procrastination

Write Only the Stories You Can Write, or "Write From Where You Are, Not From Where You Aren't"

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Rick Liebling is one of the 171 authors of the forthcoming book, “The Age of Conversation 3.” He kindly offered to post interviews on his blog with the other authors. My interview is here.

Six months ago, a couple of friends recommended I write a chapter for the book. Not being experienced at social media, I hesitated because I wasn’t sure what I could add. After some thought, I came up with a topic.

People involved in social media want to connect with others and change the world. Lofty goals, right? But as ambitious and meaningful as those goals are, people are still people, and they sometimes get stuck for what to say. They hit a block in their thinking or writing.

In my chapter, “A Fast, True Way for Creating Content,” I share a method for creating content I developed years earlier as a writer of newspaper and magazine articles.

For me, the most interesting thing about my chapter is how I approached it. I didn’t pretend I was knowledgeable about social media. Instead, I approached it from a direction where I had  experience: as a professional writer who often faced deadlines. I tackled the chapter from strength rather than weakness.

That strategy – approach a piece of writing from what you are rather than what you aren’t – is something I learned fifteen years ago from David Fryxell’s book, “How to Write Fast (While Writing Well).” In it, he said: “Write only the stories you can write . . . “

In other words, if you’re stuck or you’ve got to get the writing done, forget about “the perfect” way of crafting the story. Try for perfection (or experimentation or growth) next time. If you’re pushed to get the piece out the door so it can go to press, write it in a way that works for you. Approach it from an angle that’s comfortable.

That advice may not inspire you, but it’s advice that’s likely to save you from misery.

Think, then, about a post or other piece of writing that has you stuck or that you’ve been afraid to approach. Perhaps the subject feels too big, important, or foreign. How might you cut that subject down to a size you can handle? In what ways can you narrow your focus so the project becomes doable?

The Secret to Doing Pushups is the Secret to Writing a Book

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When I was in college I had this notion that being able to fire off dozens of pushups would mean I was a powerhouse. At the time, I could only do a couple of reps.

I asked a friend if he knew easier exercises I could substitute for pushups that — at the same time — would strengthen my ability to do pushups.

He looked at me like I was nuts, and said: “The way to get better at doing pushups is by doing pushups.”

At the time, I didn’t appreciate his advice. Now I do.

I’ve since worked at pushups, and can now do hundreds in a single session. I can even do demanding variations, like clapping pushups and knuckle pushups. How did I accomplish these feats? Not through alternate training methods. Awkwardly and incrementally, I simply did more pushups.

Learning by doing — or, perhaps, doing by doing — doesn’t just work for pushups. It can help in other situations, like when you want to write a book.

A person will tell me they want to write a book, and I’ll ask, so what are you doing about it? They’ll tell me they’ve been writing stories, plays, essays, and poems. They’ll boast about having kept a journal for years.

They think these shorter literary forms ease them into the writing of a full-length book. Could be. Trying different forms stretches the mind, and gives one more tools to use. But if they never get around to tackling their book, these forms serve more as a clever means of procrastination.

If you want to write a novel, write a novel. If you want to write a screenplay, write a screenplay. If you want to write a one-person show, write a one-person show. If you want to write a history of international banking, write a history of international banking.

By writing the thing you want to write, you’ll learn how to do it. You’ll learn as you go.

Now, I’m not saying that what you write will be good, or  that writing it will be easy. At times, you’re going to feel self-conscious, stupid, and angry.

But, for you, writing a book is likely a necessity. It’s something, ready or not, you must do.

Learn on this one. The next one will be better.