Dealing with a Slump
By Dan Blank | October 28, 2016 |
Are you in a slump? Can you simply not find the time or motivation to push your creative work forward? Today I want to talk about how to reframe things when you are in a slump, and clear actions to help pull yourself out of it.
Oftentimes, a slump is an indication that you have a big vision, but don’t feel you have reached the goal yet.
What I tend to find in talking with successful authors is this: their slump is real. The reasons are real. But instead of telling themselves “the world just won’t let my creative work happen,” they instead turn it inward.
When I spoke with Dani Shapiro she described her experience of writing throughout her career this way:
“Not only doesn’t it get any easier, it actually gets harder.”
She elaborates:
“There isn’t one single piece of writing that I have done in the last 20 years that did not begin with my thinking, “Here goes nothing. This time this is not going to work.”
She didn’t use the word “slump,” but instead talked about the inner censor who tries to convince you that you simply aren’t worthy. The point she is making is huge: that often what stops us — what silences our voice and prevents us from sharing it — comes from internal reasons, not external.
You can read more from my conversation with her here, and I strongly suggest you read her book Still Writing.
Seth Godin reflected on a similar theme this week:
“The challenge is inside. It’s the self-sabotage. The projects not shipped, the hugs not given, the art not made. The real boogeyman isn’t the other. The one we’re afraid of is with us all the time.”
“Never Me”
Sometimes it can feel as though a “slump” is the only reality that one knows. They feel held back, and can even craft the narrative in their head of, “I’m the underdog who never gets their due.”
I get how all of life can sometimes feel that way. As a writer you may, year after year, see other authors hit bestseller lists with “seeming” ease. You may see dozens and dozens of articles online that profile the success of other authors.
Perhaps that reinforces the narrative of “other people have it easier.” They don’t. Did they get luckier than you? Yep. They also persisted.
This week, Caroline Leavitt shared an essay called, “Overnight Success and Other Fables of the Writing Life.”
Within it, she tracks her publishing career, filled with dashed expectations. How, even after success, she hit roadblocks. I mean, just look at this mid-career moment:
“I finished my ninth novel… and my agent loved it. But my publisher said, “This just isn’t special enough. We don’t get it.”
I asked them, “Would you consider a rewrite? Or another book?”
There was a silence and then they said, “No. We don’t think those will be special, either.”
Can you imagine that moment of hearing this? She described it this way, “I felt ashamed and miserable and frightened.” Go read the rest of her post, it’s an amazing story of the reality of what it looks like to move through one’s writing career, slumps and all.
Use fear to know what matters
Author Becky Galli shared this story with me recently — we were talking about fear and sharing our creative work, and she said this:
“I do take comfort in what my father told me once. He said every time he stood before the congregation to preach he got butterflies in his stomach. He was a minister for over 40 years, and routinely spent 20 hours of preparation of his sermon. The butterflies, he said, showed him that what he was about to do mattered. I think that’s why we have fears. We care.”
I love that — how the things we fear can sometimes be an indicator of the things we care about most. So let’s talk about some practical ways to minimize the slumping and maximize the caring….
Breaking out of the slump
When working with writers and creative professionals — as well as with my own work — I find that the following are some tactics to break out of a slump:
- Name the problem. Say it out loud. Write it down. Scream it if you have to. Sometimes what holds us back is an unnamed problem or fear. We silence it because we don’t want to give it more power than it already has. I would urge you to name it. Remove its power by doing so. But beyond that, it also allows you to realize that this problem has boundaries, and allows you to begin thinking of practical ways to work around it — or move through it. You can’t do that until you name the problem though. Okay, here is where I will get cheesy — remember the ending of Eminem’s movie “Eight Mile?” His character is talking with friends before the final rap battle, and one of them looks at him and says “You worried about what he’ll say?” He then starts listing all of Eminem’s “vulnerabilities.” All the things the other guy in the rap battle can make fun of. To counter this — to remove its power — Eminimen starts his rap with “I know everything this guy has to say against me,” and proceeds to list them in front of the huge audience. He removed their power by naming them. I would encourage you to find a piece of paper and write out the things you feel are holding you back. Burn the paper when you are done if you like.
- Share. Frequently and on deadline. Those who work with me know that I am a proponent of sharing way before you think you are “ready.” I am an advocate of the weekly email newsletter; of sharing photos of your inspiration and process on Instagram; of developing collaborators and an audience well before you think you “need” them. Too much wonderful creative work never sees the light of day — is never shared — because the creator felt it “wasn’t ready.” That too can cause a slump. Share. Now. Frequently. And on deadline.
- Create a practice of celebrating small milestones.
Someone I worked with described slumps this way: “we don’t feel our success when we are in a slump.”
Develop the habit of recognizing the small successes you have each week. My friend Cali Williams Yost studied the habits of successful people and found that something that distinguishes these people is seeking a sense of fulfillment. If they have a to-do list of 10 items for the week, and they accomplish 1/2 of them, they don’t end the week feeling bad. Instead, they celebrate the 5 things they did accomplish. Acknowledge the small milestones you achieve each week. - Change your context. Get out of the house. Change your routine. Change how you spend lunch. Make some change that seems “impossible,” even if it is a small action such as leaving your phone at home or unplugging your internet cable.What you may find is that by challenging yourself with a small change, you may confront habits that keep you feeling in a slump.
Caring rational you: “To break this slump, why I don’t I just take a walk during lunch and get some fresh air, instead of sitting at my desk and doing email?”
Irrational you: “The world will explode if I don’t check email at lunch!”Start listening to the caring rational you.
Seek the wisdom of others
I want to end this post with probably the best way I have found to beat a slump: perspective. To seek out the wisdom of others who have overcome incredible challenges.
Earlier this year, Betsy Brockett joined my team. I hired her for her awesome graphic design chops, but her backstory was immensely compelling. You see, Betsy is 31 years old, and a cancer survivor/thriver. She has chronicled her experiences in detail here.
It was just the other day that she herself wrote about the topic of slumps on her blog. She says:
“Beating myself up for not being productive, creative, happy, and successful, 100% of the time (all on my own terms, of course), is a counterproductive avenue to explore. So, I try to be kinder to myself, knowing that relief only comes through the acceptance that these low times are impossible to ward off.”
Her conclusion:
“Not everything needs to be tied up in a neat bow of positivity,
especially not the things that absolutely suck.
Let’s acknowledge the suck, the fear, and the pain.”
I would strongly urge you to go read some of Betsy’s blog, and to follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
I find that her perspective has made it easier to navigate the complexity of slumps.
What gets you through a slump?
-Dan
Dan Blank is the founder of WeGrowMedia, where he helps writers share their stories and connect with readers. He has helped hundreds of authors via online courses, events, consulting, and workshops, and worked with amazing publishing houses and organizations who support writers such as Random House, Workman Publishing, Abrams Books, Writers House, The Kenyon Review, Writer’s Digest, Library Journal, and many others.
I have to do something stupid to get through a slump. Okay, maybe not stupid (though there have been times…), but something off the wall. For example, this week I decided to draft the second book of my middle-grade Navy Brat series on Wattpad during NaNoWriMo. Do I have time for this extra work and pressure? I do not. But it does provide some good motivation, and my young readers on Wattpad are so encouraging (everything I write is “amazing”). I find that if I think about such experiments too long, I’ll back down and go back to posting never-to-be-seen updates on twitter every day (seriously…twitter…why?). My father-in-law, who is admittedly a bit insane, once said that every business decision you make is made within twenty seconds. You can pretend to think about it for a few days, but you’re really just talking yourself back into your comfort zone. Taking a risk gives you a new goal, it pulls you out of the chair, so to speak.
So let’s see if the NaNo pressure and the Wattpadders can keep me motivated for another month or two. Then it’s on to something else.
Thanks for the post!
Thanks for sharing your process Ron!
Having multiple projects going at once has always worked for me. When I’m stuck on one thing, I do some work on another. If they’re in different stages of development, all the better. If I can’t write, I can edit. If I’m not feeling it with the editing, I can research. Reading helps. The key for me is to not try to force productivity, but taking a break that’s still productive and then getting back to the man project ASAP works.
Yep, this.
Love that. Thanks Berin!
Like Berin, I find having multiple projects helps a great deal. Things can’t get too “slumpy.” However, from January until just recently, I have been sidelined by an injury resulting from a fall. There had been days I dreamed of being able to do nothing but read and write.
Dream granted: I was confined to my recliner and/or bed with my laptop on my lap. Now all the things Berin mentioned like revising, editing, etc. could be done but not as efficiently as if I were in my office at my desk with everything I needed around me. I’m still struggling with the depressive slump that began during that time.
Dan, this post has been one of your best of all time. Thank you, and I have read Still Writing. Loved it!
Sherrey,
Best wishes to you and I hope you’re doing better!
Berin,
Thank you for your gracious words.
A slump is just another name for a slowdown. It’s like a traffic jam on the Jersey Turnpike. I know I’ll get to the Holland Tunnel and the city eventually.
There are always local roads, too. If I’m going slow I get off the highway–in fiction terms, the main narrative line–and explore other characters, plot layers, and dimensions of the story.
On local roads I see how people really live. There are football games on high school fields, pumpkin festivals, churches and donut shops.
American life is not always four lanes moving at sixty miles an hour. Neither is fiction always a hard-driving plot. Its texture comes from what we see when the author slows down and looks around. It’s emotional texture comes from looking within.
It’s okay to be off the highway for a while. Maybe today I’ll have a donut. Great post, Dan.
Benjamin, your eloquent comments are nearly always as valuable reading as the post of the day! : )
Fun metaphor! Thanks Benjamin!
Very cool and helpful!
I love this, Benjamin! What a great way to think about it.
I’m mostly a “get out of the house” person, sometimes for walks, sometimes for an “Art Day” as Julia Cameron puts it (more often for me a music day, but same idea). I also remind myself of my larger purpose in writing a particular project.
I will start exploring some of the “blue highways” too. Thanks.
Thanks Benjamin! I am trying to get going with my writing…it will be difficult, but I am rather determined!
I think I’ll have a donut, too.
What a beautiful, touching, post. I can relate to how easily we can fall into the trap of beating up on ourselves. I’ve done it. Too many times. But as someone told me, “No one ever thrived while being beaten down.” For some time I had that reminder on my cork board to remind myself that if I want to thrive, I must rise above harmful tendencies. Self-harm, I think, is poison to the creative process.
Thanks for the kind words, and the insight.
-Dan
“Self-harm, I think, is poison to the creative process.” So true. I have to remind myself to play positive tapes in my head, not the negative ones. We writers struggle with this even more when faced with a lot of negative response to our work. We are such sensitive souls at heart, which helps with the creativity, but does make us more vulnerable to the slumps.
Thanks for the great post, Dan. I am sharing bits of it on my blog for my Writing Wisdom feature on Friday, and will link back to this.
Thanks!
Thank you! I love getting some good tips to share.
I’ve been in a slump for a while now, and it’s been very hard not to give up writing entirely, yet impossible to contemplate doing so. Reading Dani’s quote…“Not only doesn’t it get any easier, it actually gets harder,” (strangely) made me feel much much better — I’m on novel #4 and it’s never ever felt this hard (maybe it’s because of that… I let my “failure to get published” get into my head and under my skin). For a while I wasn’t writing at all. What helped me break out and start writing again? Some combination of talking to my writing friends and making very small changes to how I do things…but the truth is, I’m not at all sure how or why I started writing again. It’s still hard and often feels forced and sounds wrong when I read it, but I am writing.
Something that works for me is to keep track…of words, of days, of how I’m feeling about what I write, and that keeps me slowly moving forward out of the slump. Thanks for this very timely post, Dan; I will most definitely be using your suggestions!
Thank you Julia!
“Get out of the house.” I like that one, Dan. It seems I have slumps all the time and am in one right now too with a new novel I’m working on. Berin has a good point that multiple projects can get one through it. Researching helps me and is a stimulant. I think it boils down to re-energizing the creative juices. I sometimes use Tarot for Writers to give me a spark. Steinbeck and Italo Calvino used the cards to explore characters and story. And it’s so much fun!
Thanks Paula!
I simply know I will never give up, never stop. My love of reading novels fuels my love for writing my own. And the sheer intoxication of what goes on in the world helps me get my blog post written every week. Thanks, Dan. It’s always good to confront the fears and have some tools in one’s toolbox for how to beat them back.
Thanks Beth!
Thank you for addressing this issue, Dan–and for the wealth of on-line reading material.
I try to avoid the slump by avoiding the “shoulds”: I should write this many words, this many pages, for this length of time… Instead, I try to keep writing fun.
Even then, I fall into an occasional slump.
When I fell last time, I got out by writing outside my chosen genre. That’s how I started writing picture books.
“Keep it fun” – great advice. Thanks!
Dan, thanks for a fantastic essay and links, which I will read over the weekend. My biggest motivator is death. These past two weeks there’ve been 3 deaths, all accidents, and it’s a wake-up call. Am I doing what God wants me to do this moment? I wouldn’t change a thing in my life except add more time to my heart-novel. I’m determined to get it out of the box and into readers’ hands, before I die. Three years ago, I sent a copy to a dear friend asking her to publish it for me if I should die. Well, I’m still here so it’s time for me to take steps to do it. Thanks again, Dan.
Sorry to hear about your losses Vijaya — nice to see how that creates forward momentum for you.
-Dan
As usual, Dan, you hit the mark with this article! I’ve been doubting my creative work a lot lately, mainly based on the amount of time I’ve had to wait – wait on an editor, wait on a publisher, wait on someone to respond to my interview request, etc.
Guess what helped me? Looking at waiting in a new light. In fact, I was inspired one morning to WRITE A BOOK about waiting – how it is a gift to us, what hidden opportunities exist in times of waiting, how to make waiting active rather than passive.
This is what gets me through slumps – looking at it through a different lens. Another is repeating my mantras that keep me motivated to persevere. One of my faves is “Keep moving forward.” So, even if I feel stuck with one thing, I ask myself, “What else can I be working on right now?” If my writing has tapered off, can I be working on my website? Blogging? Social Media? Marketing? Publicity? Creating outlines for a new book idea? Maybe even networking with new people or fine tuning my topics for speaking engagements?
It’s all about attitude and perspective, but the struggle is real! ;)
Great perspective — thank you Jeannie!
I do share, and frequently. I have a group (Robin’s Little Flock, get it?) and toss out bits I’m proud of and bits I need help with. And I’m aces at making memes and share them on my online places.
I’ve learned to ask for help when I need it and/or keep moving and come back to what has me stuck.
Smart! Thanks Robin.
-Dan
This post was incredibly timely for me. We may all know at some level that we’re not the only ones who deal with slumps and crises of confidence, but it’s good to have it brought to the surface now and then.
Thanks!
Thanks Shelley.
Thanks for this wonderful post, Dan. What gets me out of a creative slump is two-fold. Sometimes I just ‘jump right in ‘ anyway. (Inspiration comes FROM the work itself).
Other times I do something totally different to gain a new perspective on my creative project.
Thanks again!
Thank you Michelle!