"bringing a light touch"
✨✨ writer, editor, and creative coach, Heidi Fiedler, on her nebula notebook process, writing in short bursts of time, and bringing a light touch to whatever she's doing ✨✨
This is a Beginner’s Mind interview, a series that explores the intersection of mindfulness and creative practice. Zen master Shunryū Suzuki Roshi said, “In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind, there are few.” This series shines a light on the practices that sustain people in their daily lives and open the path to new possibilities. If you know (or are) a writer, creative person, mindfulness teacher or practitioner with practices you’d like to share, just reply to this newsletter to be in touch with me. Subscribe below to make sure you don’t miss any future interviews. 📓🙏🏼✨
is the author of one of my favorite Substack newsletters, Nebula Notebook, which she describes as “a warm community of creative mothers who dream of making a little book magic, even when life is bananas.” Life always seems to be bananas over here. After our conversation, I’m still thinking about how Heidi begins writing projects by filling a “nebula notebook” with dreams, observations, doodles, and all forms of inspiration before she moves to type it up in a Word doc, and how she really tries to listen to what the writing project wants to be. I also love her approach to writing in short bursts of time, bringing a “light touch” to all she does, and her wisdom about the rich connections between mothering and creative practice. Heidi brings a potent mixture of wisdom and warmth to all she does. Her work is grounded in a sense of play, a deep love for creating on the page or the canvas, and a spirit of generosity. So read on to meet Heidi and learn from her practices and wisdom📓🙏🏼🎨
What are your writing/creative practices? Do you have any rituals or habits that help you?
I’m a children’s book writer and editor. I also write about creativity and motherhood for my Substack Nebula Notebook and publications like Mother Untitled, Business Insider, and Hello Gloria. I’m trying to develop an art practice too. I’ve been painting and drawing colorful abstracts for a long time. Now I’m trying to take some simple drawing classes and learn some new skills.
The name of my Substack is inspired by the notebooks that I keep for my writing projects. When I first get a new idea, I daydream about it for a while before I do any writing. If it still feels exciting after a month or two, I start a new notebook. I call it my nebula notebook, because I want it to be a dreamy, open-ended process, as though I’m floating through a nebula of an ideas, gathering inspiration, recording observations, and slowly watching a bigger idea take shape. I include anything and everything in my notebook. Words. Phrases. Lines of dialogue. Podcast episodes that somehow feel connected to my idea. Doodles. Character names. Paragraphs. Opening lines. Whatever!
I put it down in whatever order it comes to me, and I don’t try to make sense of it until I fill up my notebook. That’s when I know it’s time to start a Word doc. I go through my notebook and start putting it in order. Some of it won’t make it into the manuscript. But inevitably there’s something there that feels surprising and original, something that I don’t think I would have thought of if I rushed to write an outline or a first draft. Starting each project with a nebula notebook has helped me do work I’m really proud of, while slowing down and enjoying the writing process.
What are your mindfulness practices?
For me the practice of being mindful isn’t especially therapeutic if it’s focused on noticing and being present. When I try to do that, I tend to feel tense and focused on all the things I wish were different. Maybe that’s because I’m not a monk! But I do find it extremely helpful to bring a relaxed, curious, open mindset to my work (and my life). In writing I try to “listen” as much as I write, meaning sometimes I just wonder, “What does this book want to be?” and wait for some little nudge from my intuition or the universe, rather than declaring, “This is a book about X and here’s how it’s going to go.”
On a practical level, I really like the Beatfulness app. I got it to help my son chill out, but now I often have the music on in the background when I work or just want to turn down the noise in my brain, and I find it really carries me along. I also like making mood boards and pulling cards. I like choosing a card from an oracle deck, reading the entry, studying the art, and then just letting ideas bubble up. I’m always trying to bring a light touch to whatever I’m doing rather than forcing something to happen, and these tools help me do that. Along the way, I try to check in with myself and ask, “Am I actually enjoying this?” If I’m having fun, I’m usually on the right path, even if it doesn’t totally make sense in the moment.
Do you have a mantra or motto related to your creative/mindfulness practices/life? What piece of wisdom do you have on a post-it note to help you remember it?
I have a million mantras and quotes scribbled in my notebook. Right now my go-to is “This is the season of mini sessions.” I’m trying to bring that philosophy to everything from taking naps to lifting weights, and it very much applies to my writing. I write in the car when I’m waiting to pick up my son. I write for ten minutes after I take a walk in the morning or on the weekends when the house gets quiet for a minute. I take notes on my phone when I’m outside with my son. I come out of the shower and text myself a new idea. It doesn’t feel as satisfying as sitting down to a long writing session, but I’ve been doing this long enough to know that I can make progress if I look for these little opportunities to write throughout the day.
What helps you when you get stuck with your writing practice?
I almost always have a new idea or a find some clarity when I’m reading. I love checking out a stack of picture books from the library, reading them, going back through my favorites, taking notes and thinking about the choices the writers made.
How is your creative practice shaped by other practices or work in your life?
I have found so many parallels between creativity and motherhood. Becoming a mom changed the content of my work. It also made me more ambitious. My ideas are bigger and more interesting, and I take them more seriously now. My creative time is precious to me, and I value it so much more in motherhood.
Both writing and motherhood require so much patience. The work we do in those roles is largely invisible and we must learn to focus more on our personal experience and values than on the results, which are largely out of our control.
Are there any books / writers / teachers / approaches that have been transformative for you that you would recommend to readers?
I love Writing Wild by Tina Wells. The whole book is about looking to the natural world for inspiration, and she encourages writers to work slowly and trust the process, even if it feels like it’s not going anywhere. Throughout the book, she describes an exercise she uses in her writing a lot. It’s basically find something in nature that captures your attention (a pinecone, a meadow, a spider web). Then write a list of words that come to you as you study the object. They could be descriptive words, but they could also be unrelated to what you’re looking at. Record it all. Then spend a couple minutes reflecting on any personal details that come up for you while you’re observing this object. You might remember a moment from your past. You might connect the item to another item that means something to you. You might have a sense memory that feels connected but you don’t know why. Or maybe the item speaks to you on a symbolic level.
The point is to move in and out from your interior world to the natural world, again and again, noticing connections and little bits of inspiration. Don’t worry about writing a paragraph. Just scribble words down. Write a list if you want to be more structured about it. But know that you can string the words together into something coherent later. It sounds too simple to be effective, but I find it really loosens me up.
A Prompt from Heidi
One of my favorite prompts is to ask myself “How would I tell this story?”
I do this when I’m reading a stack of picture books, watching a movie, or reading an essay. Often I ask this question when I’m consuming art that I love, and I discover something about my personal aesthetic and interests.
Other times I do it with things that don’t resonate with me, and then it becomes an exercise in figuring out how I might turn the idea into something that reflects my values and vision.
Heidi Fiedler is a writer, editor, and creative coach. She dreams up cozy stories for kids and writes about creativity and motherhood for sites like Hello Gloria, Mother Untitled, and Business Insider. Heidi lives with her family and favorite books in Massachusetts. Learn more about the work she does at helloheidifiedler.com or find her on Instagram @heidifiedler. You can find her newsletter Nebula Notebook and the Oliver Burkeman book club here on Substack.
I highly recommend subscribing to Heidi’s Substack newsletter, Nebula Notebook, especially if you are a creative person and/or a mother looking for prompts, wisdom, and inspiration👇🏼
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I love the “how would I tell this story?” question! I’m going to adapt that for poetry and start trying it!
I feel I always gain insight from Heidi, and I loved this interview. I’m walking away ready to head to the library for picture books, and to celebrate the nuance of the pine cone. Such wonderful sparks!