Put One Foot in Front of the Other Without Tripping, Flailing or Falling on Your Face
By Guest | March 8, 2011 |
Therese here. Today’s guest is the ever-positive Michelle Ward. Michelle has a great job. She’s a certified life coach, and “helps creative people devise the career they think they can’t have.” She’s served as an expert source and contributor for such outlets as Newsweek and Psychology Today, and led workshops and seminars at SXSW 2011 and the sold-out Etsy Success Symposium. She’s with us today to talk about something we all need to hear at one point or another: how to sustain momentum in our writing. Enjoy!
How to Put One Foot in Front of the Other Without Tripping, Flailing or Falling Flat on Your Face
The light bulb goes off above your head, the clouds part and the angels sing, and you may or may not shout, “Eureka!”, followed by a loud rendition of The Hallelujah Chorus – you have an idea! Whether it’s for the title of your next book or the topic of your next blog post, it comes along with a strong feeling of joy, excitement, enthusiasm, and… total terror.
How can you make what’s in your head come out on the page? Oh sure, the idea is the easy part – it’s the blank page, or being confident that you’ll get to that last sentence, that keeps your knees knocking and your fingers away from the keyboard. No matter where you are in the process, here are some ideas to help you take that first step and keep putting one foot in front of the other:
If you’re having trouble starting….
- …you might not be so psyched about the idea. Just because you have an idea doesn’t mean you wanna commit to it. Sometimes writing is like dating – you need to kiss a few frogs to find your prince! To me, a prince of a writing piece is something that I’m excited to share, is important for me to put out into the world, is going to give me pleasure in the process and is gonna keep calling me back to it without any feet-dragging on my part. If there’s feet-dragging before ya start, then write the idea down in your Amazeballs Ideas book (you have something like that, right?) and let it sit. If it doesn’t call you in a week or a month to come back to it, let it live in the book until it does. And if that’s forever, that’s OK, because sometimes you don’t wanna kiss the frog at all – you know at first glance that it won’t be your prince!
- … you might be overwhelmed with the scope of the idea. Sometimes a project seems so big, it scares us away even though we really want to dig in. If this describes your situation, then set a timer for 3 minutes and do my favorite thing: a braindump! Take those 3 minutes and write down all the steps that need to happen in order to take this idea from your head to the very last word. Feel free to use my Goal Game to keep you moving along (and reward yourself along the way!), or start from the last step and work backwards to the first. Then just do the very first step and pat yourself on the back – you’ve begun!
If you’re having trouble mid-project….
- ….you might not be working within your time constraints. I’ve had many the client who’s said, “But I can never find the four hour block I need to write!” Well, nobody can find time – you have to make it! So take an objective look at your week and see how much time you can realistically carve out for your writing. It might involve giving up the newest episode of Tabitha’s Salon Takeover, but she’d understand – that go-getter would do the same thing! Also, get over the idea that a good 30-minute chunk of time doesn’t count, because if that’s all you have, then you gotta work with it. Just think – 30 minutes every day is 3.5 hours at the end of the week, and that’s not chump change.
- …you might not be enjoying what you’re writing at that moment. If you still think this idea is a prince, then it might just be where you’re at in the story that you don’t like. Write down some notes or general bullet points for each section until you get to a place that excites you. Then, start writing from there. You can always go back and fill in the blanks!
If you’re having trouble finishing….
- …your perfectionist muscles might be kickin’ in. If you hear yourself saying things like, “It’s not ready!” or “I just need to…” more than once (or twice, even!), then you might be a perfectionist. I’m a recovering one myself, and I know how easy it is to keep editing and editing…well…forever. To combat this, you have to find your own Perfectionist Pause Process. For me, I allow myself to go over my final draft twice and then I send it over to my virtual assistant for typos. Once she’s checked it, it’s “done” – no more changes allowed! One of my clients hears her own voice saying, “Enough is enough already!” when she gets into Perfectionist mode, and sometimes that’s, um, enough. Figure out – or create – your own stop sign so you don’t keep beating a dead horse.
- …you might be scared to share. I’m about to release a rhyming (yes, rhyming!) 50-page career change workbook for adults out into the world, and, well, I’ve been sitting on it. So, instead of continuing to sit on it, I take one small baby step: sending it to friends who expressed an interest in the content, and getting their warm words of encouragement. It gives me the warm and fuzzies so that I can take a bigger step: announcing it to my newsletter list, who I feel are most receptive since they asked to be updated on My Stuff. Then, I’ll be able to blog and tweet and Facebook away about it to The World at Large.
So stop waiting for The Right Moment and do just one thing, for even just a few minutes, to take a baby step forward. You’ll be able to bring your idea to life, keep it going, and/or cross the finish line sooner than you think!
Thanks so much for a great post, Michelle! Readers, you can learn more about Michelle on her website, her blog, or connect with her on Facebook and Twitter. Write on.
Photo courtesy Etsy’s thingspeoplesay
Many thanks to today’s guest.
You can read more WU guest posts by visiting this link.
This pertinent post was exactly the thoughts I had been craving to read. Michelle, I’m heading over to all your sites to check out your information. Thanks for sharing your wisdom today for us writers and our love-hate-relationship with our mss. :)
Thanks, M.E. – so glad it was helpful for ya! And thanks for the Twitter follow, too – am followin’ ya right back!
Love this! :D
Yay! :)
Lots of times, if we can’t get into the frame of mind to work on a project, we should get to work anyway. Kenneth Atchity, the author of A Writer’s Time: Making the Time to Write, said, “Keep moving forward despite your moods. You cannot allow achievement to depend on mood. If you always must be in a good mood to accomplish your work, then it’s probably time to consult a therapist. You haven’t grown up.” Crime novelist Lawrence Block said, “Some people enjoy writing. Others hate it. As far as I can tell, there’s no real correlation between the pleasure the author takes in a book’s composition and the pleasure a reader will take later on.” So maybe if we aren’t psyched about the idea, or we aren’t enjoying writing at the moment, we should try to move forward with the project anyway, and we’ll still produce good work.
Totally agree, James. Sometimes writing is one of those activities where starting it as way worse than actually doing it – like working out! Ya know, it’s always hardest for me to put on my sneakers and workout clothes & walk out the door than it is for me while I’m actually running. Sometimes I procrastinate on my writing, but when I’m in the middle of it I realize I’m having a great time. So yes, powering through is key!
But that said, I’m big on setting timers so that you can be “relieved” if things are still torturous after, say, 30 minutes. That way you can pat yourself on the back for being there and doing your work, but you can walk away guilt-free if it’s just not flowin’ for ya after that.
I needed to hear all this today. Thank you!
You’re most welcome, Kathleen! So glad it was a timely post for ya.
I think that supportive writing friends help, not only in the final stage, but at every stage of the project. At least, I’ve found my writer friends are usually the safe port/encouragement I need to help me find my way out of a block. Thanks for a great post!
Agreed! Such a good point, Cathy. Cheerleaders/supporters/our “tribe” so make a difference.
“Write down some notes or general bullet points for each section until you get to a place that excites you. Then, start writing from there. You can always go back and fill in the blanks!”
This is a technique that has occasionally worked for me. In writing down ideas or snippets of dialog to come on a notebook in front of me, I am propelled to get to those parts. Thanks to your post, I’m thinking I need to adopt it as a routinely used tool.
As to being frightened to share, I’m always terrified, so thanks for the tips on taking baby steps. Great post, Michelle, and timely advice.
Oh great, Vaughn! I really believe it’s about experimenting for as long as ya need until you find your process. Sounds like your process might include trying the bullet point game!
And baby steps absolutely get ya far. Mark my words!
Thanks so much for having me, Therese! It was so much fun writing for your amazeballs audience.
This is fascinating, Michelle. I struggle with another sort of fear of starting: as Brunonia Barry put it in one of her guest posts here, once you start, the story takes hold of you and you’re in it’s grip. That’s what’s keeping me from taking the plunge with a new novel right now. Once I begin a new story, I know without a doubt that it will consume every bit of my mental energy. Yet I’ll still have two kids, a busy job, a blog, guest WU posts and all sorts of other things to stay on top of. I love the feeling of being completely sucked into my story, but it really does make the rest of life so much harder. My husband gets grumpy. Things slip through the cracks at work. Advice on how to tackle that particular dilemma?
Sharon, I’m so pickin’ up what you’re puttin’ down, and I gotta say that I don’t hear about that challenge too often! So while we know it’s not a bad thing to know you’ll be all-consumed by a new idea/story/project, it’s certainly not a totally positive thing when it’s one of four or five hats you have to wear every day!
My word to run away with: experiment. Experiment with how much time you can take for writing before you have a grumpy husband. Experiment with whether or not it’s possible to write for a few minutes (30? 45? 60? 90?) each day, or if it’s better/feasible to block out a few hours (2? 4? 5?) each weekend day. What’s your sweet spot? What works for your other priorities and your family?
Also, I have to be all blunt, but you might wanna look at your other priorities and see what could take a back seat. Would it be OK to, say, post on your blog less than 4 times a week, telling your readers there’s a book in it for ’em? :) Or is it feasible to put your guest post(s) on hold, or lessen your commitment, for the time you need to work on your story? I know it’s super-tough, but none of us has any time – we have to make it!
Also also, if you don’t already, have a catch-all for all your ideas. That way, if you don’t have time to flesh anything out, at least you know you can get them down & they’re safe. I have some clients that use the Notes feature on their phones, others that leave themselves voicemails, and others that carry a notebook everywhere they go. Experiment!
Hope this helps :)
I agree that outlining a scene or section of the story that isn’t as exciting as it could be, or just seems foggy, and pressing on with a scene that’s clear and engaging is good advice, and a great antidote to writer’s block. I’ve had to do this on every novel I’ve written.
One novel’s opening stayed lost in fog for nearly a year, while I jumped all over the place writing what I could see (digging where the ground is soft, as Diana Gabaldon puts it). It all came clear in the end and I had a lot more fun leaving those foggy bits to sort themselves out in my subconscious while I wrote other scenes.
Back then I was recovering from chemo fog, and the most important thing for me was keeping up momentum and enthusiasm as I retrained my brain to the disciplines of daily writing. I had enough to overcome, and needed to nurture a feeling of anticipation, joy, and fun as I came to the computer each morning. The last thing I could afford was dread.
Until I was fully recovered (assuming I am!) I kept this up, and it became part of How I Write. If a scene or story section is giving me too much grief, I jot a few notes and skip it, trusting that somewhere, probably when I’m least expecting it, I’ll have an Aha moment that sends me running back to that section with a workable solution and far more creative energy than if I had stubbornly spun my wheels in it weeks or months back.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Lori! So glad that you’re in recovery/recovering, and that you’ve figured out your process along the way. It’s so important for everyone to give themselves the time, space, and guilt-free place to do that!
Thanks for such a helpful post, Michelle! I’ve been big on goal setting/finishing spree at my day job, but it wasn’t until I read your post that I realized, “Uh, dhu, you should set goals to get writing done too, dummy!” I’m working with you’re goal game, but could use an extra square or two. I guess I’ll cheat and add some extra steps :D.
Cheat away, Lena! The Goal Game was tough to design because every Goal has a different amount of steps, but tape a sheet of paper to it & make it as long as ya want – just don’t forget the Celebration boxes every 3 steps or so!
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