Writing when you don’t feel like it
I’m currently on a writing streak—21 days a counting. I have given myself some lofty (but in my opinion achievable) goals on finishing my new novel, since I love a good deadline and work well under a little bit of pressure.
I gave myself goals because I don’t have a contract, an agent or anything but my own intrinsic motivation pushing me to finish. A (loose) end date gives me a sign post, something to aspire to. It’s also helping me to create healthy writing habits that I can continue when I do have a contract deadline or an editor requesting to see changes.
My goal wasn’t to write everyday and to be honest, I actually don’t believe in the need to write everyday. For many, this can be harmful for your mental health, falling under the guise of toxic productivity. There’s also a lot of b.s. out there about how being a writer means you have to write everyday. Lies!
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits has a different perspective on goals. He writes, "Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results." Using that theory, it's the systems I've put in place that are helping me to achieve my goal, not the goal itself. Although I still think goals are a useful focal point, but as Clear very well articulates in his book, a well-designed system is best for making progress.
Although I’ve written straight for a few weeks, some days I’ve written 300 words and other days I’ve written 1,000. Both are equally fair because I don’t think it’s realistic to measure creative output. I also don’t judge my writing days or non-writing days, since they both have value. Even when you aren’t writing, things are happening in the background (aka your subconscious)—your brain is synthesizing ideas, making connections, filing away details—that’s work too even if it doesn’t equate to word count.
I wanted to talk about writing when you don’t feel like it, not as a negative, like don’t listen to your needs or write when you’re sick. That’s garbage. What I am saying is, there are often times we avoid the work. We avoid work because it’s hard. We avoid it because we’re scared. We avoid it because if we are to finish, we then have to face even harder things like rejection, and criticism.
Elise Loehan talks about this beautifully in a blog post on her website titled: Finishing Things where she discusses ideas in the book The Tools: 5 Tools to Help You Find Courage, Creativity and Willpower—And Inspire you to Live Live in Forward Motion. The authors Phil Stutz and Barry Michaels talk about the Reversal of Desire, which Loehan writes, “It is through the practice of pain—effectively doing things that you don’t want to do and experiencing the results—that you build momentum and put yourself in motion.”
I completely agree. Writing can be painful. You have to re-read your sentences and fix them. You have to come up with creative solutions to difficult problems. You have to delve into your own memory bank of emotions and then feel them on the page. It’s hard work. But when you’ve completed that thing, the pleasure derived from that creates this wonderful internal momentum. I feel like I’m experiencing that now with my current writing streak.
So, what do you do when you’re consciously aware that you’re avoiding the work? Maybe you’re procrastinating or making up excuses that your work isn’t important. I think there are two important tools you can try and use:
Self-Compassion. Instead of bullying yourself to write, why not be nice to your writer self? Tell her she’s going to do her best today. Tell her, it’s OK if you only write a few sentences, you came and you tried. Try being a friend to yourself and see what happens. Toxic productivity isn’t wanted here.
Just Write. The dreaded blank page is every writer’s nightmare. In journalism school one of my professors said when you’re faced with a blank page, just start writing. You can always go back and fix it, but once you get something on the page, the work suddenly feels less intimidating. Even if you write the worst sentence of your life, you can always edit it later.
I would argue there are many, many times when we as creatives don’t “feel” like creating. We’d rather distract ourselves to feel good—maybe with TV, social media, learning, or something else we think is more important. The truth is there is no substitute for the work, so get to it.
