might your work-in-progress also, perhaps, benefit from a bit of a break?
Could it be that pushing yourself to the absolute limit during these last few months of the year won’t actually be all that good for your general wellbeing, and probably won’t foster your ability to think straight, create, or get any kind of perspective on… anything?
Well then. Perhaps this is the answer:
Join in with the Creative Hibernation workshop series here »
Maybe we all need to take a step back, rest our tired little brains, and allow that creativity to replenish itself with some much-needed downtime.
Probably.
Definitely.
And yet…
That doesn’t mean we have to put our writing down completely, or lose touch with our WIPs.
We can still make excellent creative use of this time.
In fact, some of the best creativity comes when we stop pushing ourselves.
Creative hibernation simply means allowing ourselves some time to follow the flow, experiment with some low-pressure exercises, and indulge all the things that we love about our fictional worlds.
To feast upon all that creative joy, let our stories take a big ol’ metaphorical nap, and emerge refreshed and ready for literary springtime.
Let’s overwinter our stories together…
What is Creative Hibernation?
Creative Hibernation is a 6-week guided workshop series to help you roll up to the new year with your head clear, your plans straight, and your WIP raring to go. (And all without getting out of your pyjamas.)
Because look, no matter how well-intentioned our plans are for the rest of the year, it’s been a freakin’ year, and we could all do with chilling our boots.
By letting our creativity hibernate for a bit, we’re much more likely to re-emerge in January with a load more energy and objectivity.
And in the meantime, we focus on getting that creativity nice and chonky — like a pre-hibernation bear — by feeding it with gentle exercises, inspiration, and artistic enjoyment.
No pressure. No word counts. No need to produce anything at all.
Just an immersive exploration (and celebration!) of all the things that get you excited about writing — and a low-demand way to get back in touch with your creative flow.
Who is this for?
Creative Hibernation is for any writer who’s:
feeling a bit stalled with their WIP
in need of a pause from all the productivity
trying to get some new perspective on their work
too busy to fit in any solid writing time at the moment
in between drafts, or trying to figure out what to do next
juggling lots of different projects but not making progress on any of ‘em
not sure how to fix/develop/continue their WIP
tired as fuck? (I know I am…)
desperate to feel energised and enthusiastic about their writing again
If some of these descriptions feel familiar, it’s because they have a lot of crossover with my recent Unfuck Your Writing workshop*, which looked at some of the overarching reasons why we might be feeling a bit ughhhhh and struggling to write.
I had some feedback that people wanted more ways to put the unfuckery approach into practice, so here we are: a 6-week series of methods and exercises to get you back on track for a fresh start in January.
{*You don’t need to have attended the Unfuck Your Writing workshop to take part in Creative Hibernation — but I am planning on running it again the new year, so keep an eye out for that!)
Why hibernate?
You know why most new year’s resolutions fall on their face? Because even the best intentions in the world are destined to fizzle out after a few weeks unless we actually make the necessary (and realistic) plans, changes, accommodations and shifts in perspective to sustain them.
Creative Hibernation is a slower approach — helping you get all those ducks in a row six weeks early by taking the time to assess where you are, think about what you actually need to move forward, and figure out how that’s gonna happen.
Also: downtime is important. And when you deliberately decide to press pause, it feels way different to a dry spell. It’s an active participation in objectivity. Like REM sleep; an opportunity for your brain to make all the necessary connections between ideas on a subconscious level.
Creativity needs periods of rest. And while we indulge in that, we can also — very gently — tailor our approach to writing, so that when we return to ye olde WIP, our practice is much more focused, effective and sustainable.
Okay, how does it work?
Starting 25 November, I’m going to be posting up a Creative Hibernation exercise here at The Joy of Fixion every week.
If you sign up, you’ll receive a fresh hibernation email every Monday morning for six weeks (or you can always just head straight here to read on the Substack app). Join in any time. Catch up in your own time. Hibernate whenever the hell you want to.
The point is to take that time for yourself and your work, when you need it.
Throughout the series, we’ll look at your creative practice and your WIP from a bunch of different angles — without any desperate need to produce or progress or hustle — and help you craft a realistic, holistic plan for moving forward.
Including:
The benefits of taking a break from your WIP!
Taking stock of your progress so far
Finding the flow and immersing yourself in your story
Building your writing confidence
Reigniting excitement in your work
Embracing the unknown
Making a masterplan for absolutely smashing it in the new year!
Week by week, you’ll get to touch base with your creative work, build a clearer picture of what you’re doing with it, and build a gentle simmer of anticipation to get started again.
Whether you’re working on a first draft, editing, putting together a collection, or not exactly sure which of your projects you want to work on, the Creative Hibernation approach will hopefully help clarify where you should be focusing your efforts.
What will you get out of it?
The main aim of Creative Hibernation is to end the year feeling pretty freakin’ great about your writing. But also:
To have a clear, top-down view of your work-in-progress.
To have a deeper understanding of what makes your creativity tick.
To have a new, objective perspective on what works, what needs work, and what to do next.
To have space to consider your writing practices, experiment with new approaches, and reconnect with the joy of it all.
To have a creative plan for the new year that makes you feel excited and in control.
To, like, chill a bit?
How much is it?
Creative Hibernation is my first foray into paid posts (woo!) and since it’s 6-weeks long, it’ll cost you the equivalent of a coupla months of a paid subscription.
So… at £5/month, that makes it a grand total of £10.
Of course, you can also opt for an annual or founder sub, or stick around after the hibernation period to get ongoing access to my paid post series (such as: Unfuck Your Writing and Write What You Know), as well as future workshops and special extras.
You’ll also have my undying thanks for supporting my work and helping me make a kinda living from writing about writing :)
Oh, and if you’re still undecided, I’ll be making the first and last posts of Creative Hibernation FREE, since they naturally fall on my scheduled Fixion Lessons dates (which will always be part of the free subscriber plan).
So take a peek, join any time, recap, go at your own pace — but whatever you do, I hope you come and hibernate with me.
Thanks, and happy writing.
: )
Excited for this - today’s the day. Hope it means we can all rediscover the love we have for our WIPs - or discover the one we hadn’t yet started but was there waiting to emerge.
Looking forward to a creative hibernation with you Jo! Yay! Absolutely what I need.