10 Writing Lessons I Learned from My Cat (And Why They Work)
What my semi-judgmental furry companion taught me about focus, burnout, boundaries, and why showing up matters
🐾 Writing Lessons I’ve Learned from My Cat, Pip
Pets are masters of mindfulness. Cats in particular act like they’ve figured out life and are just waiting for their human servants to catch up already, geez.
UPDATE: Thank you for all the love on this post! Apparently, this is the first post in a requested series of Pip’s Tips. Stay tuned…
Pip has graced us with his presence for about nine years. He showed up one winter night, hungry, cold, and shivering on our doorstep like a Dickens character. So we let him in. Now he runs the house, sets the schedule, and has strong, unshakable opinions about when I should work versus when I should pet him. (You can guess who wins. We both do.)
He’s an indoor prince with a palace to run. We never realized how much we all needed him, but he knew. He chose us.
Somewhere along the way, I realized he’s also been teaching me how to write. Not in an “outline your novel” kind of way, which frankly would be weird and also pretty darn cool; more in a “stop overthinking and do the thing, already” kind of way.
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If you’re not a cat person, there’s the door. Kidding! Pups and all manner of pets welcome. So here’s what I’ve learned…
1. Show up every day (even if we just stare at the screen)
Pip punches in daily. Same window. Same chair. Same intense stare at the outside, looking for birdies or stray toddlers (still unclear, still concerning).
Is he always productive? Debatable.
Is he consistent? Absolutely.
We’re always chasing breakthroughs. Most of the time, we just need to show up.
2. Protect our focus like it’s sacred because it is
If Pip is locked in on chittering at birdies, nothing else exists. Not me. Not food. Not logic. Just get ‘em.
Meanwhile, we get one notification, and suddenly we’re fourteen tabs deep into the gardening habits of zebras.
We don’t need more time. We need fewer interruptions.
3. Rest is part of the job
Pip naps like it’s his full-time career. No guilt. No “I should be doing more” self-admonishments. And yet he’s ready the second something matters, like when anyone, anywhere opens a bag of popcorn.
We push through burnout and call it discipline. It’s not. It’s bad strategy.
Step away. You’ll come back sharper.
4. Curiosity drives everything
Pip investigates everything. A noise, a shadow, a bugga, or a suspicious sock.
That curiosity is where story lives. If you’re bored with your writing, readers will be, too.
Follow the thread that captures your interest. Pay attention.
5. Not everyone gets our attention
Pip does not perform for approval. If he doesn’t like someone, he makes it known. Or he hides. Either way, mission accomplished.
We don’t like everyone either, yet we still want/expect/hope everyone to like our work. That’s the problem: not everyone is our ideal reader.
Write for the people who get it. The rest can go sit on their own cozy blankie, far, far away.
6. Boundaries make us better
Closed door? Pip will still try. No opposable thumbs, so honestly, impressive. After that, it turns into a back-and-forth situation that helps no one. In or out is likely the most common pet parent’s utterance.
We say we want boundaries, then answer every DM anyway.
Protect your time, or someone else will happily use it for you.
7. Interruptions happen. Get back to it
Pip will walk across my keyboard mid-sentence like he’s submitting edits.
Annoying? Yes.
The end of my writing day? No.
We don’t need perfect conditions. We need to come back after we get knocked off track.
8. Be exactly who we are
Pip is not trying to be a dog (as if). He’s not worried about trends. He’s not optimizing anything except maybe his claws.
He’s just Pip.
That’s the whole point in writing: finding our own voice. The more we sound like everyone else, the more invisible we become.
9. Be in the moment (yes, even while writing)
Pip doesn’t rush meals. He’s fully in it. Same with a sunbeam, nap, or piece of lint he’s decided is now his life’s purpose.
My cat is not thinking about what’s next. He’s there, having a lint moment, fully immersed in lint.
We’re drafting while worrying about edits, editing while thinking about reviews, and promoting while stressing about sales, edits, and reviews. We’re never actually in the work. This isn’t mindfulness fluff. It’s craft.
When you draft, draft.
When you edit, edit.
When you promote, promote.
One lane. One job. One step at a time.
10. Don’t forget the snackies (reward ourselves)
Pip takes snackies very seriously. He knows exactly when they’re supposed to happen, and if we’re late, we hear about it. He doesn’t earn them by being perfect. He gets them because he shows up and exists in all his floofy, goober goodness.
We finish something and immediately look for what’s wrong with it; or, we hit publish and move on like it doesn’t matter, when in real life, that’s how we burn out and then wonder why we don’t want to write/market/newsletter anymore.
If everything feels like pressure and nothing feels like a reward, we won’t come back to the work.
Pip would never tolerate that. Neither should we. We deserve something good.
📣 Shout-out to my favorite pet account anywhere, The Pupdate Newsletter. Trust me, you’ll love it.
TL;DR
Write like a cat:
Show up
Focus
Rest
Stay curious
Ignore people you don’t like (especially scary toddlers)
Protect your time
Come back after interruptions
Be yourself
Stay in the moment
Don’t forget treats
If Pip had a Substack, he’d ignore his subscribers and still outgrow us. Cats always win. We’re just here trying to keep up.
What writing tips have you learned from your pet? Please share (floof photos always welcome).
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Thanks for reading and being part of this little corner of the writing world. I’m glad you’re here.
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CAT-spiration!!!
New series pitch: "Pip Tips".