Something Deeper
By John Vorhaus | May 28, 2015 |
Hey gang, with this column I’m going to try to get underneath writing and into something deeper. I’m not sure if it’s appropriate grist for the WriterUnboxed mill but, “Throw it out the window and see if it lands,” right? Your feedback will tell me if I’m on-topic or off-. -jv
Writer’s block, I have discovered, takes place at the intersection of too much fear and not enough information. Whenever I find myself in that dark neighborhood, I never try to write. Instead, I go gather new information. Once I’ve tipped the balance back in information’s favor, I find that my fear goes to sleep and I can go back to work. That’s how I beat writer’s block, not by trying to muscle through it, but by using strategies to make it go away.
I use this same approach to address other issues in my life, be they personal, spiritual, practical, existential, whatever-al. I don’t try to solve my problems, per se. I just study them more deeply – add new information. This gives me practice at gathering and using information – never a bad thing – and, of course, it brings new information to bear on the matter or matters at hand.
Get used to gathering data. Make it part of your practice, part of becoming more you. It’s not important what you look into, just that you have the habit of looking, a habit you can cultivate and enjoy as a positive addiction and a path to enlightenment for as long as you live.
When I tell you that gathering information is a path to enlightenment, I’m not horsing around. I know it from my own experience; you know it from yours. Enlightenment exists at the ultimate intersection of what we know and how we use it. Everything that advances us toward that goal is part of enlightenment, too.
But, “My life tends to get in the way of my life,” I can hear someone say. “Between work, family, school, love, ambition, bills, pills and spills, who has time for big exploration?”
Well, who said anything about big exploration? No one’s asking you to master Sanskrit. Start small. Pick a subject you can peck away at in the corners of your time.
What would you investigate, for fun or for insight, if you had time?
I would investigate (off the top of my head): World War I. World War II. Contemporary art. Brewing and distilling. The works of many philosophers. The Munster Rebellion. The Boxer Rebellion. The Whiskey Rebellion. Tennis. Genetics. Metallurgy. Ooh, alchemy! The dawn of civilization. Myths and legends. The Iran-Iraq War. Linguistic anthropology. Regular anthropology. Islands of the South Pacific. Astronomy, astrology and the Golden Age of anything.
Above and beyond the learning that’s in it, such investigations will have the added benefit of establishing yourself as a seeker and explorer in the eyes of two groups:
1/ You.
2/ Everyone else.
In terms of yourself, simply accept that you’re on the path, and that advancing along the path will always be at least a part of what you do.
For the outer crowd, they need to know that you own your time – that there will be times when you drop everything and just go exploring because that’s who you are.
What we’re talking about here is using the yeast of new information to make our lives rise. You’re doing it. I’m doing it. Not everyone around us does, but they need to respect that we do.
We live our lives among others, that’s a fact, and people put demands on our time. Some demands are legitimate, and should be negotiated in good faith and good spirit. Other demands, though, may mask a hidden agenda, for while you’re making your life rise, you can be seen as a threat to those around you who are not. For fear of confronting their own thwarted aspirations in this area, they might want to – and try to – stunt your growth by sabotaging your time.
This isn’t nice and it’s not fair, but it does happen, and when it happens it demands action – bold action. You can’t let others stand between you and the life you want to live. It won’t make you happy and it won’t make them happy, either.
But it’s hard to take action toward change, especially the kind of change that involves removing people from your life. It’s hard to measure that risk versus reward.
The yardstick I use is a hill.
Imagine that you’re standing on a hill and in the distance you see a mountain. You want to be on the mountain – you’d rather be on the mountain – but you’re not sure if you can get there. One thing you are sure of: Your first step off this hill is down.
Bummer. You’re being asked to make a certain sacrifice for an uncertain gain. What kind of deal is that?
The only kind of deal there is, once you consider the alternative. You might not reach the mountain by coming down off the hill, but you’ll never reach the mountain if you don’t.
So your choices are these: the uncertain hope of improvement or the certain knowledge of no improvement.
It’s hard to come down off the hill if it’s a pretty good hill or if you have a lot invested in it. “Good is the enemy of great,” as they say. And it’s hard to come down off the hill if you fear you won’t reach a better place. Having a clear sense that things won’t change unless you change can motivate that first downhill step.
I quit my job once using this logic. It was a good job with decent pay and prospects. It was even kind of fun. But it didn’t let me own my time, and that was my mountaintop: to own all my time. I didn’t know if I could reach that goal (and not go broke or starve). I just knew that staying put wouldn’t work. With no guarantee of reaching the high mountain, I had to get down off that hill.
People use this logic to leave jobs every day. Leave home. Leave relationships. Leave addictions. Change careers. Become writers. Become artists. Become… whatever.[pullquote]Leave home. Leave relationships. Leave addictions. Change careers. Become writers. Become artists. Become… whatever.[/pullquote] They don’t know if change will work. They just know that not-change won’t.
What hill do you stand on? What mountain do you seek? Go boldly. Nothing but change awaits.
What strategies do you use to deepen your self-understanding? Or is that even an issue for you? Can a writer be enlightening without being enlightened? Does that even matter? Discuss! :)
John Vorhaus has written seven novels, including Lucy in the Sky, The California Roll, The Albuquerque Turkey and The Texas Twist, plus the Killer Poker series and (with Annie Duke) Decide to Play Great Poker. His books on writing include The Comic Toolbox, How to Write Good and Creativity Rules!
This hit home for me. It is my instinct to run toward information, to learn something new when writing stalls. I always thought it was procrastination. You’ve opened the possibility that I just need to tuck new information in my noggin so that I can move on. Thanks for the enlightenment.
My father was always investigating things. Languages, ideas, the creative works of others. He was an Engineer by trade, but I suspect that if he hadn’t chosen marriage and fatherhood, he might have been an artist. He was a voracious learner, which I think is the hallmark of a creative mind. He settled down to raising and educating four children, while I settled to very little until I got serious about writing novels. Do I think writers need to be enlightened in order to be enlightening? No. Rather, I think we have to be willing to let others see us struggle for our own understandings. We have to be vulnerable to falling off our mountain. Like the court jester who cuts the fool to show the courtiers the cost of human folly or the triumph of risk-taking. What a job description, eh? But it beats sitting in a cubicle!
Wow, John, this is really good! I never thought of researching, investigating, “needing to know” as something that could lift me from my doldrums – yet it makes good sense. If nothing else it gets our minds off ourselves and whatever problems we’re having and gets all those gears turning over something else.
I will definitely be giving this a try next time I’m tying myself into emotional knots or stuck in the quagmire of writer’s block.
Thank you! :-D
I love this. I’m an information junkie and am always learning. I’ve found that my eclectic background and life adventures have been a treasure house of fodder for my writing. I’ve always written nonfiction but have ventured into the arena of fiction with a three-part sci-fi series based loosely on the ancient astronaut theory as told by Z. Sitchen.
I didn’t buy into Sitchen’s premise as fact, but it is rich with possibilities for stories. So, decades of learning how to write fiction have produced my nearly finished Gods of Arkhon series.
My favorite line from your blog is “What we’re talking about here is using the yeast of new information to make our lives rise. You’re doing it. I’m doing it. Not everyone around us does, but they need to respect that we do.” Now that really hit home.
Thanks.
I was really in the mood for something deeper today – especially as this is precisely the kind of conversation I am having at the moment with family. Whose motto seems to be: ‘Stay on the comfort of the hill and forget about the mountain.’
That’s where I’ve been at lately, blasting through sluggish writing by researching modern military tactics and going on a military action movie binge. I think it’s part research, part inspiration from other people’s stories.
John-
Sparkling gems of wisdom:
“Writer’s block, I have discovered, takes place at the intersection of too much fear and not enough information.”
“Gathering information is a path to enlightenment.”
“You might not reach the mountain by coming down off the hill, but you’ll never reach the mountain if you don’t.”
“Accept that you’re on the path, and that advancing along the path will always be part of what you do.”
Enlightenment is one thing. Acceptance is another. Becoming one is yet something else again. The journey into story is like the journey through life.
Struggle is the essence of stories but letting go of struggle is the essence of writing them. The goal is not to reach the finish line with a manuscript but to walk the storyteller’s path with no finish line to cross.
Om, baby. Great post.
My hill is overthinking, and my mountain is faith. Thanks for a great post encouraging me to take that first step down.
I think a writer enlightens by telling his or her truth, but an enlightened writer has a lot more to say.
Reading this was akin to someone shining a light back on my personal mountain(s). You remind me it’s there and the only way up is through the valley.
” Other demands, though, may mask a hidden agenda, for while you’re making your life rise, you can be seen as a threat to those around you who are not. For fear of confronting their own thwarted aspirations in this area, they might want to – and try to – stunt your growth by sabotaging your time.”
In addition to climbing down the hill in pursuit of my writing dreams, I began spearheading a grassroots library for my small community two years ago. I had family who not only told me neither would happen, but tried to thwart my goals in subtle ways.
Now that the library is less than two weeks from opening, and I have published a short story here and there, I realized I was holding my breath for those same people to say, “Oh, look what you’ve done. Good on you.” Silly, right? I have to let go every day, learn something new, and keep moving forward.
I spotted another mountain with my name on it- going back to college and finally finishing my degree. I mentioned it to a family member and got the ole, “There goes crazy Tonia again. Why won’t she just settle for what she has like the rest of us?” look. Made me want to apply that same day. :)
I like your suggested course of action in the face of stress- keep learning. I do best when I’m there, when I trust the path to enlightenment and let go. It energizes me and I think of that quote-
“What if I fall?”
“But, Darling, what if you fly?”
So, I study the life of Buddha and his teachings, Egyptian mythology, the lives of authors, the symbolism behind tarot cards, meditations, civil unrest in Turkey, histories of civil disobedience, the lives of peaceful warriors, the feminist movement, pop culture… The list goes on. Myriad interests that become part of me, and my voice on the page.
Yes, you hit home with this post. Not a shot in the dark, but rather a light in the wilderness. Thank you.
I am already on your mail list, since I downloaded your free book Texas Twist. Since then I have received your very amusing anecdotes which often lighten up my day. This time you’ve taken me by surprise and I am realizing what a wise, spiritual profound character you are. I like it.
Loved this, John. What a great way to navigate life.
I’m often heard saying “I’m a gatherer.” Do I get stressed when things spiral out of my control? Sure. But then I research. I gather all the facts I can, call every ‘expert’ I know, then use this information to make an informed decision. Are my choices always the right ones? No. But I never look back and wonder if I should’ve called it differently.
Another saying I’m known to spew, “If this doesn’t work and I fall flat on my face, it won’t be from a lack of effort.”
Thanks for the great reminder, John!
Dee Willson
Author of A Keeper’s Truth and GOT
If we ever stop growing, learning, experiencing, we are lost as writers. Not to mention how boring we become with nothing new to talk about with friends and family.
Thanks for the reminder, John.
John, I could hug you right now. Beautiful, beautiful post and the Flammarion engraving to top it off. I’m going to keep this message, pin it where I can see it every day, and I’m going to share it with a few special people. Thanks. Blessed be your journey.
Good piece here John. My strategy as a writer is based on input-output theory. If I run into a block of some kind in my work or I’m not feeling energized, I know I need more Input. I read pieces of books randomly. Listen to new music (especially jazz and classical). Find old magazines and read articles I didn’t think I wanted to read when they first came in. There’s great stuff online as well. It’s quite similar to what you’re saying about information. The trick in all of it is carving out the time. Just saying to yourself STOP. Re-focus! Take some time to read stuff at Guernica or a writer’s interview at Paris Review (whatever).
This is related: I just unofficially signed off of Facebook for the summer. I think Facebook makes it too easy to Output the Input. Let’s say you stumble on a really great YouTube video or an awesome essay here at WU. With Facebook, the natural thing is to post the link. You can Output an Input in minutes. Yes, it may still be in your head, but it feels to me like the full valence of that original experience is diminished. And as so often happens, no one responding to your post also seems to diminish the input a bit more.
What a weird freakin’ world…
Love this post, John. Don already tagged a number of my favorite lines, but I have to add this: “What we’re talking about here is using the yeast of new information to make our lives rise.” Yes, yes.
A strategy I use to deepen self-understanding is also visual, but it doesn’t involve mountains. Rather, it involves a vast landscape and a center–the center being wherever you are now. And it’s your/our/my job to figure out that landscape, to map it, and sometimes to create a new center if that’s a better place, ultimately, to be. But you’ll never know if you choose to play it safe, if you stand still.
Up a mountain, down a hill, over the meadow and through the woods… We agree that movement is necessary for personal knowledge and growth. Here’s to shoes with good tread, and the desire to explore.
Thanks, John.
Beautiful piece. Exactly what I wanted to read at the moment. And great title you’ve chosen, it’s actually something deeper. Your words is full of wisdom and experience.
Loved this post. As a NF writer, I have to absorb a lot to begin writing … and if I get stuck, it’s usually because I don’t understand something. And I do write to understand as well, but I have to have enough core knowledge to begin. Good stuff.
John, I couldn’t agree more with every word! Love the way you wrote this. Well done!
A thought provoking article. Thank you.
For me, writer’s block happens at the conjunction of fear, like you said, but with not listening to myself about something in my writing that isn’t working. More specifically, I don’t listen because admitting this feels too challenging, hence the fear. When I finally admit it, the problem is often much smaller than it felt. I make the changes and free flow begins again.
At the UnCon it became clear that you harbor a spiritual side under the smart, wisecracking John. I’m delighted to see him showing up here. Not off topic at all. Nowhere, nohow.
Jave –
That first sentence…it rang familiar. Was it a tweet I retweeted? No, it was from the UnCon — from one of your sessions — jotted in my notes. I can still hear your voice, plain as day. And, like Jan in the comment above, at the UnCon I also found, beneath the clown white makeup, a deeply spiritual person dispensing writerly proverbs.
These words…I needed to read them today:
“We live our lives among others, that’s a fact, and people put demands on our time. Some demands are legitimate, and should be negotiated in good faith and good spirit. Other demands, though, may mask a hidden agenda, for while you’re making your life rise, you can be seen as a threat to those around you who are not. For fear of confronting their own thwarted aspirations in this area, they might want to – and try to – stunt your growth by sabotaging your time.
This isn’t nice and it’s not fair, but it does happen, and when it happens it demands action – bold action. You can’t let others stand between you and the life you want to live. It won’t make you happy and it won’t make them happy, either.”
I guess I could have copied and pasted the whole article…really good stuff here. I’m so fortunate to have met someone in the biz who…well, who approaches life in a similar way as I and so graciously shares his knowledge.
Peace.
Hi John,
Loved this post. Thought about it all day. Don’t think I’ll ever run out of topics it seems critical — right now — to be researching on a path towards self-understanding . . . towards enlightenment of any kind! And the internet has really become inexhaustible, with sites like Coursera and edX, where professors share their knowledge for free. Or the Library of Congress, which has digitized all kinds of wonderful stuff.
A lot of people are content just being consumers, and they carp and complain. Other people prefer to live in the past. The world is going to hell! What happened to the good old days?
But I keep my eyes on the prize in my ongoing quest for meaning.
Thanks for making think:-)
Deb
Thanks for an excellent post, John. It effectively contradicts one of the most damaging pieces of writing advice, “Write what you know.” As a teacher of writing, I know that this advice usually constricts a student’s view of the world to his or her own experiences.
But great writing comes, in part, from the writer’s vision of the world. That vision is built, just as you say, by exploration and gathering material of interest. A writer might not even use this material in a piece of writing, but what he’s learned will change the way he looks at the world. So, in this way, it differs from project-focused research. It’s more free-ranging, driven by interests (or obsessions!) we might not even know we have. At the moment, for instance, I’ve been reading book after book about POW camps in World War II. I have no idea why I’m doing this, but after years of being a self-directed learner, I’ve learned to trust my own instincts.
As for other people, I’ve found it can be helpful to share a little bit of what I’m learning with them. Sometimes they’re interested!
Can a writer be enlightening with being enlightened? That question got me thinking. And then I realized, Of course! It is the search for enlightenment that makes us write. Isn’t it? As I write, I’m investigating my own feelings for the topic. Doing this opens up my thoughts for discussion with others. It’s a challenge to any who read what I write to think about their own views and discuss them. If we knew the answers to all questions and reached enlightenment, I’m not sure we’d have much to say.
Thanks for asking a question that only begs for more questions.
I read other great fiction in my spare time away from writing. Does that qualify as knowledge? I always see it as something else: almost the opposite of knowledge, more esoteric. Honing my craft. What do you think? Does it have to be knowledge?