Write Things: On the Stories You Aren't Writing

I’m back!

After some much-needed R&R, I’m excited to get back to talking writing with you. This week, I want to share some insights that arose while mulling over a few words of wisdom from Rick Rubin, author of The Creative Act, and from Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art.

Idea: On Consistency

You don’t have to be consistent in your writing.
You don’t have to do anything, technically.
But if you want to be more consistent—keep reading.

Writing when we feel inspired is as easy as going down a waterslide. Words flow. We’re excited. Our energy seems limitless. Things like eating, time, or anything else, for that matter, cease to matter.

All that matters is the flow.

It’s quite easy to write from that place. And some people choose to write only when they feel inspired to do so. It’s not wrong. But in my experience, these are the authors who might wait weeks, months, even years for that inspiration to return—and create nothing in the meantime.

Again, this isn’t “bad” or “wrong.” It just is.

If we want to create new personal or fictional stories consistently, then we must learn to write even when we don’t feel inspired. Pressfield would say that a writer must treat their art like a professional—show up and do the work. Rubin would add that we create different art when we write from a place of struggle.

Both would agree that regardless of the work’s merits, if you write when it’s not easy, you’re inevitably going to create more stories. And for any writer who dreams of writing a story the world gets to enjoy, this leads us to a very important truth:

We don’t know which of our stories the world will one day read. Is it our 4th? Our 40th? Might that be the one that reaches the masses? That allows us to become full-time writers?

If it is our 40th, we’d better get going on the first 39.

This is not to say it’s important to write books that many people enjoy. One story’s purpose might be to change its author’s life. Another may impact a single reader. And yet another—thousands, maybe millions.

This doesn’t change the value of any of those stories. But the fact is, we limit the amount of art we put into the world when we choose to write only when we feel like it.

I’ve learned far more through my struggles than my successes—and I see no reason why the same rule wouldn’t apply to writing. And my current batch of Enhance Your Storytelling writers are proving that struggling through new techniques, while uncomfortable, can lead to deeply satisfying and powerful stories.

Do you have to write consistently? Nope.
But you’ll never know the full range of art you can produce if you don’t.

Inspiration: “A new direction”

Set a timer for four minutes and write continuously on the prompt above.

Then, get professional feedback on your quick-write! Try out Trevor Assistant, my personally programmed writing coach.

First, get a free credit here. 

Next, go to www.ihelpyouwritethings.com/trevor-assistant and get customized feedback, based upon my style, perspective, and voice!

Invitation: Embrace the Struggle

Even if writing more consistently doesn’t feel important to you right now, give this exercise a try.

The next time you feel unmotivated, frustrated, or paralyzed—whether in writing or anything else that matters to you—set a timer and simply write about that feeling for a set amount of time.

I find personifying the feeling can be helpful. What is it like? Then just write.

I find four minutes to be very manageable, but you can go shorter or longer. The correct amount of time is whatever feels manageable and gets you to sit down and do it. Maybe it’s four minutes. Maybe it’s ten. Maybe it’s one.

Then write.

You can repeat this exercise as many times as necessary to feel some relief. Personally, I do this before my own writing if I’m feeling any resistance. Then, once done, I dive into what I wanted to do. Sometimes I repeat it two or three times until I feel that shift within me.

But give it a try and see for yourself.
Feel free to reply to this email and let me know how it goes.

I believe all of our lives are purposeful, meaningful, and important. The more time we can spend doing what we truly, in our heart of hearts, want to do, the more we become the person we want to be.

And that’s good for everyone.

Until next time, I wish you and your stories all the best.