Stop Me if You've Heard This One Before...
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: I was too wrapped up in preparing for Thanksgiving (between work, cleaning the house, finding recipes, and preparing for in-laws), that I didn’t get any writing in the past few weeks. As a result, I feel like a total failure. I don’t think my writing will go anywhere, and I’ll never get to tell my stories because I just can’t keep up with my goals.
That probably sounds familiar, right? Last issue I talked about not beating yourself up too much about your lack of writing over the holidays. I’m not here to beat the same drum this month, but I am here to remind you that it’s okay.
Do you know how much writing I got done last month? I put together a couple of skeletal outlines for my 6-issue comic miniseries (only 1 of the 6 has a completed script). I also reviewed a couple of comics for TheBatmanUniverse.net.
And that’s about it.
There was no movement on my next novel, a loose sequel to my scifi robot drama that deals with overcoming suicide ideation that I’m trying to get published. Nor were any short stories written. By all accounts, I wrote relatively little, and that’s okay.
Why? Because when something interferes with your work or when your work comes up short, you have two options. The first option is, you can troubleshoot a solution to the problem. Do you need to schedule more time to write? How can you move things around to maximize what’s missing? The second option is to reframe how you’re perceiving the issue.
Before I lead us down the road of what I’m calling “Option B,” let me be forthcoming and tell you that I’m using my corporate office / marketer brain here. During the day, I work as a digital marketer, which means I have the joy of watching my creative marketing solutions and tactics blow up in my face real-time. In fact, for roughly every 10 ideas I approach my dayjob with, I’m lucky if one succeeds.
What this means is, I’ve learned to celebrate the winners and refocus the mindset I use to approach the losers, and in doing so, I have discovered that it's not worth anyone’s time to lament mistakes, missed opportunities, or variables that are out of anyone’s control. The powers that be don’t want to hear about the troubles or issues that arise; they’d rather hear about how their trusted employee is problem-solving or approaching the issue from a different avenue.
In the case of less-than-ideal writing output, this means that the “powers that be” are a writer’s mental health/state and the “trusted employee” is the writer. And here’s where Option B comes into play.
Just because someone didn’t write as much as they would have preferred this past month doesn’t mean that that same person didn’t create or add to any stories. Last issue, I talked about how that inspiration to write has to come from somewhere and that it’s from living life. It’s also true that people can have input in a story or create one without ever lifting a pen.
“But Scott, we’re writers! That’s. What. We. DO!”
I’m well aware, but we all had a million little things to do last month, and in many of those instances, we probably had an effect on someone’s story (or our own). Thanksgiving, for example, is often a day for relatives who don’t see each other to set time aside and catch up. Participation in that very act is participation in one’s family story. It’s a time to share personal stories with each other or come up with plans to create future adventures (and stories) together.
In shopping on Black Friday, one could argue that they were a supporting character in a retail employee’s hell week. If you are a retail employee who had to work Black Friday, firstly — thank you — and secondly, you probably have some wild stories that you engaged in with coworkers, thus creating a shared story that you may talk about for years to come (or even write about).
This probably sounds a lot like the whole “life is an adventure” spiel you might find on an inspirational poster at your dentist’s office, and sure, it’s similar. But it’s way more forgiving and productive than beating one’s self up over a lack of putting words to paper. In refocusing how we approach a problem, whether it’s one we can control or not, we can flip the script from victimizing ourselves to one of self-empowerment. Rather than look at the writing output of our idols and letting our inner Mean Girls voice tell us that we suck, approaching it from a different point of view re-energizes us to say, “Hey, I didn’t write during the second half of November, but I created some good memories with family and friends, and I’ll get back on track this month.”
It’s way easier said than done, but if you make a commitment to counteract that negative thinking with positive thinking that reinforces that good, it’s easier to pick up the proverbial pen next time you write. A weight is lifted, and stress, that familiar foe to creative output, is lessened if not gone. Over time, challenging one’s self to do this also becomes easier, and eventually, it might even morph into a natural habit.
I write all this because this is what I tell myself whenever I feel I am less than, and I honestly believe that you, as a fellow creative, are F*CKING AMAZING (excuse my language) for doing what you do in the first place. Think about that for a second.
Have you ever thought about how HARD it is to pull time away from work, school, family, the cat (or dog), that pile of laundry, or whatever else on your to-do list, just to squeeze out a few measly minutes and pursue something creative? It’s incredibly difficult, and it takes a crazy level of dedication to create something from nothing. Whether you write two words or 10,000, the same level of willpower is required to pull one’s self away from reality and explore that creative space that exists between everyday thoughts and interruptions.
And you’re doing it! You HAVE done it. You WILL continue to do it.
There was a meme going around a few months ago that was poking fun at the Fast & The Furious franchise and Dominic Toretto’s repetitious invocation of the power of family. All of us creative people out there in the world? We’re a family, and I take empowerment in knowing that we’re on this journey together.
Keep at it. You’re more put-together and inspiring than you realize,
Scott