Writers Not Writing: How Adrianna Nine stays creative under capitalism

On impatience, scheduling creativity, keeping your hands occupied, and going outside.

You’re reading Soft Hobbies, a weekly newsletter for creatives in all mediums, with a special focus on writers. I’m Auzin, a Seattle-based writer in the fiction, poetry, and tech spheres. Feel free to visit my author website or check out my socials.

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Welcome to a new series here on Soft Hobbies! It’s called Writers Not Writing, where I’ll be interviewing my writer friends and peers about their non-literary hobbies. I believe that engaging in hobbies outside of reading or writing is healthy, inspiring, and fulfilling for people who write as their main job. I think after reading this interview with my friend Adrianna, you’ll agree :)

I met Adrianna right here on Substack after subscribing to each other’s newsletters. She writes the fantastic newsletter Creativity Under Capitalism, which you should absolutely subscribe to.

This interview has an estimated 14-minute reading time, so I’ll let you dive into it! Hope you enjoy our chat.

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Soft Hobbies: Hi Adrianna! I’d love to know, what are the main aspects of your writing life? Both your job and what you write for pleasure, and if you do any teaching or lecturing.

Adrianna Nine: Oh, I wish I did teaching and lecturing. Okay, so breaking it down, I am first and foremost a journalist. I do freelance work, tech and science journalism for a few different outlets. I’m currently SFGATE’s Southwest National Parks contributing editor, which is a mouthful of a title I have to remind myself of every time. I write about the national parks and the gateway communities around them.

So I'm a journalist, and on top of that, I’m a creative writer. I've always been a creative writer. I write the newsletter Creativity Under Capitalism on Substack, and that's bi-weekly. And I also write fiction and creative nonfiction. So I am pretty much always writing, which is amazing to say.

SH: Could you talk a little bit about your journey on Substack and how that integrates into your writing life?

AN: So I before I started my newsletter, I remember being really envious of everyone who seemed to have a lot to say about a particular topic. My boyfriend is always watching four-hour YouTube video essays about random topics. And I felt so jealous, thinking, “These people, they have some topic they're just so passionate and knowledgeable about. Man, what's my version of that?”

Then a few days later, I was driving home from the gym, and I was kind of turning over this conversation in my mind between me and several other friends about, how do you make time for creativity when you’re always having to work? And I realized I have this conversation a lot, and this is something that people seem to have a lot of issues with. That was kind of the catalyst for Creativity Under Capitalism. I remember as soon as I got home, I immediately Googled to see if someone else had created something with that name, because it perfectly described the topic I was thinking about all the time. And that's when I decided to launch the newsletter.

So it began as a way for me to record the evolution of these conversations, I suppose. It's reflections on the issues that I’m talking about with friends or other creatives or reading about, and it's a good way for me to keep the the nonfiction muscle warm, in a way that's not strictly journalism, but is just fun.

You know, I don't do it to make money. If you're doing it to make money, good luck. I'm doing it because it's a good way to build community and have cool conversations with people. So I think that's kind of how it fits within the larger puzzle of my writing life.

SH: Absolutely, yeah, that makes sense. What non-literary hobbies do you enjoy and how long have you been doing them?

AN: I think the longest one I've done is baking. I've loved baking since high school; that's how I would make friends. I would bring in a tray of cupcakes, and everyone wants to be friends with the person who bakes cupcakes.

Ever since, if I haven't baked something in a couple of weeks, I get kind of weirdly sad. It's kind of like writing; if I don't do creative writing for a bit, I'm like, “What's wrong with me?” So, I make bread and cookies and cakes. I just made a coconut cake last night and ate a piece of it right before this.

AN: But I also love doing random crafts. Lately I've been really into air-dry clay. I like messing around with watercolors.

SH: I love both those things too. They’re so fun and relaxing.

AN: Yeah, you can just chill with it. It doesn't have to be serious, it’s very playful. A couple years ago, my partner and I started a garden, and that was my first real attempt at gardening, and that's fun most of the time. It's an exercise in patience, I think, definitely. So gardening is a newer one for me, but it’s very exciting.

SH: I know you said when you don't bake for a while, you get kind of sad. How does baking and your other hobbies integrate into your day or your week? Do you schedule them in?

AN: This is something I'm working on right now, as of two days ago actually. I've never scheduled my hobbies or anything, not even my creative writing. Except I do have a Monday night writing group that I host. Otherwise, I just have always done things when I feel like it, or when I have the time.

But lately, because I've had less time, because I'm doing more work, I've found that it's very easy for the things you enjoy to fall through the cracks. And you just keep saying, “I have other chores to do, or errands to run,” and you don’t get around to it. So I'm working on scheduling some of those hobbies into my life, like telling myself, “Okay, on Wednesday, after I work and go to the gym and make dinner and eat it with my partner, I am going to go downstairs and write for an hour, or I am going to paint, or read for a bit.” And so far so good. That’s my method so far.

SH: Are there things you give up in order to have that no-pressure creative time with yourself?

AN: Yeah, someone worded it like: “Everything you're doing is something that you're not doing.” And that can be a toxic phrase if you use it the wrong way. But I do think it's helpful, because last year, I was an extremely voracious reader. I think I read like, 78 books last year, which for me was a lot and was really fun.

But this year I've been a little bit like, “Okay, that's a lot of time that I'm putting into reading. How can I maybe convert some of that time into creative writing time outside of work?” Especially with this idea of scheduling a couple hours here and there to do hobbies. I'm having to tell myself, the laundry can wait. You can do your Old Navy return on Saturday.

And unfortunately, I've had to slightly limit how much time I spend with friends. So it's tough, because I obviously enjoy doing the things that I'm sacrificing most of the time, but I need the other things more.

SH: Sometimes I think how lucky I am, or how lucky we are, to have all these amazing things that we are sacrificing. Because I also feel like I don't want to neglect my friendships, but creativity is such an innate part of me, and I have to engage with that more often.

AN: I fully agree. Lately I've had to tell myself, “I'm very lucky to have so many friends that I don't have enough time to hang out with all of them.” That’s a really cool privilege.

SH: That’s real. What have you learned from your hobbies that is applicable to your literary life? Have any of them inspired your writing practice?

AN: I don't know if they've directly inspired it, but I think they've taught me or reminded me of things that are useful. For example, that things are worth doing, even if you never plan to make money off of them. That’s a common conversation topic in the Creativity Under Capitalism umbrella. When I make something out of air-dry clay, or when I garden, that is not to make money. If I were gardening to make money, that would be a very big failure.

I do them anyway, because they're fun, right? Or they're rewarding in other ways. Maybe I'm annoyed the whole time I'm gardening because there's, like, bugs eating my stuff or whatever. But at the end of the day I get a single little, tiny pepper out of it. I'm like, “Look at this adorable little pepper.” So I think that's a really big one, that things are worth it, even if they're not money makers.

And I think patience is another one. I'm not a perfectionist in any way, but I'm very impatient. I want things to happen now. I want to finish the project now, and I want to see the results of that and know how it’s going to affect my life. But with things like gardening or air-dry clay, there's no rushing.

SH: I know you already touched on this, but what are some specific things you enjoy about each hobby?

AN: I think what I really admire about many of them—baking, crafts, gardening, or one of the hobbies I haven't mentioned yet is going to the gym—is that I am physically busy, and I think that's really valuable. Because even if you're really into the thing you're writing, it's very easy to get distracted. But when you're gardening and your hands are filthy and you cannot touch anything but the dirt in front of you, or you're baking and your hands are all doughy, it's kind of a forced mindfulness, and that's something that I've always kind of struggled with.

And I think it's another way to see the fruits of your labor. I really love baking, because at the end, there is a tangible result, and I get to eat it or share it with someone, and they tell me, “Oh my god, it's so good.” An extremely positive reinforcement. I mean, sometimes I bake something and it fails, and then I'm very sad. But most of the time, I get a tasty little snack, and I get to tell my mom, look, I made this. And she goes, wow that's so cool!

I think with writing, it all feels so intangible. Even if you publish an article or a short story, you rarely get to hold it in your hand. And I think there’s something in our wiring to be like, “I can hold this thing I created, look at it! Beautiful.”

SH: Do you ever feel pressured to monetize your baking? Like if folks go, “Oh, you should sell this at the farmers market!”

AN: Yeah. It’s usually just cutesy, people are like, “Oh my God. When's the bakery opening?” And that's fine and sweet. Every now and then, I'll bring a loaf of sourdough to a party and they'll say, “Have you ever considered…?” And I'm like, I have for approximately 10 seconds, and then I think, “Wow, that sounds miserable, waking up at 4am to bake other people bread that I don't even get to eat.” I think people romanticize bakeries and they think it's easy, but it's not.

SH: I know you said you don't identify as a perfectionist, and it’s more that you struggle with impatience. Do you have a relationship to perfectionism? Or what are the main creative blocks that you deal with internally?

AN: I don't know if I've ever been much of a perfectionist, but in the same breath, I'm going to say I feel like my standards for what I create are a little bit higher than some other people. And I think that's a bitchy thing to say, but also, I think it's a lot of just wanting to be proud of myself. I think I'm selective with what I share, I would say, but I don't know if that's perfectionism. I think it's just wanting to be proud of myself.

And frankly I think that’s a good thing. Wanting to create good things is cool, but for people who struggle with perfectionism, obviously the pendulum has swung too far in that direction.

I think impatience is honestly the biggest thing that I'm working on right now. I have a lot of goals that I want to achieve, like I want to publish a book before I die, absolutely. And for some reason, my brain goes, “Okay, well, then you better get that done within the next three years.” But it's like, I'm probably gonna live a little bit longer than that? [laughs]

It’s this weird sense of urgency I'm struggling to overcome, saying, you better do it now. I think it's the world we live in, unfortunately. There's also this sense of, "The moment will pass if I don't get this out soon.” Like, I wrote a novella and I'm trying to get it published, and already some of the references to social media are too outdated.

SH: What helps you when dealing with that feeling of urgency?

AN: I think I'm figuring that out. What's helped a teeny bit is asking myself, “Okay, genuinely, what is the worst that's going to happen if this doesn't get out as fast as I think it's going to be? Why do I think this topic has an expiration date?”

I'm writing a novel about climate change right now, and I don't know why I feel so urgent about that because that's going to be relevant for a very long time. So I guess, just doing a little bit of CBT. That's pretty much it.

SH: Totally. I would love to know how you get into creative flow, whether that's for writing or for hobbies.

AN: With my hobbies, I don't think I really get into a flow. I just kind of start them. But with writing, yeah, that's a really tough one, because it's so fragile. I think there's less I can do to get into the flow than I can do to protect the flow once I have it.

If I'm in the zone and in that headspace, and my partner says, “Can I show you a video?” Or if a friend calls me, I’m going to be like, “I am not available right now.” I'm kind of rude about it, because to me, I would rather slightly offend someone than lose that headspace, which is a little bit unhinged to say…

SH: Real artist behavior.

AN: Real artist behavior! Because it's so hard to get it back! If I let that friend interrupt me, and then I take 30 minutes to get back into the headspace for whatever I'm writing, that sucks. So I think that's how I protect my flow.

I do like to go to a coffee shop. I think we've talked about this before. I'm a big coffee shop writer. I've been to a coffee shop every single day this week. That's a good one, because when you're there, you can't get distracted by laundry or whatever. You have to justify the cost of the $8 latte you've purchased.

At home, I'll turn on some lo-fi or some instrumental music and light a candle to set the vibe. But like I said, there's not a whole lot you can do until you're just, like, there.

SH: Last question, what's a hobby that you would recommend to other writers and artists?

AN: Go outside. Touch grass. We are so indoors, and I don't blame any of us, but I feel like every week I see a different Substack Note that's like, “Guys, I was having a hard time, and I went on a walk, and I'm fixed now.” And I'm like, “Yeah, that’s how we are, we're not supposed to just stay in our houses all day.”

I'm not genuinely clowning on anyone who doesn't go outside because everything is indoors nowadays. But what if you go to a park and bring your journal, or go visit a national monument for the first time? And see what that makes you think about that you don't normally think about.

It really helps to refresh your mindset a little bit and give you a sense of variety that I think creativity needs to thrive. If you're doing the same thing day in day out, you're not going to feel very creative. Get your body moving, go outside, get some sun, get some fresh air on your face.

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Thanks so much to Adrianna for her candid, genuine, and inspiring words. I loved doing this interview and am excited to continue this series — if you or someone you know is a writer with cool hobbies, please reach out! You can DM me on Substack or reply to this email.

Thank you for reading, and please leave a comment if you enjoyed this post :)

Softly yours,

Auzin