Monday Motivation - Do One Thing
Episode description
Welcome to Monday Motivation - Do One Thing
This week in HappyWriter, a question came up during our coffee hour— which is like our informal time to just hang out, drink coffee, share some wins, and ask questions— that I thought was so good that I'd make an entire podcast out of it. A member asked, basically, how they could manage the different components of their short story—tension, and pacing, and character and so forth— while they were composing.
My answer was pretty straight forward, and it was simply, "don't."
Let me unpack it a little bit more.
Oftentimes, and I am so so so so so guilty of this, we try to do too many things when we compose. We sit down to write and we bring both the artist, editor, and reader to the desk. Maybe even more than that.
What happens is universal. The artist gets going, and then the editor chimes in that a word is off, the reader tells you they are getting bored, and the artist is stifled by the creative constriction. The swirl continues until the three voices produce a stalemate. The result? We call it writer's block. And if you get enough writer's block, it is so easy to believe you aren't a writer at all.
One thing I've learned from interviewing 50+ authors is that they have an incredible ability to stay rooted in one personality—the artist, editor, or reader—while they are doing their work. When they are composing, they don't let the editor do their edits. They don't question a word choice. They don't go back and edit the same paragraph a million times. They wait until the book is done, and then they switch hats to the editor hat, and then to the reader hat for polish.
And so the answer to my friend in HappyWriter was to write triple the words they needed. Write for the joy of writing. Write the thing that makes your heart beat faster and your skin tingle with electricity. Give the editor ample amounts of raw, beautiful creation from the artist. Let the editor go to work molding and sculpting until the best material comes out.
This week give yourself permission to be one personality. If you are in composing mode, just write. Don't edit. Don't critique. Just have a blast. Write 3 or 4 or 5 times more than you need. Write all the little you want with all the little characters. Don't take the first-round too seriously, because you know you have a world-class editor waiting to take your creation and perfect it.
Just do one thing.
Thank you so much for listening, and I hope you have a wonderful week of writing.