Why Do You Write? And Why Aren’t You Writing?
By Cathy Yardley | August 15, 2016 |
Photo by Jacob Vanderheyden.
Alone is a reality TV show where ten competitors get dropped off on various parts of Vancouver Island, and are forced to figure out how to survive by themselves. The last one standing won half a million dollars.
My son is charmed by tales like My Side of the Mountain and Hatchet, and my husband is a fair outdoorsman. As for me, I’d be the idiot who dies in the first hour because I tripped on a limpet shell and managed to strangle myself with my own rucksack. (I am what you’d call “indoorsy”.) Nonetheless, I was still hooked.
Who takes on this kind of lunacy?
It was fascinating seeing these people, all ostensibly trained in wilderness living and survival, break down into two separate groups. The first were what I’ll call the “tough” camp: ones that were viewing the outdoors and the challenge itself as an antagonist to defeat. The second group were the “spiritualist” camp: being one with all things, seeking to coexist within their environment, respecting its power and adapting to its pressures.
As the competition wore on, members from both camps – “tough” and “spiritual” – started dropping out in roughly equal numbers. It was intriguing to watch them get worn down, not just by the sheer work of eking out an existence facing inclement temperatures, predators, and little sustenance, but the true damning element: doing all of it alone. The mental stamina required to keep going, keep working the day-to-day tasks that keep you alive, is made infinitely harder when you don’t have anyone else to talk to, whether to celebrate or commiserate. Seeing grown men cry from loneliness was a sobering thing.
So what was effective?
I won’t spoil the show for those who want to watch it, but when it came down to the final three, all shared one trait.
They all wanted the prize.
Not “proving themselves physically.” Not “living with nature.” They wanted the $500k.
More than that: the money they craved wasn’t for themselves. They wanted the money to improve the living condition of someone they loved.
When the stakes kept raising in the form of increased obstacles (weather turning colder, food sources dwindling, monotony and solitude building) those with the strongest motivation pursued the prize the fiercest, and lasted the longest.
What does that have to do with writing?
Success came through a clear goal (“win the prize”) with very strong, emotion-hooked motivation (“to improve the life of my loved one”.) This is what propelled them forward through escalating conflict (starvation, the elements, and emotional instability.)
Goal. Motivation. Conflict. The holy hat-trick of novel writing. This show definitely illustrates the principle.
Even more relevant to writers: it showed how to keep going with a hard, boring, and often unpleasant task.
Finishing your novel: the tough slog.
I know very few writers who move forward, head down, straight through from conception to completion. Most of us (and yes, I count myself in this) tend to thrash around, either getting distracted by shiny new ideas or wallowing in irrelevant side-tasks. Personally, I find myself unaccountably seduced by organizing and cleaning when writing looms.
Those authors I do know that do move forward like clockwork have, strangely, the same clear goal.
They are doing it to get paid.
They have loved ones who depend on them, or just basics such as food, shelter, and the like – survival issues. As a result, they have a very clear time frame for when work needs to be completed, and a tangible result if they do not accomplish their goal, even when life intervenes.
Does that mean you should only write to get paid?
No. Absolutely, utterly not. NO!
Going back to the show analogy: those that left earlier had their own reasons, and few if any of them felt like failures. They accomplished the goals that they set for themselves. Ultimately, they only had to prove things to themselves.
(Except for that one guy, who was just scared of being eaten by bears, and left immediately. Again, I respect that. I, too, would rather not be bear chow. See: “indoorsy.”)
It means that the stronger and clearer the motivation, the more likely you are to get it done. And the only people I know who work like machines are the ones who depend on it. If you don’t depend on it, don’t beat yourself up for not getting things done.
Instead, look at your motivation, and figure out how to amplify it.
Some suggestions to boost your motivation
- Journal a dialogue with your subconscious. This is weird, but it works. Pretend you’re interviewing your motivation. Ask why it’s so important that you complete the book. Ask what’s standing in your way. Then ask what you could do to make things easier to get it done.
- Make it a game. If you’re competitive, enter things like Nano or boot camps, use applications like Write or Die, or get into a public accountability group. Use word count meters to show your progress. (Especially good for “tough” writers!)
- Get a support group. Again, the truly difficult part of the TV show’s challenge was the solitude. If you get trapped in your own head, it makes everything harder. Writer Unboxed’s Facebook group is a great place to check in and find people who are going through the same hardships. They can offer great brainstorming and advice, as well as fresh perspective. You will often find yourself energized by the companionship.
- Get help. Find a course, a group, or a coach that can guide you through the process. Ideally, someone who can help you clarify why you’re doing it and help you past the obstacles in your way.
Final note: balance is key.
While I encourage everyone to finish their novels and keep on writing, do look at the fact that this isn’t life or death. We might say “I have to write or I’d die”, but too much pressure might strangle the very creative soul where our writing originates. It’s a balancing act. Care about it enough to keep yourself going – and not so much that it drives you crazy.
And when the going gets tough, you can always use my mantra:
“Hey, at least I’m not being eaten by bears.”
So, what drives your writing? How has that motivation translated into completed projects? What are your obstacles? And do you feel you have balance?
Cathy Yardley has published over 33 novels, novellas, and serialized fiction, both traditionally and independently. In 2011, she started RockYourWriting.com, with the mission of helping novelists make a living. She has helped hundreds of authors as a developmental editor, writing coach, and through her “plot sessions” – one-on-one calls that get authors from concept to plot points in one hour. She’s also written the Rock Your Writing series of reference books, taking authors through the writing cycle, from concept to completion. Sign up for her newsletter, and you can receive free downloads to help you plot and revise your novel.
“Hey, at least I’m not being eaten by bears.” Thanks for this Cathy. It was perfect for this Monday morning as we begin school and the resolve to be more productive. I struggle balancing WFH with my own pet projects that seem to take forever. I always think if the pets were under contract, they’d be on the shelves already. That said, I still can’t believe how lucky I am that I get to write. It’s a good life and as our children grow older it’s gotten easier as well. They are very much a reason *why* I write.
I’m tackling some work-for-hire myself right now, and shopping projects for the first time in a long time after self-pubbing. I love writing, though… it’s the best “job” I’ve ever had!
Good luck, Cathy!!!
Excellent post, Cathy. I’m one of those who keeps on task (mostly) because it’s my bread and butter, my ‘day job’. That suggests a topic for a future post by one of the team, about writing to earn a living while maintaining one’s artistic integrity. That can be a hard juggling act.
Juliet raises a good point about balancing the financial drive with artistic integrity. For those of us who are as yet unpublished, this raises the specter of “rushing to market.”
Now that the gate-keepers of traditional pub can be bypassed, it can be difficult to know when your work is ready. And the downside of rushing can be not just disappointing sales, but the possibility of a lingering reputation (no small thing for those who follow the urging advice to build a brand around their name before they publish).
I suppose this only goes to show an even stronger need for writerly fellowship than merely as a cure for loneliness. We need one another to lift each other’s spirits and to lift the quality and integrity of our work.
Thanks for getting me thinking, Coach (as usual), and for having so often lifted my spirits as well as the quality of my work.
RE: the “rushing to work” thing — again, it’s a balance. I think that some people absolutely jump the gun, especially with self-publishing. That said, I think that the opposite extreme, dragging one’s feet because of a possible “poor reputation”, is in some ways just as damaging.
To be blunt: if you self pub too soon, and it sucks, nobody’s going to remember. Seriously. While it stings, it’s not a flaming brand that’s going to sear you for life. We are too afraid of missteps and errors damaging our careers. I am living proof that it’s really, really difficult to irrevocably damage your career! Genre jumping, big publishing gaps, you name it. But what has kept me going is I keep swinging for it. When people ask “how can so-and-so writer be so popular?” one real element is, they *put their work out there.* There’s no magic bullet, but if you don’t keep trying, risk failure, you’re not going to get where you want to go.
Always a pleasure talking with you, Vaughn. Can’t wait to see you and the rest of the WU Un-Con gang in Salem this November!
Thanks, Cathy. I’m really looking forward to seeing you in Salem, too!
“We are too afraid of missteps and errors damaging our careers. I am living proof that it’s really, really difficult to irrevocably damage your career! Genre jumping, big publishing gaps, you name it. But what has kept me going is I keep swinging for it.”
Inspiring. Thanks. Feeling a bit bruised today, so this is good timing.
I think that artistic integrity can often be seen as somehow exclusive of profit, and I think it’s a mistake to buy into that belief.
I think that it’s like marriage. It’s not just you in the relationship: once you’re published, it’s you and your reader (which your publisher tries to represent by proxy, presumably.) You can’t just think about what you want, and being totally, selfishly true to your “vision”. That doesn’t mean that what is produced is without merit. For me, the constraints often push me to produce things that are more beautiful and more powerful, actually. At the same time, you don’t want to simply cave in to your partner’s every whim — that’s how you lose yourself, and create soulless husks and pale imitations.
There is no clear template for how to strike that balance, but the balance must be struck if you’re going to maintain a relationship… and create lasting writing.
“For me, the constraints often push me to produce things that are more beautiful and more powerful, actually.”
This.
At least I’m not being eaten by fears…
Ha! I started typing “bears” but what came out on the screen is “fears”. Same thing. Love this post. Strong motivation. Do it for others. Find support. Achieve balance. Inspiring, Cathy.
With 21 books behind me (written under other names), I know that each book is its own long road. I find that what carries me the distance, the motivation, also has to do with the characters themselves.
Their stories deserve to be told. They are like us. We need to know how. Maybe they are the others who motivate me? It’s certainly not money, though that is nice to get when you get it.
BTW, if you can, someday get to the northern end of Vancouver Island, it’s a wild, primal, beautiful and lonely place.
I have mental bears snapping at my heels a lot of the time. But funny, I was just talking about all this with a good friend last night. She was saying how she doesn’t do her work because she has no motivation. I told her how I learned about motivation by being a self-employed single mom. I had a mouth to feed, and that alone taught me discipline. But finishing a novel is a test of endurance, and as you say, you have to want the prize, which is different for each of us. Money would be nice. But the real prize is having said what I set out to say; it’s in being of service to a story that won’t let go of me and promising not to let go of it. It’s also me offering up to the young people in my family who are growing up in this crazy world that there’s more to life than ‘stuff’, and that friendship and family and forgiveness are the things that will endure. Those things are bear-proof!! Thanks for a truly awesome post.
I admit most of the last 10 years my writing has been off much more than on. Real life gets in the way, blah blah blah. We’ve all heard it before.
But I’ll tell you what serves as a great motivator: having the job from hell. Yes, its common for many writers to want to quit their day jobs and write full time, and we all think we have the worst job ever. In kind of a “my job could beat up your job” sort of way. All I know is that I have far surpassed burnout & I do not want to be part of the current commonly accepted business standard of treating people like they are NOT human beings.
If being caught in that duality–of not being treated like a human being and also not being able to give those you serve in your job the most quality and humane service, does not inspire a writer to examine the human condition through words, I don’t know what will. And yes, I want to make money too and break free of the chains.
So I’ve attacked with a vengeance a ms I’ve been putting off revising because I kept talking myself out of it. I’m also looking into other forms of writing opportunities. It’s either pursue and build on the skill I already have in writing or spend years and countless dollars & debt chasing re-education—and getting eaten by bears.
Question: although the competition is fierce, whose posts at Writer Unboxed are written with the most writerly grace, authority and confidence?
Answer: the inimitable, indoorsy Cathy Y.
I like how you’ve deconstructed the makeup of two groups on the TV show: the tough camp vs. the spiritualists. Nature as adversary vs nature as Mother Nature. It makes me think of a distinction sometimes made between Eastern and Western attitudes: the hand open to receive vs the hand that grabs or seizes. I guess there’s some analogy in this with the pantser whose creative hand is open, waiting to receive enlightenment, as distinct from the outliner who imposes a template to maximize productivity.
As for what motivates me as a writer, that’s complicated. But the short form is that writing is one of the few things–maybe the only thing– I do well enough to take some pride in. Although I once thought in terms of “career,” I no longer do. My motive is to seek to make my novels worthy of a sense of pride. It’s important to me for its own sake, and important enough to me to pay for professional advice. I may be prone to arrogance, but satisfying the demands of my own pride absolutely requires that I get the thinking of capable others.
What a great post and a good analogy. I’m not sure what the prize is: getting published? Having people write raving reviews? But I know I want it.
I can definitely relate to this. I am not yet a published writer, so all my deadlines are self-imposed. I both long for and dread the day when they’re not. I write because I love doing it, and also because I want to become a novelist someday, but there are days when I give myself a break, because I have a day job and other responsibilities, etc. and get behind. Someday!
I’m a huge fan of Alone, as well.
I won’t describe myself as “indoorsy” but I’m no Survivorwoman, either. : )
The driving force behind my writing is my desire to improve the quality of my husband’s life. And this motivation is keeping me focused. I’ve completed more than a dozen picture book manuscripts, a novel for young adults and a short story collection for adults.
My obstacle is my “disability”–but dyslexia is also my gift. People with dyslexia are driven to create. I’m comforted to know that I’m not the first writer to have dyslexia and I won’t be the last.
Do I have balance?
Probably not. But I’m very content.
I’m not getting eaten by bears. I love it! That may be my new mantra as I start this new series.
I happen to live on Vancouver Island in a remote ‘residential’ area 40 km from the bustling capital city of Victoria. When I moved in, a few disquieting brochures about wildlife safety arrived on my doorstep.
I’ve come to terms with bears and mountain lions wandering through my naïve patch of ‘civilization’. But if nothing else, navigating the wilderness of indie-publishing territory has put dangerous animals in perspective. I have a healthy respect for bears (especially mothers with cubs) and mountain lions, and a low threshold for human predators who stalk authors like hunters with machine guns.
Great post, and as someone else said, so full of grace. Thank you.
My fave part, and a perfect reminder for myself:
“If you don’t depend on it, don’t beat yourself up for not getting things done.
Instead, look at your motivation, and figure out how to amplify it.”
Hi Cathy. Thanks for reminding that it’s often about the motivation. I finished 2 manuscripts ok because once I get hooked into getting the story done, I get focused. Now, looking at a new project, I’m finding all sorts of excuses to be out and about instead. I must examine my overall motivation for writing novels and get in touch with what is important to me – which includes story, characters, etc, as someone mentioned above. And, in my case, historical events that seem to have chosen me to bring them into the light. (Did I write that? There’s some writerly arrogance, indeed). Anyway, the stories deserve to be told. Off now to grill my subconscious…
Love this Cathy, and I’m going to remember when things are tough that I am NOT being eaten by bears. As a fellow “indoorsy”, that is a good reminder.
That all said, I’m chiming in just to add my perspective on the writing method because I am one of those writers you mention who just sits down, nose down, and chips away until I’m done without getting tossed around. I also don’t find writing hard. True, there are days where I have to unpack various challenges and do some problem solving to figure out what’s in may way. Sometimes its as simple as (today, for example) realizing I need to change my location. Other days (most days), it’s just finding somewhere else to point the cursor. But over time, I’ve found the steady act of coming back to the manuscript again and again, no excuses, has built up storytelling muscles. In fact, when I write, I feel free, alive, liberated; it’s joyful, even when the going gets tough. I guess I’d be one of those spiritualists on that show, and when the bears come, they’ll find I have crocodile skin.
As for me, I write and self-publish to make a living. Lately, particularly for the last three year or so, I have made a great living by working only an hour or two a day. Having said that, I self-published my first book 27 years ago. Here are a few words of wisdom related to being successful as a writer.
“Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth. Writing may be interesting, absorbing, exhilarating, racking, relieving. But amusing? Never!”
— Edna Ferber
“Writing is the hardest way to earn a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators.”
— Olin Miller
“The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.”
— John Steinbeck
“I have heard a thousand masterpieces talked out over bars, restaurant tables, and loveseats. I have never seen one of them in print. Books must be written, not talked.”
— Morris L. West
“Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing.”
— Norman Mailer
“A blank page is God’s way of showing you how hard it is to be God.”
— Unknown wise person
“Writing books is certainly a most unpleasant occupation. It is lonesome, unsanitary, and maddening. Many authors go crazy.”
— H. L. Mencken
“The writer is either a practising recluse or a delinquent, guilt-ridden one; or both. Usually both.”
— Susan Sontag
And here is the blog post by Seth Godin, one of my favorite marketing gurus of all time, written on the same day your blog was posted.
The Lottery Winners – The Secret of Unhappiness
https://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2016/08/the-lottery-winners-a-secret-of-unhappiness.html
I love the comment:
“You, on the other hand, get the privilege of the struggle, of working your ass off to make a difference.”
As an author whose books (mainly self-published) have sold over 925,000 copies worldwide, here is my advice:
Thrive in adversity. Success and prosperity will come naturally.
Ernie J. Zelinski
International Best-Selling Author, Innovator, and Prosperity Life Coach
Author of the Bestseller “How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free”
(Over 300,000 copies sold and published in 9 languages)
and the International Bestseller “The Joy of Not Working”
(Over 295,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)
Thanks, Kathy, this post is very helpful. It’s made me realise that my problem is motivation and I think you are right that money can be part of the problem. I’m currently working part time and it helps to pay the bills. The problem is that I have some physical issues and my physical job wears me out. A lack of energy plus physical soreness marries self talk that says ‘I can write tomorrow’. The consequence is a stillborn novel. I’m not sure what the solution is because if money matters too much my creativity suffers. Gah! We writers are a complicated bunch but I will try and define the focus for my motivation more ;).
Sorry I just realised I spelt your name wrong.
Thanks, Cathy – motivation is definitely an issue! I am not sure that having a bear chase you with writing faster the only escape would not be a good motivator. :) Some great questions there for me to work through to clarify what I am doing (or more correctly, not doing) and why.