My day job is in the finance/accounting field and Q1 tends towards stressful due to yearend audits, which often lead to a creative desert. These badlands are harsh and full of self inflicted anxiety over wanting to focus on creative endeavors and having little motivation left outside of the 9-5. It’s a horrible place to be and like quicksand, it’s easy to get stuck.
I remember Brandon Sanderson saying something like “The best job for a writer is a bricklayer. Or any job where your mind is free to work on your story.” No offense to brick layers intended. However, there is a kernel of truth to this statement. Often after work, the last thing I want to do is stare at a computer. And worse, expect any amount of creativity to flow. These creative deserts also see me slip into other bad habits: not eating right, not exercising, watching WAY too much TV, and overall being a slug of a human. Yuck.
Accountability Groups
One idea that helped tremendously through this fallow period of Q1 was participation in an accountability group. A couple of friends who also pursue writing agreed to get meet biweekly (via Discord) to discuss our WIPs.
The focus of this group isn’t feedback or critique, it’s a safe space to encourage and (gently) push each other. We share the real struggles of the writing life and provide shoulders to lean on when it gets tough. Why is it always so tough? But the surprising thing is that there is a subtle magic inherent in talking about our struggles. Knowing others are dealing with the same problems helps share the burden we often carry alone as writers. At least I know I do.
At the conclusion of each session, we set individual goals for the next meeting. These check-ins help put stakes in the ground for solid progress. One member joked that he finished his outline an hour before the meeting, but knowing he had to share it with us got him to do it. Awesome!
Highly suggest getting a group together if you’re trying to push through and make strides on a WIP. Being together with other writers is always an inspiration.
Writing AT the problem
Another tool, which I’ve used to great effect, is writing at a specific problem. This method is somewhat of a take on Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages technique. If I’m struggling with a specific plot element or character motivation etc, I write the problem at the top of a page and then spend three whole pages, handwritten, working out the issue. Even if it’s only writing the problem over and over. These pages tend to be stream-of-consciousness, but the great thing is physical documentation of the brainstorm to reference later. The act of thinking alone often doesn’t produce useable action items. At least for me.
Must we handwrite? I say yes. My assumption is most of you type your work on a computer. I’ve tried to do these pages in a word processor and somehow the synapse in my brain doesn’t fire the same way. I can type way faster than I can write and something happens when I brainstorm at the slower pace of my handwriting which allows me to churn through ideas in a more methodical way.
There is rarely a time I’ve used this method and haven’t come away with something useful, even if it didn’t fully solve the issue at hand. Then the next day, if I’m still struggling, I put the same issue at the top of a new page and write at it again for another three pages. It’s amazing how much ground you can cover in three written pages. And knowing I have to finish it (it’s not an option) makes me keep poking at it, even if I come up with a solution on page one.
To sum up
For me, the act of sharing my writing struggles with others has helped to free me of those horrible feelings of inadiquicy and imposter syndrome. Writing, by its very nature, is often a solitary pursuit so anytime I can add others to the process helps remind me I’m not alone. We’re all in this together, even if we find ourselves alone in a room transcribing the voices in our heads.
I’m glad for the end of March and looking forward to a more productive/creative Q2.
Onward!