Your WIP - Talk Less, WRITE MORE...

I understand new book writing excitement. You have this brilliant idea. You know it's going to take the world by storm. And the very first chance you get, you tell everyone who will listen the plot/character ins and outs of this great tale... to the point that you end up writing the entire book with your mouth and not on the page.

And after weeks, months, of that verbal explosion, when you sit down to write, the umpf is gone, the passion wrung dry, boredom seeps in, and those pages don't get written. You're back where you began on this new book writing journey — not writing — yet, another solid reason to get even fewer words down on the page, like you didn't already have enough.

By telling everyone, including yourself, about the intricacies of the tale, the idea of replaying the story on the page has lost all meaning. It's about as much fun to type out a replay as it is to watch one. You and your WIP deserve better, don't you think?

Here's a tip: STOP talking. Yep, that's right. Keep that story nugget to yourself, so the passion lives inside you to carry that sucker from the first written page to the last.

And if you're inclined to those New & Shiny Idea distractions, the last thing you need is to wear the sheen right off your WIP by talking it to death. Sure, if people ask, give them your one sentence Log Line — the essence of your tale — as I've discussed in a past article, but don't drone on about the book, boring others and yourself, as you surely will.

Having a story outline doesn't mean you shouldn't keep the writing flow excitement/details unveiling for yourself. Let the entirety of the tale capture your heart at the moment of its birth, like it will for any first-time reader. Give yourself the gift of those WOW moments as they unfold. Don't steal that joy with a flood of babbled words.

HOMEWORK: If this describes you and how you've been dealing with your New & Shiny WIP, make a mental note to stop talking so the writing better flows. Keep the passion simmering on the page, where it counts, right to those last two, oh satisfying, words, The End.

Don't Measure Your Draft to Published Works...

 

The biggest error made by new writers is their assumption about what it takes to be a published author.

All new writers start out as discerning readers. They've spent a lifetime being exposed to high-bar, glossy finished works. So, when they attempt to type out their own story draft, their brains measure that draft to what they've previously read, forgetting all the story arc failures and umpteen redrafts and edits that went into every published work they've ever read.

• Published Work Steps: A, alllllllll the way to Z
• New Writer Draft Expectations: Blank page to Z

And it will be this lopsided comparison which gets them down and despondent, or worse, have them abandon their draft altogether.

This habit of new writers demanding Z right from the get-go is a combination of:

• Perfectionism
• Fear of Failure

And those two causes combine, ultimately representing the Ego — the fear of having their self-Image tarnished by others. 

What have I told you, ad nauseam, about writing being 90% psychological???

Are you listening to me yet???

I've drilled this misstep with new writers in my own group until I'm blue in the face, and over years of constant reminder. Many finally understand what I'm saying, realizing a first draft from them or Ernest Hemingway WILL be crap, and that much blood, sweat and tears will go into making that first crappy attempt into a publishable work. But there's a few — the ones who are seriously mired in self-Image preservation — who will have such a difficult time accepting this human flaw and arresting their self-critique to write their draft to completion, unable to stomach the look of imperfection in anything they do.

As an Aside: my writing drafts...OMG...well, I can only compare them to my university charcoal sketches I completed in my first year drawing art class. And in the years since, when I'm feeling no pain at my own house parties, I'll be brave enough to pull out my drawing portfolio and show the sketches to my guests. It's always a close call as to what party trick will elicit more howls — playing Twister or viewing my sketches.

At one time, Hemingway used the word, "sh*t" to describe his book drafts.

For all time, my charcoal sketches, and certainly my book drafts, will emit a super stinky odor.

Them there's the facts, ma'am!

Liken a writing draft to a first coat of paint on a wall — it doesn't cover well, there's streaks and splotches, and further coats are definitely needed to bring that wall from lackluster to shine.

Then why — why, oh, why flying feathery why — would a draft of any work from any wordsmith be any better than Hemingway's sh*t???

Drafts never get published.

Drafts are explicitly for the writer, a skeletal story shell from which to work as a base, to mold and fashion and refine into an eventual published work, the level of quality new writers read and assume were the author's first attempt.

Advice: STOP Doing This To Yourself! *grabbing a hold of your shoulders, and shaking you 'til you're dizzy!*

HOMEWORK: Happily, joyfully, eagerly plunk down words to formulate your story draft, all the way to completion, and KNOW AS FACT they are meant to be literary poo-poo right from the start. And while you’re at it, if you truly plan on being a serious artist: STOP protecting that self-Image of yours! *shaking you again... and this time you're turning green... I'll have to let go soon if you plan on hurling chunks*

To be an artist is to blatantly, honestly and courageously display the imperfect human experience — your great and glorious attempt as a member of our species to flounder, fail, try again, flounder and fail less, complete umpteen reattempts and re-do's  and ultimately create NOT a perfect work of art, BUT a heart-felt, hard-worked for piece eliciting an emotional response in the beholder. Nothing more, nothing less.

And it all starts with your super-duper, really stinky, icky-picky, poo-poo draft.

The one we ALL start with as wordsmiths...

• no matter the practice
• no matter the experience
• no matter our age
• no matter our reputation
• and until we die... or, who knows, maybe writers create icky drafts in heaven, too. ;-)
  

Drop your Ego. Welcome to our smelly world. :-D

Writer Fatique - From Stress, Fear, or is it Real?

 

It happens to all writers...that all-encompassing exhaustion...

It can happen after an especially hectic work week, where severe focus was needed on deadline pieces.

Or it can sneak up on you when you least expect it.

But how can you tell if it's real or emotionally driven?

I will bleed out before I'll miss a deadline, so for me the constant war against body stress is real, and it will often mask as severe fatigue. It's my psyche's need to check out from reality for a while to lower the stress, which is not conducive to meeting the new deadlines before me.

I've also sensed a weariness if I'm facing a new book project, but I know there's a distinct possibility it's solely from Fear of the Unknown. You'd think after writing six books, I'd be past this mind game, but here's the kicker, my fellow furry scribes: a writer is never past this mind game. All an experienced writer can do is better judge the type and degree of exhaustion they are experiencing.

Here's what I do to gauge if it's Stress or Fear or Real:

When I'm about to close the laptop and take a nap because I think I can't plunk down another word, I set a 15-minute timer, and keep writing on anything for those 15 minutes. If after the timer goes off, and I'm in a writer flow, not wanting to quit, I know it was from the Fear of the Unknown, aka Writer Stage Fright, and I continue to write on.

If during those 15 minutes, every word typed, although each is a good choice, is like trudging through Flanders Field mud, then I know it's from Stress, of working too long under too many deadlines. The Solution: I'll take a short walk outside to reinvigorate my mind and body or take a cat nap to see if, afterwards, I'm refreshed enough to continue writing for the day. 90% of the time, that break will help, and I'll finish the work day.

If during those 15 minutes writing, my brain simply cannot come up with the right words like it normally would, then I know it's exhausted for real, and I need to wave the white flag for the day and rest, as an investment for a more productive tomorrow, and to ward off Burn Out, a very real writer disability that can take far longer from which to recover. A full time writer must avoid Burn Out at all costs.

There is a fourth option, too, and that can be hunger and/or thirst. And I do NOT mean the empty calorie snacks you slovenly gobble at your desk. 

To discover if your body is lacking nutrients, take the Two-Step Challenge:

First, try drinking a full glass of water, and after a short break, try again to write. If you feel more alert, your body was likely dehydrated. 

If the water didn't work, 

Second, ask yourself when you last ate a decent meal. 

Did you miss breakfast? Eating a decent amount of protein to rev up your day.

Did a writing session go overtime, and you forgot to eat lunch? 

Did you have a decent dinner last night? (And by decent, I mean fresh vegetables, a small portion of lean meat and maybe fresh fruit for dessert.) 

If food is the issue, after you break for a meal, your mind focus will reignite very quickly, or that's been my experience. The same with water, if you're dehydrated. 

Note: feeling hungry is often just a sign you're dehydrated, so instead of automatically ingesting calories, try first drinking water.

A full time writer has to gauge carefully the symptom of exhaustion and respond accordingly. If you do this, over time, you'll experience fewer bouts of debilitating fatigue, as you'll learn to recognize the symptom, quickly gauge its cause, and course-correct before it hinders your work day.

Writing is a psychological endeavor, yes, but it's also a very physical activity, too, even if your body is merely sitting down. It takes a lot of mind/body juice to work with words. If you don't heed the fatigue, and know how to treat it, that book you want to finish, no matter your skill, simply won't get done.

Crank That Old Model-T Mind - Get Your Perpetual Prose Engine Purring!

Photo Mitchell County Historical Society

 

Ford engine...body, mind, fingers...they're all the same.

If you get the old brain cranked like a Model-T Ford, and run it for a while, spitting out all the bad backfire exhaust, aka writer fears and doubt, that writer mind will happily keep on running...

This is my convoluted way of saying that once you get into a daily writing rhythm, your mind and body will happily oblige, realizing that nothing scary comes from the repeated effort, so away you do go, without a thought or a care, plunking more words down on your WIP than you've ever saw plunked down before. 

Like writer's flow where your mind is in that story bubble so strongly your fingers can't keep up, so can the same kind of flow be achieved for your daily writing sessions... once you get that old jalopy of a fearful mind chugging right along, and your creative juices are flowing like viscus oil on eight cylinders.

Okay, I have cars on my mind. I can't always defend my way of thinking. (Okay, I can rarely defend my way of thinking.)

The Key: the getting going, the cranking of the shaft, the sparking of that old, idle-too-long mind engine.

It may take you a few tries, maybe a week or so of going through the motions:

• walking to the desk
• opening the notebook or laptop
• sitting down
• gathering your scene cards
• and beginning to plunk words down on the next scene.

There's every chance you won't like what's spewing out, initially, but don't be a perfectionist right now. We need you revving your mind and finger engine, not entering your jalopy into NASCAR.

But with every writing session completed of every day, you'll soon sense that creation automation kicking in. And when it does, don't stop it now. Don't rest on your production laurels. Now is NOT the time to skip a session to celebrate. Keep that momentum going. And the longer you do, the easier it'll be, and the more permanent the habit. As I've said in a prior post, try and keep that momentum going for 42 days. Your mind and body need time to kick that act into an automatic overdrive.

As you enter into this writing flow:

• Don't word count. 
• Don't word analyze.
• Just write, one word, then another, and another...
  
• Scene, after scene, after scene...

It's not about your story right now. 

It's about your mind and body being primed and pumped to reach high and sustained RPMs to keep those creative juices flowing. The story quality will come later. Let's practice the doing first. Baby steps, peeps. Baby steps. One speed bump at a time...

HOMEWORK: It's Saturday tomorrow. If you're off work, get the engine crank out, turn that sucker, ignite your mind, prime your fingers, and get your perpetual prose engine purring!

And in the comments below, let us know how your crank shaft turned over... ;-)

Who Are You Writing For?

 

A man and a woman — he in his late 50s, she in her mid 40s — relax in a knotty pine paneled family room. Their easy chairs  — hers, an overstuffed turquoise armchair, his, a burgundy leather rocker-recliner — placed on either side of a big picture window that looks out onto a small lake, the weeping willows and sugar maple trees which line the water's edge, their branches bending in the soft summer breeze, their leaves wafting to and fro, making a gentle clapping and a whispered swish. 

The woman nurses a glass tumbler filled with Canadian Club rye and Coke and two ice cubes, as a Belvedere cigarette smolders slowly in a glass and silver ashtray stand. 

The man, with his well-shined oxblood dress brogues resting on an ottoman, rocks imperceptibly back and forth, as he puffs on a burled walnut pipe, the smoke rings lazily rising and spreading wider into the warm air. Beside him, an old 3-legged milking stool from the farm that holds a dark amber glass ashtray and a stubby amber bottle of Labatt's 50 lager, the beer just out of the fridge, frosty and cold. 

Both sit silent. Both are listening intently...to me, as I read out loud the stories from my books. They show no obvious expressions. They are watching and listening, muted, concentrating, as ghosts often are, to me, their daughter.

There isn't a minute that goes by that my late parents aren't with me as I type. Luckily, for my first three novels, my mother was still alive. My father died a long time ago, never knowing me as the writer I am today. Both are gone now, but in my mind's eye, both sit quietly across from me, breathing in every word, every sentence I create. I write for them.

I tell you this because it's important to a writer's mindset how he or she exists in the writing flow. Whoever you are writing for, whoever that person is, they ARE important to your psyche, to your overall success as a wordsmith, especially on your down days, the ones that seem to have you beat, the ones where gravity feels a 1000%, and every move you make takes a Herculean effort. It will be that person, the one you see in your mind's eye, who will be your quiet guide, who will emotionally lighten your load, and talk to you, encouraging you to fight to write another day.

Writers have a calling, and it's not an easy one. We write for the world. We are the world's liver. We filter out all the poisonous noise and create the essence of life's precious moments as we perceive them. An utterly exhausting enterprise, and one which can weigh so heavy on the heart, sapping all strength. Without your guide, the one you're writing for, story-telling could become insurmountable.

Is this your case? 

Do you have someone you're writing for? 

If you don't have a writing cheerleader on your side, maybe you should. Or maybe you already do, and you don't even realize it.

Today, I want you to sit back and think about whom you feel as that essence around you when you write. No, I'm not being all hippie-dippy here. Everyone in this world needs a guiding hand. Maybe yours is a real mentor, alive on this earth, and with us now. Maybe yours, like mine, has passed. But I bet if you think about it, you've felt someone near you when your writing flow is at its best.

Today was a tough day for me. In Calgary, a heat wave holds the city in its grasp, and it makes even thinking, much less writing, a high obstacle. But as the day's heat subsided, I felt my parents' push. 

"Come on, Barbie, get up and get at it. You have things to do." 

And, of course, I listened to them, and smiled. And this is why this article exists now, solely because of them. I might have allowed the day to beat me, but my parents came through, encouraging me to plunk fingers down on keys to create the tiny vignette above as an example just for you.

HOMEWORK: Figure out whom you're writing for. They will be your writing saviors when nothing and no one else can help.

Writing Every Day - A Truism Accepted...

 

A writing truism I could no longer have a hissy fit about, and neither can you – writing every day…

 

Nope. Don't X me out.

Slowly back your fingers away from that mouse or touchpad.

Stop with your "talk to the hand" hissy fit, and read me.

 

Once upon a time, I WAS YOU.

I thought this "truism" was a load of animal poo-poo.

I went YEARS not accepting this adage tripe.

Problem was, I was wrong. 

 

You must know, it's damn hard for me to acknowledge the error of my ways, as I think I'm quite "special." *patting myself softly on the head, and yelling to the asylum nurse, "Where’s my Thorazine!"*;-)

 

Thus, I will explain…

 

Many writers conferences ago, I befriended a rough-round-the-edges celebrated Scottish-Canadian scribe, whose blue pencil group session I attended. He said a lot of realistic, practical things, but the one thing which stuck in my brain was him simply stating, "You have to show up for work" to achieve literary success. He declared that if you plan on becoming a serious writer, you have to wake each day, get dressed and go to work, aka WRITE, and adopt a work-ethic expected in any other full time job.

 

If you take seriously this métier...

If you truly want to start and FINISH your book...

If you want to go from hobbyist writer to master wordsmith with many quality works under your name…

Then, there is no other way.

 

I don't care if you're the smartest nut in the nut barrel, and you ooze prodigy slime... if you do not practice every work day like you would in any other endeavor where you hoped to succeed, then you are full of animal poo-poo like I once was, and you won’t get where you want to go with your writing.

 

You can attend all the conferences you want.

You can belong to a plethora of writers groups.

You can talk smack on the process and wax purple prose pathetic on your WIP, but unless you put your money where your mouth is, unless you lay rubber on the road, unless you freakin' sit down, open up that file and smack down and/or edit words on that WIP Every Single Day, you,

a) won't finish that WIP

b) won't write well on that WIP

c) and you won't go on to finish other works well either.

A. Simple. Unavoidable. Fact.

 

Yes, just like with any other career, you must take off 2 weekend days. Your mind needs to rest, and to subconsciously churn literary milk into cream on that WIP. But during your writing work week, you show up for work. NO excuses.

 

Annnd yes... to train yourself to do this...can be like shoving bamboo shoots under your finger nails. You will grunt, and groan and curse and fail, and start again, and hate this process for the 6 straight WEEKS it will take you to adopt this new habit.

Yes, you read me right. 6 weeks. 42 days of constant showing up to "work."

Why? Because humans are not that smart. It takes that amount of time to have our minds and bodies acclimate, and automatically act upon, a new task. Don’t believe me? Look it up, naysayers…

 

And how do I know this will work?

Because I did it. I suffered through those 42 days. I screwed up three times, started over three times, and finally wrote for 42 days straight.

And I suffered through this torture because I inherently knew that celebrated writer was right.

 

It's been no different in the other skills I've previously adopted.

Why should life be any cushier in becoming a wordsmith?

Why do new writers who want to become master writers think learning this skill will be easy, and packed full of yummy cake and icing fun?

That mistaken belief continues to blow my mind.

 

In my life as a competitive swimmer,

I had to swim endless laps to execute strokes, faster, many hours after the other leisure swimmers got to go home.

As a grade school football player,

I had to re-run plays as the quarterback until those plays became automatic, if I wanted to win a game.

As a student pianist,

I had to play piano scales 'til I bored myself silly to memorize the proper fingering and to learn the different notes to easily play songs.

And I had to do the same in choir.

 

And undoubtedly YOU have had to do the same in the skills you've already learned.

 

That thing mothers constantly spout to kids when they're trying to learn a new skill..., "Practice makes perfect." Well, I'll be damned, if they weren't right.

Frig! Why do mothers always have to be right!

 

So, once I finally came out of my writing every day tantrum and realized the necessity of this rule in all acquired skills, I decided to mature-up and take up the challenge, and write for 42 days straight. 

 

1) I set up a calendar sheet with 42 days. I tacked it up next to my writing spot.

2) I checked off each day after I wrote, and at the end of each week, I gave myself a sticker. (Yes, I've never tired from acquiring achievement stars like we all got in grade school. Hey, stop snickering... it takes very little for me to feel "special.")

3) And at the end of the 42 days, I got a really SPECIAL sticker... and a few celebratory cocktails... your treat can be whatever you wish. I'm a kid at heart, and of North Irish descent, so you can see where my drooling lies...

 

Let me tell you.

It was not easy.

I'm not going to be like so many article writers out there, sugar-coating this process, and blow smoke up your butt.

It's no cakewalk, but it CAN BE DONE.

I did it.

 

I knew all I had to do was open up my laptop, and on my bad days, just type the single word, "the."

That would count as writing because I had gone through the motions of...

a) going to my writing spot

b) opening up my laptop

c) opening up a word processing page

d) typing the word, "the"

e) saving my “work.”

f) closing my laptop

g) and leaving my writing spot for that day.

And on the good days, of course, I wrote a lot more. You will, too.

 

The Key: It's the MENTAL PROCESS you need to undergo, and through it, the taming of your FEAR of writing. There is no other earthly way to achieve said than to undertake this challenge.

 

After those 42 days, well, my brain transformed!

It simply got used to the process, and in turn, ignored the fear.

 

Note: the fear, that "stage fright," will never go away.

It's part of being an artist of any stripe.

It WILL be with you until the day you die.

 

BUT your mind and body will learn to write THROUGH THE FEAR.

You will no longer put off the act of writing.

You will no longer say to yourself, "I'm too tired, I don't feel well, I'm too busy, I have others things to do."

 

And what happens after that happens?

You go from an erratic, so-so writer to a prolific, skilled writer pretty darn fast!

Faster than I ever thought possible.

And with your noticeable improvement, your DESIRE to write every day grows, too!

Now, it's a positive loop.

Now, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You've killed the excuses and put that stage fright in its place.

And you're on your way, every day, to higher and higher quality, and quantity, output.

And from that moment on, you can truly call yourself a writer.

You know why?

Because you actually write. Every writer work day.

That's why. 

 

You no longer just talk smack about writing.

You finally put the pedal to the metal and shed those ridiculous excuses that to be a serious scribe demands writing every work day.

 

Wake up, peeps.

Smell the coffee.

It's what you and I need to do.

 

Now, are you up for trying the challenge?

42 straight days.

No minimum word count.

Write on anything you want.

On your bad days, simply type the word, "the" and be done for the day.

On your good days, type more.

If you screw up and miss a day, start over, start back on Day One, and begin again.

 

Keep your swearing down to dull roar. I’m trying to write over here…;-)

 

If you are serious about becoming a wordsmith — and have reached the end of my rant here today — are you WILLING to try what I tried? I'll NEVER ask you to do anything I haven't already experienced. Okay? Trust me. Follow me. 

 

Comment below your experience before, during and after the challenge.

 

I'm here. I get you.

We are all on the same literary ladder.

We're just hanging by our bloody finger nails to different rungs.

 

Now.......GO!

Let's DO this.

Head-Butting Writer Fear...

 

I have this "thing" about spiders... I mean, I don't go catatonic or anything when I see one, and I can scoop a household invader into a plastic container and throw it outside to live a free and glorious life, but its hairy legs and mine should never meet if I want to stay out of an asylum...

 

So one day, I thought, you know, I should get over this "thing." I should face my fear head-on, or as best as could be mustered, and then I could be One with the creepy-crawlies. Long story, short, I took a guided tour through the Venezuelan jungle to meet up with those foot-long diameter Green-Bottle Blue tarantulas they have down there, where the guides use smoke to have them fall from the trees into big metal pans. Sad tale: the tour I picked went to an area they didn't inhabit, but I did get to see a 14-foot termite mound! Gad, I was itchy for days, just thinking about it!

 

Anyhoo, my pathetic point here is, don't flee from your fears and weaknesses. Endeavor to meet them head-on, and force yourself over and over to take on that fearful "thing" a) you know you're not good at, in fact, you suck it; and b) is your worst fear, your worst weakness, so if you eventually get comfortable with that "thing," everything less fearful than that will seem a complete cinch!

 

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Okay, B. J., you're nuts. The definition of Fear is to WANT to flee from said."

Yeah, yeah, I know, but consider this a game. If you finally tackle your worst fear about writing, you'll have a future of literary fearlessness! Nothing, from that point forward, will stand in your way.

 

Another example: the closest I get to sci-fi anything is watching Star Trek (Star Wars bores the heck out of me. Yeah, yeah, stop throwing rotten tomatoes at me, I'll just keep ducking), and I do NOT write sci-fi. Ever. Never. Like Never-Ever. So, I purposely decided to enter a writers contest where I was forced to write a sci-fi short story. Holy heck! Okay, now I'm sweating bricks! But once I stopped hyperventilating, and with major fingers-to-keyboard grunts and groans only a tennis player could appreciate, I ground out a tale, had a sci-fi-liking beta reader peruse it for the gaffes therein, and I submitted it... never to win, of course.

 

BUT my hesitancy on writing sci-fi basically dissolved. If I ever had to do it again, a lot of my former doubts were already washed away with that first scary attempt. I learned from my sci-fi beta reader some formation points about the genre, and in the attempt I grew as a wordsmith, returning to my preferred writing realm with far more confidence in my capabilities.

 

HOMEWORK: Write down your greatest weakness in writing, and decide to tackle it head-on, to drown that fear. Repeat the attempts until you've put that weakness in your rear-view mirror. 

 

NOTE: No one has to see those attempts. This is just you facing your greatest literary fear. You won't die doing this, but you WILL grow and be far less fearful. I promise you.

 

Remember what I've earlier said on this site: the art of writing is mostly psychological. That's why it's one of the most difficult métiers to undertake.

 

If you face overcoming your writing fears, like the bullies they are, they will dissolve quicker than you think, and you'll write into the future with the confidence you never thought you'd possess as a wordsmith.

 

P.S. I'm going to see those Venezuelan spiders before I croak. Just sayin'...

Walking the Writer Fear Tightrope...

 

Today's exercise is an easy one to do...

 

• List all your most severe fears about writing your book. The worst outcomes if you decided to start, and FINISH, that novel or nonfiction work.

• Then, sometime soon, find a trusted friend and read each item out loud to them, and let them give you THEIR distanced take/thoughts on each fear.

• Write down their thoughts next to each fear, and sit with that insight for a while. Let your friend's reasoned and rational viewpoint sink in.

FACT: You are too close to those fears to have a rational, reasonable opinion.

Your fears have stolen your objectivity.

 

If you were in the Arctic, and you suffered snow blindness, your sighted friend would have to be the one to guide you to safety, right?

Well, your friend's viewpoints on your fear list is your path to safety.

Heed them.

Follow them.

Real life is never as horrendous as our wild imaginings.

 

And at the end of this exercise, paste the question below near where you write...

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOUR READERS' LIVES IF THEY NEVER GET TO READ YOUR BOOK?

 

That's the ONLY fear that truly exists.

 

Now, go on, and do the exercise.

If you're not writing, you NEED to do this to clean your mind.

Acclimate Your Irrational Writer Fear...

 

Many, many, MANY moons ago, my mother entered me into swimming lessons, as we lived on a lake, and she wanted me to play safe around water.

I took to swimming like fish would do.

It turned out to be my best athletic skill.

 

Along with me was my childhood neighbor, her mother wanting the same thing for her daughter. My friend did not take to it like a fish; rather, she was scared stiff of putting her face in water. So the Tadpole teacher - yes, our class was called the Tadpoles, stop snickering! - brought her a shallow tub, filled it with pool water, and had my friend get used to dunking her head in that small space, like she would in a sink to wash her face, to acclimate her mind to the act, to eliminate her irrational fear.

 

Over a few repeated sessions, the exercise worked. My friend realized she had nothing to fear from being in the pool water. Afterwards, she learned how to swim along with me. I went on to become a lifeguard and competitive butterfly and long distance swimmer, and she went on to become a high-end classical pianist who could swim. I, however, failed staccato in Grade 3 classical piano because I pounded the keys like Jerry Lee Lewis. Meh, t'is life.

 

Why do I mention this personal ditty?

Because I want to offer you a tub of pool water, too!

 

If in a very long while, you haven't had the courage to open your laptop or your notebook and start writing, I want you to do THIS exercise starting today:

 

Open your writing device and simply type or write the word, "The." Yes, you read me right. Just "The." Then close your writing device and go about your normal day.

 

Tomorrow, do the same thing, BUT type TWO words, "The ___ + ___"

And close your device.

 

Do this every single day, adding a gradated amount of words, until you have an entire sentence. It doesn't matter what sentence it is. And keep doing this exercise UNTIL the ACT of OPENING your device to write becomes AUTOMATIC, second nature, that you do it without even realizing you're doing it.

 

Your inability to write stems from irrational fear. It is preventing you from even opening your device. You are literally catatonic right now about the process. My friend played in that tub of water until she dipped her face in without even thinking, and eventually, she realized her fear WAS unfounded.

 

You may think this exercise is childish.

You may think you are far too adult/mature for this exercise.

Think again. 

 

Any endeavor which creates irrational fear inside a person needs baby steps of acclimation to erode that fear from the mind. Humans aren't as evolved as we give ourselves credit. Practice, familiarity, are still the main tools against irrational fear.

 

Are you game to dunk your head in a tub of pool water today?

I'm waving at you from the deep end! :-D

Can't Write? Go Outside...

 

Can't write?

Close your laptop and get outside.

Do something physical.

 

Your blank mind is telling you that your imagination well is dry... from a lack of body movement, a lack of oxygen, and a lack of living life.

 

Today, hit the backyard and pull some weeds or wash your car or go for a walk. 

 

Whatever you do, wholly ingest the world around you — all your senses, take it in. You simply cannot write on life if you're not living it, and yes, even during a pandemic there are safe ways to be outside and commune with the world around you.

 

I assure you that after you start living, so will your writing breathe.

 

Remember: a grand and vivid tale can birth from the smallest, simplest of things - a spider's web, a lady bug, a leaf, the rustling in the trees. Never underestimate Mother Nature's ability to teach you a thing or two, even if you think you know a thing or two. ;-)

 

Those of you who try this today, comment below about your experience.

Got Imagination?

 

You're lying in bed.

Dried milk mustache adorns your upper lip.

A crusty bowl of leftover cereal sits silently on your bedside table, mocking you.

 

You know you need to write. Even the cereal bowl knows that.

But you don't have a clue about what to write.

 

You promised a story to someone, somewhere, due super soon. You're sure of it. You nibble at your nails for nourishment. The cereal didn't cut it.

 

You look up.

Your ceiling is giving you no inspiration... although you do see a teeny tiny spider making web hay in the corner, near where your fern plant hangs that you never seem to water until Firemen burst through your door with a hose, as a clue.

 

You sigh... *big sigh*

You winch yourself up, look over your mattress, and see "things," fuzzy furry things peeking out from under your bed.

You realize they are dust bunnies.

With a look of disdain and disgust, you flop back down, despondent.

 

Then it hits you!

 

Samuel Spider, the warlord of Fernland, and Dirk and Dan Dust Bunnies are joining forces in a quest to find the treasure - the lost bowl of King Tut's Fruit Loops!

 

You leap out of bed, grab a leftover napkin you obviously didn't use in that cereal foray, and you madly jot down the first sentences to a trilogy that goes so viral even J. K. Rowling calls you up to meet for brunch.

 

Hey, stuff like this happens all the time!

 

Go ahead, lie there, look around you, use your imaginative brain. 

Lying in your bed, you can only go up from here!

Fear of the Blank Page...

 

Fear of the Blank Page...

Solution: Don't look at that page until you've already drafted something out in your mind.

Simple-dimple. Easy-peasy. Donesco. Duh!

 

The panster mentality will take you places you don't want to go as a writer of competent and completed works. 

 

Sure, it's exciting, thrilling, to sit down and decide to let your gray cells take you on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but it'll be gross once you get dizzy with confusion, and you end up barfing all over your cotton candy because you didn't prepare for the ride by packing a barf bag.

 

Okay, gross and clumsy metaphor.

Hey, it's Monday. I liken Mondays to barfing...

 

Fun Fact: Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond series, used to suntan on his beach in Jamaica and mentally draft out a completed Bond book before he ever wandered up to his cabin, fixed a pitcher of martinis, and got to work typing out the tale.

 

Yes, genres like thriller/romance/mystery are plot recipe-driven, so nowhere near the complexity of, say, literary or historical works, but he was correct in completing this exercise, easy or not. 

 

**It's the only way your brain will tell your fingers what to write.** Fact.

 

What's the point of sitting down to write when you have nothing yet to write about???

 

I've not scientifically gauged this, but I think my conjuring up a story vs. actually writing out the story is about 90% to 10%. A TON of ruminating on the plot and the characters and the motivation and the obstacles takes place in my head before I ever even write out my scene cards, never mind actually pounding the keys.

 

Long works are not like flash fiction or short stories. It takes time to formulate a complete story arc.

Why would I torture myself by sitting in front of a computer before I hadn't a clue as to what's what?

 

Seriously. Get real about writing books. This is not some fairy tale romantic jaunt you're on. You don't go on a cross-country road trip never knowing where the damn gas stations are. Why attempt an 80 grand word work, having zero clue where the plot and characters will end up traveling?

 

Plan out that story. Think on each scene - its arc, and how the events and characters will interact and move that arc forward. Don't have a brain aneurysm about it, but allow your mind to flip through those scenes, so it knows where to take your fingers.

 

It's not brain surgery, but your brain must be drafted into the process; otherwise, I guess that Blank Page Fear will rear it's vacuous ugly head. And who needs that?

 

It's Monday. Get thinking. Ian is making a toast to your effort.

Fear of Writing - Ride the Wave...

 

Fear...

It's the No.1 driving force behind writers not writing.

 

People look at fear as a bad thing, when in reality it's truly your friend. That emotion warns you of perils ahead. *But what if those perils are merely imagined, and not real?*

 

Writers, artists, more than any other societal group, have an imagination that can equally feed greatness and fuel impotency.

 

The solution: welcome it. Ride the wave of fear! 

 

When it comes over you, embrace it. Say out loud to yourself, "I am afraid of screwing up. I doubt my efforts will succeed into anything meaningful," then whip on that imaginary bathing suit, grab your long board, and hit the surf, DETERMINED TO RIDE THAT FEAR by WRITING RIGHT THROUGH IT, like all it is, is another wave that carries excitement and adventure, not self harm.

 

After 4 literary novels, a writer How To, a child's adventure memoir and an edited writers group anthology under my belt, I've retrained my mind to know that when I get nervous before writing, that means I'm on my game, totally focused and alert, ready for anything, and I dig in and start clacking those keys.

 

I know I can always hit delete on those words that carry those negative feelings, but guess what, peeps? I never need to, because it's just my fertile mind playing with me, prepping me for the task ahead.

 

*You need to retrain your mind.*

You need to acknowledge the fear.

Say Hello to it. Welcome it back.

 

Carry it with you to the paper or keyboard and ride those jittery feelings right through to those first sentences like the water tubes they are that only end up crashing onto the shore, into nothingness, and you laugh at the fantastic ride you just survived!

 

This is YOUR chance to take an adventurous ride with your mind. 

 

Are you game? Follow me. Let's go surfin'!

Try this tactic, and comment below.

The 5 Minute Writing Mindset Game...

 

Photo Adelaide Club

Not writing at all? Try this exercise:

 

When it's your time to write, sit down in front of your pad of paper or keyboard, start a timer for 5 minutes, and just sit there, doing nothing. You can drink a coffee if you wish, but do nothing else.

 

Once the 5 minutes are up, get up, and go about the rest of your day.

 

Tomorrow, at the same time, do the same thing, BUT ADD ONE MORE MINUTE to those 5, and now sit there for 6 minutes.

 

Keep doing this every day you don't write, adding a minute more, until you DO write. Even just ONE WORD. That word you plunk down could simply be the word, "the."

 

Every day after that first word day, write TWO WORDS. If you don't, you must start the 5-minute wait game all over again.

 

You think this is silly? That's cool. Do it anyways. Follow me. 

 

And once you have undertaken this process, come back here to tell us your experience with it.

 

We must retrain your brain to remove all the process doubts and fears. 

To be a habitual/prolific writer does NOT happen overnight, and not without mental work.

 

Trust me. Follow me. Try it.

Writer's Block Doesn't Exist - Follow Me...

 

Have you tried everything to write and nothing has worked? 

• Seminars
• Writers groups
• How-To books
• Drooling in a fetal position under your desk
  

 Well, before you can surmount an obstacle, you need to know why it exists in the first place. 

There is no such thing as Writer's Block — if you know who you are as an artist, and what makes you tick. I'm here to show you, to you.

I've helped many others in the decade+ years I led a writers process group, so I know I can help you. Follow me.

Comment below, and tell me your stories of writer woe.

Cartoons of the Unfinished...