7 ways to slow down to become a better writer and mindful storyteller

In the context of a fast-living world, this guide unpacks 7 ways to slow down long enough to become a better writer and a mindful storyteller. Many of these span across mindful-living themes, fusing all my favorite topics in one post.

Full transparency, I’d like to disclose that I, a slow-travel and mindful-living writer, struggle to slow down. I love shiny objects, put too much on my plate and well… I’m good at getting myself overwhelmed. Then I sit at my desk and wonder why the creativity spout is blocked.

And I know I’m not the only one. We’re all overwhelmed, caught in the race of fast-living.

But to write is to slow down. To tell stories is to slow down. And that’s why it feels impossible for so many.

Effective storytelling requires us to be fully receptive to our environment. Our senses wide awake. Our breath deep in our bellies.

This is a guide that explains 7 ways to slow down to make you a better writer and a more mindful storyteller. It also morphed into a guide to mindful living. Tricks of the trade of life to come alive and become better able to access the present moment.

7 ways to slow down to become a better writer and mindful storyteller

An accidental guide to mindful living

1. Slow down and notice the details

As I go about life, I think of myself as a sponge. Drinking in details. Casting out my senses.

Go too fast and I miss details to the point of regret. I rifle my photos and wish I’d captured more moments. I find gaps in my journal, where I’d deemed myself too busy to write. 

As a generation of distraction addicts, we tend to miss the details. So when we write stories, our descriptions are lacking.

We tell readers “the mountain was tall” rather than how it felt to stand below it. How the gravel crunched under our boots or how the heights awakened thrill in the blood.

Emotions and lessons emerge frequently on our travels. Become fully absorbed. Fall deep into the music of existing. Then do the meticulous task of writing about it.

2. Hunt for descriptives in your environment

Once, on a bad day, I ran to the harbor to clear my head. I sat on the edge, legs dangling over a turbulent sea.

I watched closely, hypnotized by the ever-motion of the cobalt ripples. It looked like glistening velvet. Like little peaks and valleys melding into each other by the millions all around me. It went on and on, and I lost my breath from the beauty of it all.

I was so engrossed by the details and formed such a rich description, it was one of the few times I felt worthy of my title of writer.

Slow down long enough to become entranced by your environment. Study your surroundings. Give time for your creative lens to switch on and everything to feel a bit more magical. Create from that place.

3. Schedule white noise into your calendar

Boredom is where innovation lives. But we’re unfortunately hardly bored anymore. Screens are abound. Entertainment in every direction to fill the time.

Overstimulation is a blight on creativity. Our senses go dull and we become disconnected from the physical realm.

And while the pit of despair is known to spit out some incredible art, it’s not sustainable. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be depressed to be a good writer.

It’s important to have regularly scheduled white noise in your calendar. This is time to process your emotions. To piece things together and allow your thoughts to run wild. This is where ideas are most adventurous, where the focus to execute them doesn’t feel so impossible.

4. Harvest obsessive loops of thinking

Self-awareness is a multi-faceted skill. When you learn to be aware of your mind, you open a new realm from which to make art.

Learn to tap into the loops of thinking in your head. Put them down on paper. I do this as a release and it is divinely therapeutic. It’s the most beautiful meditation, to dig into an obsessive thought, release it into art, and become free of it.

We all suffer from obsessive loops of thinking. And they’re often juicy ingredients for the recipe of writing. What scares you? Haunts you? Enraptures you?

Write it.

5. Write out of love for writing. Create out of love for creating.

I visited this topic when I wrote 20 writing myths to overcome writer’s block.

We are all very busy. And my shittest work happens when it’s written for the sake of ticking off the to-do list. When I decide there isn’t enough time to get clear on what I want to say, I end up saying nothing.

It takes a lot of brain power to be creative. It doesn’t come quickly, nor will it ever come if we refuse to slow down. 

We have to give creativity the time required to brew. And the way to do that is to remember why we started. Because we are creatives and we love creating.

Love has a hard time existing in survival mode. Practice the art of slowing down in various means – yoga, meditation, walking, time in nature. Cultivate love and compassion for all things, including your craft.

Decide there is time to be creative. There is time to sit long enough to create a masterpiece where you gave attention to all the little details.

6. Get comfortable with ruthless repetition

In an age of instant gratification, it’s easy to lose sight of perseverance. Capitalism teaches us that chasing the next shiny thing is in our best interest.

We lack of the patience required to hone our craft. The ruthless repetition. And we are really uncomfortable being bad at things.

Slow down long enough to realign everything within. Dismantle toxic beliefs about what matters in life. And get comfortable with discomfort.

I don’t know about you but I’ve always found the pain of discipline far more bearable than the pain of aimlessness.

Ruthless repetition is how we get good at things. And that’s only possible when we slow down and focus.

7. Study the human experience

Something I never previously prioritized – because I deemed it unnecessary- was slowing down long enough to evaluate myself… how things might be chugging along, whether I’m on the right track, or if anything required further scrutiny.

It takes courage to have a long, deep look at oneself. But this is where our biggest lessons happen and we begin to understand human concepts.

In my opinion, this is what distinguishes good art from great art. Underlying human messages, the “take-home” that burrows under your skin and makes you remember something forever.

A simple yet powerful definition of the Take-Home comes from SciTechEdit in this article:

The Take-Home message is the one, most critical piece of information that you want the reader to retain after reading your paper. The Take-Home message is what discriminates your paper from all of the others.

SciTechEdit International

Make time for journaling. Musing and ruminating.

Study how it feels to exist. To love, to hurt, to fail, to grow. Articulate how these coagulate in our bones as our biggest lessons. Memories carved into our skin, making us who we are.

The audience will start seeing themselves in your art. That’s when you know you created magic.

I hope some of these concepts resonate to help you slow down and become a better writer and mindful storyteller. How do you practice mindful storytelling?