Get A New Story: Just Do The Writing

In my Writer’s Circle, what we see more often than not is that those who write regularly are more productive, have more frequent creative thoughts, and struggle less with their writing.

Binge-writers, on the other hand, tend to struggle more with writer’s block, self-doubt, and creative burnout.

Writing regularly, however, like many other good habits, is easier when we keep going. It’s when we stop that things start going sideways. Resistance, procrastination, fear, and self-doubt bubble up to the surface pretty much the minute we unplug or put down the pen.

Turns out, inertia is both your greatest ally and most villainous foe.

Inertia is “a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged.” In physics terms, it means “a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.”

In other words, if you keep writing, you are more likely to keep writing and find it easier to do so. If you stop writing, you are more likely to remain at a standstill.

This also means when you stop writing regularly, it requires a greater effort to begin again.

And it doesn’t take long, does it? Just a day or two off from writing and your inner resistance barometer creeps up over the threshold to where you’ve slipped back into procrastination without even noticing.

Suddenly it seems completely reasonable to organize your files, check your email before you start writing, or quickly drop by Facebook or Twitter to “warm up.” Only then 2 hours go by and what happened to the script?

Oops.

And that’s just the garden variety stuff.

What do we do when faced by greater personal difficulties that throw us off our game, like the death of a loved one, a frightening medical diagnosis, a betrayal from a spouse, or some other heartbreak?

Do we stop writing? Or carry on?

When I was confronted with a painful personal situation late this summer that shifted more responsibilities onto my shoulders along with a great deal of emotional stress, the little thought, “I might have to give up writing,” came sneaking into my head. I quickly smashed it back with a resounding, “NO!”

You see, writing regularly — writing at all — is so hard won for me that the notion of giving it up for any reason is somewhat terrifying.

I spent wasted YEARS dragging my feet over writing. When I was in a car accident two and a half years ago, this inner voice had been saying to me, “Write like your life depends on it.” You better believe I got serious about writing pretty quick after that cosmic two-by-four whacked me upside the head and told me it was time to write.

So having a personal disaster strike, though it was a tempting lure to surrender to complacency and resistance, sent me running in the opposite direction: To a fiercer commitment and determination to follow that inner guidance to the letter.

In one of my favorite posts from Steven Pressfield, “Personal Anguish,” he says: “What happens to us as artists when our personal lives crash and burn? When we’ve lost our spouses or our homes or our minds; when we’ve been betrayed or, worse, betrayed someone else; when it’s three in the morning and sunrise feels like it’s never going to come?

“Here’s my experience: some of my best work has been done when my personal life was in chaos.

“This seems to make no sense. How can we do good work when it’s all we can do to keep from checking into Bellevue? But we can. Weird as it seems, internal catastrophe never hurt an artist or an entrepreneur.

“The Muse, it seems, is a hardcore kinda gal.”

“For a man who no longer has a homeland, writing becomes a place to live.” ~Theodor Adorno

When faced with my own misfortunes this year, I unknowingly rediscovered Steven Pressfield’s wisdom for myself. And more beyond that. Writing became my solace. It represented my commitment to my self, my work, and my dreams no matter what someone else might create in my life. As my writing community members can attest, I wrote everyday (at least 6 days a week) for 15 minutes a day, just to stay connected to the story, to the work.

It has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

And I’ve never been more proud of myself for doing this work.

Over the last 11 weeks (including taking time off for a wrist surgery), in just 15 minutes a day, I’ve written 55 pages of my current screenplay. It’s been confidence-building and inspiring to see what I can do in the face of crushing emotional challenges and personal obstacles in very little time.

Yes, that’s less than a page per day. And, it’s 55 pages more than I would have written were I not writing at all.

In his chapter, “Play Hurt” from Turning Pro, Steven Pressfield says: “Has your husband just walked out on you? Has your El Dorado been repossessed?

“Keep writing.

“Keep composing.

“Keep shooting film.

“Athletes play hurt. Warriors fight scared.”

My working theory is this: Take time off from writing, and play hard. But have a plan for how you’ll get back on the writing bandwagon after you’ve vacationed or rested, so the resistance doesn’t catch you off guard. But when it comes to life’s bumps in the road, write.

Just write.