Featured Writer: Ann Cavlovic
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Welcome to Women Writing, a biweekly interview series about creative practices. In this week’s feature, Ann discusses her strict writing routine. Does her routine resonate with you or do you have a different approach to writing?
About the author…
Ann Cavlovic’s novel Count on Me will be released in April 2025 with Guernica Editions. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in Canadian literary magazines and news media such as Event, The Fiddlehead, Grain, The Globe and Mail, and PRISM international. She has received multiple prizes and fellowships for her work, including a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. Her writing often weaves in reflections on the climate crisis, the use of spin in personal and political discourse, and tensions between love and money. She lives in Western Quebec, Canada. Find her at: anncavlovic.com.
On a writing routine …
I have a fairly strict routine, although it’s shifted over the years. About twenty years ago, I decided to work part-time at my day job to allow more time for writing (and that meant a 20% pay cut). First, I took Fridays off, which meant I had Friday mornings for writing/creative-brain activity, and Friday afternoons for submissions/admin-brain activity or just errands. It was lovely. When working on the novel I needed a daily routine, so I spread that time off over the week: my son would get on the school bus at 7:45 am; I’d write from 8-10:00 am each weekday, then get to work for 10:30. For the year I was on a Canada Council grant to write the first draft of my novel, if I showed up at my desk later than 8am I would write myself a late slip—sounds punitive, but I showed up on time for other people’s meetings at my day job, and I wanted to extend myself the same honour. Lately, for personal reasons, I’ve gone back to full-time hours at the day job but keep Friday and Sunday mornings for writing.
On writing spaces …
I built my own little writing shed (or rather, someone who knew what they were doing led the build and I was an apprentice of sorts). I wanted a little space that was only about writing (and for me that includes writing, editing, research, all of it). The builder convinced me with very practical arguments to compromise and make the shed a bit bigger to fit a bed for guests. I have mixed feelings about that decision. It is entirely logical, but I wanted truly “a room of my own.” Still, it is my cocoon. It has a super long desk so that I can physically spread out printouts of scenes/chapters (sorry trees) and organize for flow. I have strict rules against doing anything else in that shed —definitely no day job work in there, ever. I have a little stand to make the one type of green tea I drink while writing, and other little cues like that to be conducive to flow states.
On writing communities …
I’m a member of the Quebec Writers’ Federation and appreciate their support for English-language writers in the province. I’ve also been part of different critique circles over the year. When you find a good one, it is golden!
“Women often face a double bind: when we serve others’ needs, it’s taken for granted; when we serve our own, we’re seen as selfish, more so than a man would in the same situation. There’s no winning here. Between yourself, your loved ones, or the broader world, you will end up letting someone down. Try not to let that be the first two.”
On challenges …
Most of us do, I’m sure. In my case, in addition to the financial consequences of the pay cut, I had a period of time I could synopsize as: death, death, divorce, pandemic, breast cancer, break-up-over-a-stretcher. I kept trying to keep to my disciplined schedule, but at a certain point, any strength in excess becomes a weakness. I had to allow myself time to not write at all, for several months. And that was a hit to my identity, but the best choice I could have made. When the time was right, it all started to come back, slowly. There’s a difference between discipline and masochism.
On the best writing advice …
A writing coach (Clare Thorbes) once advised me to make up a mantra to say to myself after each writing session. At first I thought that was super flaky, but now I love it. My mantra includes a reminder that “showing up to the page is victory,” no matter how it went, or how I think it went.
On the worst writing advice …
A woman in a critique circle once told me I had “a dysfunctional relationship with the hyphen and compound words.” This makes me laugh. The particular examples given were 50% my clear misuses of the em-dash or hyphen—my bad—and 50% not-quite-lady-go-consult-Strunk-and-White-again. Not every bit of feedback in a writing circle is to be taken at face value. Or is that writing-circle feedback? Whatever, my editor will help me out.
On advice from personal experiences …
Be 20% more selfish (assuming your baseline is not already narcissism). But don’t expect everyone to like it. Women often face a double bind: when we serve others’ needs, it’s taken for granted; when we serve our own, we’re seen as selfish, more so than a man would in the same situation. There’s no winning here. Between yourself, your loved ones, or the broader world, you will end up letting someone down. Try not to let that be the first two.
On rekindling creativity …
In addition to allowing rest, as noted above, I rekindle creativity by allowing a lot of crappy writing. I see this as the equivalent of warm-ups, not a performance. I try to cultivate curiosity, not productivity. And if I waited for things to spark my imagination, I would write 99% less than I currently do. Instead, I just show up to the page even if I don’t “feel like it” (beyond extreme circumstances mentioned above), and then sometimes magic happens. That’s all. Occasionally when hiking or showering I’m hit with a lightbulb idea, but they only really happen when I’ve recently shown up at the page anyway.
On a recent publication …
My debut novel Count on Me will be released on October 1st 2025 with Guernica Editions (and is available for pre-order now). It’s a story about love and money colliding in a family with aging parents. I’m currently working on some creative nonfiction essays, and a play about the ways we avoid facing up to death, as a comedy, co-written with my friend Crysta.
Ann’s online spaces …
Need to schedule your writing and create a writing routine? The Women Writing Circle meets biweekly to write for 90-minutes with occasional bonus sessions. Upgrade to paid and join us and find the support you’ve been looking for.
Happy writing!
Great interview, especially what you say here about taking a break from it all. "I kept trying to keep to my disciplined schedule, but at a certain point, any strength in excess becomes a weakness. I had to allow myself time to not write at all, for several months. And that was a hit to my identity, but the best choice I could have made. When the time was right, it all started to come back, slowly. There’s a difference between discipline and masochism." Words to write by!