Lately I've witnessed some very talented writers making the same mistake. They get stuck, stale and unmotivated because they begin to refuse to make time for what they really love.
- Freelance writers weigh down their budding essayist with the constant work of reporting article after article.
- Non-fiction writers deny themselves time to connect with their guitar, garden, [other thing they love] until they finally finish their book proposal.
- Novelists force themselves to focus solely on their manuscript, when they'd secretly like to try writing a humor piece.
The coaching solution for this dilemma is simple: stop forcing
yourself to "produce." Take a little time (each day or each week) to
let more of what you "really want" into your writing life.
In coaching we call this mindset shifting from "either/or" to "both/and." You can use this shift any time you notice yourself feeling stuck as a result of your black-or-white thinking.
Pursue your project diligently and let yourself do something you really enjoy, just for the heck of it. Work on your novel and write a little humor piece on the side. Keep reporting and mark out a little time in your freelance schedule to develop projects "just for me." Write, write, write...and pick up your guitar, walk the dog or go dig in the dirt when you need a break.
It may seem paradoxical, but you can instantly boost your creativity and motivation by simply
investing a little time in doing what you enjoy, without pressure
and without an expectation that what you produce be "great."
p.s. - Don't expect greatness, but don't rule it out, either. Once one of my clienst, Dan Schifrin, was so pleased with his on-the-side
humor piece that he thought he'd send the essay out. It wasn't long
before his piece appeared in McSweeney's.
---
photo credit: Martin Kingsley
Lovely post. Smell the roses, tickle the dog's tummy, read or write some poetry if that's what you want to do. I agree completely.
Posted by: Carolyn Cordon | August 04, 2009 at 04:08 PM
Great suggestion. It's so easy to get trapped into the either-or thinking of solving problems when we need the both-and thinking of managing polarities. Work for money vs. Work to feed my soul is a classical writer's polarity. (Take a peek at my newsletter at http://www.rosannebane.com/newsletters/InkLinks-v13-i1.pdf for more info on the polarities creative people need to know how to manage.)
Posted by: Rosanne Bane | August 03, 2009 at 02:07 PM