The stack of blank paper is yelling. Write ME! If that M. Clifford guy can do it, so can you!
What is this? Let's check the cover art. Advice on writing. Projects I'm working on and what's to come, updates, and all that jazz. Practices, like my proc...
Since I've updated every day this week, I feel like today's advice should be: WRITE EVERY DAY.
(There. I should just post that and be done.)
(Fine-ah... I'll keep going.)
Inertia is a bee-otch. What is inertia again, you ask? Let's go back to Issac Newton, the dude who figured out gravity after an apple fell onto his head. Newton's principle of inertia in easy language is that people who chill are gonna keep chillin' unless someone pushes them off the couch. Basically, you're gonna lose your edge if you relax instead of writing.
First off, he probably has severe head trauma from falling apples, so we don't have to listen to him. Second... it's good to relax. Let's not forget your mind is working in overdrive all the freaking time. Unlike most people in the world, you create entire humans - body and soul, full backstories and futures up until the moment of death. So... you've got a lot going on up there. Taking breaks is good. It's real good. In fact! It's so good, you're gonna be done for the day. Especially because you're exhausted from Nanowrimo, where you had to write an entire novel in one month! Your intense push to reach that word count goal doesn't need to happen today. You can worry about that tomorrow. For now, throw those feet up. Crack a cold one. And chiiilllll.
Inertia...
A body at rest stays at rest.
Ugh! Now you gotta think about that flipside. A body in motion stays in motion. And that's where we need to be as authors. You can't let your muscles atrophy. And I mean that brain muscle, the one that can take your thoughts and transfer them down to those ten little digits so they can clickety-clack away and produce a book.
If you're not producing something every day, even if it's a diary entry or a long-form tweet, you're eventually going to lose your edge. I don't mean that butter knife edge, I'm talking that serrated edge that slices through the tough, crispy, french bread crust after you put it in the oven and now I'm hungry for an Italian beef sandwich.
When you lose that edge, you become a little more pedestrian. A little less "You". When you have enough of those days in a row, enough posts that just don't shine with the luster they used to, it can send you into that oh, so dangerous headspace. The one where all those voices are waiting. You know they're waiting. You recognize those voices well. That teacher who knocked you down for daydreaming. That relative who thinks it's cute that you like to tell stories. It's a coworker who called you an "aspiring" author, as if some level of success must be reached before you're allowed to just call yourself what you are: an author. And then your own voice. That's the worst one. The one that's always been there. The one that doubted you most, told you to give up. SO! Let's not go there. Ain't nothing good coming out of that place.
Well, unless you're like me and use those voices to motivate you... but we're sensitive beings, us writers, and we need to protect ourselves from those who want to crush our dreams. Especially if the call is coming from inside the house.
So, how do we keep that serrated edge? Think of any successful person that you admire. They may be extremely talented, and people born with talent are enviable for sure. There's not much you can do about your loadout screen. Some people start the game with more space in their inventory. Higher hit points, better damage reduction, etc. But some of those people you admire got to where they are from developing their skills.
Unlike talent, skill is not something you were born with. It comes from practice and patience, from striving to reach a goal, meeting that goal, and then repeating the process. It takes time. Lots and lots and lots of time. And then more time. Not everyone is cut out to be that kind of writer and that's okay. You do you. But if you want to make this writing thing a "thing", to maybe even get paid for your work, then you've got to put figurative pen to figurative paper every day. Ev-er-y. Day.
How often have I seen the same tweet pop up? The one that says:
"Authors, how can you (insert random busy life activity) and still write a book?!"
This goes for salaried workers, parents, full-time students. It's always the same answer. SACRIFICE. Maybe it's sleep you're sacrificing, or time with your friends. Maybe it's leftovers on the menu tonight. Maybe it's the episode of your favorite show that just dropped that has to wait, which means you need to stay off social media so nothing gets spoiled, which means your connection to the outside world is cut off until you can get that word count down!! Maybe. But whatever it is, you've got to do it. If you're serious about this, you have to write every day.
There are self-help / pro-inertia memes out there that tell you:
"Don't listen to the toxic workaholic culture that insists you wake up at four o'clock in the morning to start your work day. Or that you need to GRIND. Or that you need to write every day to be successful. You don't."
What's actually toxic is the constant spreading of the message that anyone can be successful if you just "believe in yourself". While positivity and optimism is important, this is the battle cry of the lazy. You have to put in the work. Unless you are filter-free-beautiful and ridiculously charismatic, typically no one is going to do your work for you.
Plain and simple, you won't be successful unless you put in the work. While uplifting, those memes are created by people who are either so privileged that they can rest on their laurels, or they just don't like putting in the work. They want to feel better about themselves and the decision they made to stop hustling. So much so, that they turned it into a meme to send out into the world in search of comrades who share that ideal and come to the rescue. They want likes and ovations from fellow writers who don't want to abstain from those idle tendencies we all have within us.
You can be like them. No judgment, for real. We all have different obligations and burdens. And we all define success differently. Don't write every day. If that's what floats the boat, go for it. I'm just telling you, from my point of view, this is the habit that needs to develop if you want to reach traditional success in the publishing world.
I'm not telling you to write a chapter a day. Even a scene a day. Just write. Get out some thoughts. Do something to access that internal typewriter. Crack open the door that seals off the imaginative part of your mind and let its light shine out every day. The more often you do that, the easier it is to access when you have some real solid writing time open in your schedule. If you keep that door closed, the hinges get rusty and the doorknob doesn't turn so easily. The key jams in the lock. Keep things moving, greased, oiled. Keep the machine of your mind running smoothly. Fully-functioning. Sharp. Not just sharp, serrated.
Mister Clifford... You are receiving a failing grade for mixing too many metaphors.
I don't care, faceless Creative Writing teacher! I can write what I want!
Get those words out, ya'll. For a while, it's gonna be a slog, and you're going to try and convince yourself not to do it. But it takes 66 days for a new behavior to become a habit, and 10,000 hours to become a master at your craft. So get a move on.
byeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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