Dear Writers, Readers and Creative Friends,
I hope your November is going well!
My one woman show is a distant memory as I prepare for our next Writers Journey adventure in Japan. Nine of us are heading off next week to walk and write haiku on the Nakasendo Way, one of five ancient highways that connected Japan during the Edo Period (1600-1868). The Nakasendo cobblestone highway, betwen Kyoto and Edo (Tokyo) saw lots of traffic due to the decree of the Tokugawa shogunate requiring samurai and noble families (daimyo) to travel to Edo annually. They travelled in lavish parades with banners, porters, and decorated palanquins to display their prestige.
The shogunate ensured the Nakasendo was well-maintained with post towns to provide lodging, supplies, and horses. We’ll be visiting and walking between the some of the old post towns which still exist as they did then.
Taking our inspiration from the old haiku masters: Basho, Shiki, Issa, Chiyo-ni and more, we will write haiku every day, a discipline I’ve always aspired to but never quite managed. It will be easy in a group as we’ll be writing/walking during the day and reading our haiku to each other in the evenings. Hopefully at the end of the trip we will be inspired to write a haiku a day.
Which brings me to the topic of this post…
Are you a routine maker or a routine breaker?
Do you feel secure and happy when you have a daily routine to follow?
Or do you rebel the moment you put one in place?
I’m pretty much the latter and always find it hilarious that it’s only me I’m rebelling against!
We all fall for it. Look at all the fitness and wellness gurus selling online routines to the masses with the promise of success, making millions from our desire to transcend our slothful ways.
But I know the minute I tell myself I’m going to walk every morning at 6am, it will feel great the first day but by the third I will have found a reason not to go and be making a deal with myself to start again tomorrow or the day after or the day after that — you know how it goes…
What about our creative routine? Surely as writers and artists we must have some kind of daily timetable to help us produce work and keep our practice alive. There’s no end of self help manuals designed by creativity gurus to help with this. I have a number of these workbooks on my shelves — not a single entry or exercise completed.
If you are lucky to have a studio to go to then surely it’s just a matter of turning up at a certain time and entering into the creative zone. But what if you develop an aversion to your studio? I know a few writers who before they had a writer’s studio were quite happy working at the kitchen table. After they got a writer’s studio they just couldn’t get their mojo working so went back to writing at the kitchen table.
It seems to me that breaking the routine is part of the disruptive function needed to get our creative juices flowing. We need to be woken up, shaken out of our rut. We need to rediscover the creative moment and all it offers us, again and again. To feel alive in a moment of creative possibility is one of the joys of being alive.
So if you are a disrupter of your own routines don’t beat yourself up about it. Follow the impulse. Find small ways to shake up your day. Walk down a different street, try a different cafe, take a train or bus to a nearby place you have never been with your notebook or sketchbook in your bag.
I’ve discovered over the years that making a daily committment to my creative process is more important than sticking to a routine. One of the best times to do this is in the twilight zone just before or after sleep. Suggest to your subconscious that today (or tomorrow) will be a day full of wonder, inspiration and productivity. Then all you have to do is step into the creative flow.
Read my Medium post Waking up To the Five Ws here.
WRITERS JOURNEY NEWS
CONGRATULATIONS to Karen Martin whose new novella Hypsipyle and the Curse of Lemnos is launching in Melbourne this month. Karen was working on it with us in Ischia in May this year and hey presto here it is! Check out her other books on her fabulous website here. Karen has set up her own independent imprint, KazJoyPress. A great example of independent publishing!
WORTH READING BY fellow substackers: Edwina C . Read her moving whale haibun here. minnie biggs poignant piece Outside Inside on injuries and ageing. Writing Beth Spencer on one of my fave places Camperdown Cemetery. Listen here.
DRAFT BUSTERS ONLINE: Twice weekly workshops to support your writing process. It’s been a very productive year, thanks to those DBers who have made it such a rewarding process. We are wrapping early this year as I’m off to Japan but please save Frid 19 Dec, 3.30 pm AEST for our Christmas Party (on Zoom). All DraftBuster Alumni welcome! Then we will be back mid January to start it all again with: Motivation Mondays: 10 - 11.30 am. AEST, set your goals for the week, discussion on various aspects of writer’s craft plus a meditative writing exercise. Feedback Fridays: 3.30 - 5.30 pm. AEST, readings and feedback on up to 1000 words of your writing project. Workshops are held on Zoom. Contact Jan if you would like to join.
MENTORING: Don’t forget, I’m always available if you need individual help or attention on your draft MS. I have a number of mentoring packages available which can be tailored to your current needs. See here for what’s possible.
COMING UP
Writing the Healing Journey, Tasmania, April 16-22. For women on the cancer journey. An opportunity to reflect on and integrate the cancer experience.
A healing/writing retreat, with cancer navigator Grace Gawler and myself. Staying at the stunning Piermont Retreat. Info and details here.
Creative Immersion in Ischia, May 18-25, 2026. Now booking! Let me know if you are want to come. Send EOI or make your deposit now! Yes! This is where we stay!
Suitable for writers, artists, beginner or professional, looking for support and inspiration. You have the option to start a new project, revitalise an old one or simply capture the experience in your chosen art form.
Begin the journey in city of Naples (2 nights) before catching a ferry across to the island of Ischia. For five nights, six days, enjoy the stunning views and atmosphere of our base, Il Monastero Castello Aragonese, a former sixteenth century convent perched on a tiny rock island off the Port of Ischia. An ideal environment for bringing the senses into your writing and art making. Our 2025 group are still talking about it. Limited places, book early to avoid disappointment!
Haiku Walking in Japan October 2026. If you missed out on joining us this year, let me know if you are keen for next October. I’m planning something very special. Stay tuned more news.
Story Quest, Morocco, Nov 10 - 24, 2026. A fabulous creative journey for artists, writers and makers, following ancient jewellery and trading routes to the south.
In partnership with Jess Stephens of Culture Vultures, Sefrou. Beginning in Essouira and ending in Agadir. If you have been to Morocco with us before, you will love this completely new itinerary! Find info, itin and booking details here and send expressions of interest to Jan.
A warm welcome to new subscribers!
I generally post writing/creativity tips and motivational articles, workshop and writing retreat news. Plus on the homepage menu you can find eps from my various writing projects: a segment called Brush with Fame; a cancer journal, Letters to Leftie Bestie (My Left Breast) and a satirical flash fiction novella: The Everyday Musings of Louisa Greene and my travel memoir, Looking for Duras, a Mekong Journey, ( where I go searching for traces of the French writer, Marguerite Duras in Vietnam and Cambodia).
Thanks so much for your support here on Substack. Writer’s Journey is a one woman band (me!) that gets by on the smell of an oily rag. I’ve been leading international workshops and creative journeys for over two decades and have enjoyed the wonderful company of numerous writers and artists along the way. See where we went, what we did here!
If you would like to assist my activities in a more tangible way please consider upgrading to a paid subscription As a paid subscriber you have access to a one-on-one consulation on any aspect of your creative work. We fondly call it a ‘Desperate Debrief’. If you are already a paid subscriber and haven’t taken me up on this offer, don’t forget to get in touch!
Yes please Jan. Interested in Japan in October 2026. Looking forward to hearing more news as it unfolds. Wishing you a wonderful time!