One Question
And the answer to it got me going again.
It was a feeling not unlike the one I get when I walk into a bookstore.
You know, it feels all warm and comfortable just inside the door, like you are wrapped in a thick blanket on a snowy day. Then, you look around, see the stacks and your mood turns frantic, grasping when you understand you will never have time to read all these books.
Grasping. Frantic. That’s how I felt when my daughter’s school announced they were reopening after Covid closures a couple of years ago and I understood then that I needed to do something different. There was so much I still wanted to do in my career, so many possibilities and I could never get to them all. But I could start on one.
Time Divided
Magazines, newspapers, and content marketing have paid most of my bills over the years. I’ve written several nonfiction books, speeches, podcasts and I’ve loved it all. O.K. most all of it.
For the last year then, I’ve been divided, like most writers I know. We do many things—teach and parent, sometimes work in an office, write ad copy, practice law, farm, or counsel—then we come home and work on our writing.
I write all day, on deadline, it’s my job. But the new writing project rarely got my full attention because it was in development and not an income source.
With all the other work and family demands, it often got pushed back or off the list entirely. When it did get my attention, it was usually when I was worn at the end of the day.
There have been entire weeks when I spent my time thinking about it, but not writing it.
This does not feel good. It leaves spinning in a cloud of frustration.
Time and Focus
Thinking about writing is not enough. It needs our attention and focus. It takes physical energy too, to sit down and write the words down.
Without momentum, it’s hard to get much done and that opens the door to self-doubt and a buffet of excuses.
Maybe I’m not good enough. Maybe it’s not the right thing. Maybe, I don’t want it bad enough. Maybe I should come back to it when I have more time.
Writing is about the process and so far, on this thing I claim to want to do, the process sucks. It feels icky and hard and not what I want it to be.
Of course, this is why most people who say they want to write, never actually do.
Are You a 15-Percenter?
A survey of nearly 2,000 people indicates that more than half of all Americans think they have a book in them, yet only 15 percent ever start work on one and only six percent of those reach the halfway point.
Ninety-two percent of the people who start a novel never finish.
I was thinking about all this when I went away to the beach for a couple of days. What did I still want to do in my writing career? What matters and why?
Spoiler alert, I came back from that trip energized and more excited about the project than I’ve been in a long time.
And the writing? It’s getting done. It feels so good.
What Will Your Answer Be?
Next week, in the second part of this column, I’ll tell you what I did and how it changed my writing.
Meanwhile, can you relate to that feeling of being pulled between different jobs and responsibilities? If you do, write this question at the top of a notebook page and spend the week answering it:
How will you feel watching others complete their works if you never finish this [insert the name of your most compelling project or goal here]?
In other words, How will you feel at the end of your life, if you never finish writing your book or the writing work you most want to do?
Give some thought to it. Then, meet me back here next week, and we will talk it through and I’ll tell you what happened when I asked myself that question.
Let’s get to it. Have a good week.
And, Simply Write.
-p
