Tag: WERD Coach Creative

Lie #5 – I Need an Original Idea

The thought of having a new and original idea keeps many authors up at night. They want something fresh and exciting that will take the world by storm, thinking this is the way to become popular and widely read. The truth is, however, just as the biblical author wrote in Ecclesiastes hundreds of years ago, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Chapter 1, verse 9).

Let’s bring it closer to modern times. Mark Twain, a celebrated American author, is also quoted as saying, “We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope.” He explained that because of the variety of combinations, the old ideas seem to be new but they’re all just “the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

“Surely,” I can imagine you saying, “this was before the amazing advancement of technology and AI so these writers didn’t know what they were saying!”

Well, let’s consider that for a moment.

What are all these new tools and gadgets meant to do? When you think about it, what you end up with is this: they solve the same issues and accomplish the same things as before, perhaps just faster and more efficiently.

So, an electric or solar powered vehicle is still a means to move from one place to another. The modern cell phone is still a means for human beings to communicate with each other, whether it is to send or receive data.

The point is this: even though the packaging is different, the core of the matter is that what we’ll be using the innovation for has not changed.

And that’s not a bad thing.

In fact, it’s actually a good thing because at the center of all writing is an author sharing something with a reader. That reader, being human, has feelings and ideas of their own which are being supported or challenged by what they’re reading. The best way to stir a human being is to get to the middle of who they are…which has been and will continue to be the same for generations.

If you’re still not convinced, think about the Hallmark Christmas movies, or any movie on the Lifetime Network. They are formulaic to the point of predictability…and the people who watch them don’t care! We [yes, WE] know it and watch them still once the acting is good and the visuals are great.

You see, it’s not really the idea that has to be original or different. Readers have their own expectations of how stories should unfold, and those who read a lot can tell you from the beginning where a story is going, even if they’ve not read the story before. But guess what? They’re going to read it anyway, to confirm their suspicions or find out if there’s going to be a twist or surprise at the end.

What’s more, if you select a genre and deviate too much from expectations of readers your book will not be anywhere near the best seller’s lists. Many readers will be confused, reviews will reflect that, and only the brave will venture into the pages to find out for themselves.

Your job as a writer is not to convince a reader that your idea is innovative (unless that’s what your book is about, and in that case, good luck). 

Your job as a writer is to educate readers about the selected topic or to entertain them.

Your idea doesn’t have to be original in order to entertain someone. And it doesn’t have to be original in order to educate someone. There are lots of people who have not been exposed to the ideas you want to share the way you want to share them.

All readers want to see is your perspective.

That’s it.

So stop thinking about making your book original and different. Start thinking about how to get your book done.

And, as always, happy writing.

Lie #4: I’ll Get Started Tomorrow

The most believable lies are the ones with a measure of truth in them. When we get the urge and inspiration to write, but we’ve already scheduled every minute of the day on other things, it’s quite feasible to say “I’ll do it tomorrow.” I mean, it’s not reasonable to leave work to go and write, or to blow off a friend to go and write, or to postpone a meeting to go and write.

Seriously, we’re busy people! It’s not that we don’t want to write. It’s just physically impossible because of all our other commitments. Tomorrow will just have to do.

Then we forget, or tomorrow gets filled with activities as well, and we say to ourselves, “Maybe over the weekend.”

Then the weekend comes and we’re tired, uninspired, and distracted by other things. So no writing…again. No worries, you’ll get to it tomorrow…or some day.

Guess what, just like the elusive pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, tomorrow and someday never come. They will always be somewhere ahead of you in the distance. What’s really happening is that a little voice inside of us is succumbing to our anxiety about writing, and it wants to protect us from the distress we feel is sure to come. So, it creates feasible excuses to give us a way out. And we take them. With heavy sighs of relief we dodge another bullet.

So how exactly do you get started when you’re working against yourself like this?

I’ll tell you what I did: set aside time for writing, give it a name, and honor it.

The problem with saying tomorrow or some day, is that those concepts are not specific. They are arbitrary spaces in time that have no fixed connections. When you set aside time for writing, state the day, the start time, and the duration.

When I decided to write, I set aside the time in my google calendar and I wrote it down in my schedule: 9 am to 11 am, Tuesday, June 12 – Write Article for Blog. (INSERT LINK)

Ok, so full confession here, I make lists and I schedule everything…and it has been working for me, so I encourage you to try it for yourself.

There are many activities vying for importance in life, and sometimes it’s difficult to choose which ones get to the top and which ones get done. Making lists and prioritizing help me keep track of things, but it is scheduling that really helps me get things done.

I don’t know about you, but I’m the forgetful sort. Writing things down creates something tangible I can get back to that keeps me focused.

In addition to setting a date, time, and what you’re working on, it’s also useful to set a target or a goal for the session. If you’re working on a book, then setting an achievable word count is useful. This, of course, would be part of an overall schedule that lets you set a target date for completion of your book.

For example, if your book is to be about 70,000 words and you average you can write about 2,000 words in a 3-hour session, then that gives you an idea of how many sessions you’ll need to complete that book. One estimate is 35 sessions, and you’ll also need to add in time for research and days when you write less than 2,000. 

This means you can safely allocate 45 sessions to complete your first draft.

That kind of thinking gives you purpose and direction.

If you’re blogging, you can estimate perhaps two to three blogs per session, depending on the length and depth of your blogs. There’ll also be days for research and planning so that you’ll know what to write on when you sit at your computer.

If you’re a free spirit and you’re worried about the drawbacks of getting caught up in a schedule, don’t be afraid. The trick to not becoming a slave to a schedule is to be calm when unexpected things crop up.

You still have the flexibility to make snap decisions, move things around, and do what works for you. It took me a while to get the balance right, and I’m not sure I’m quite there yet. There are days when writing turns into research and word count doesn’t go up by much. But there are also days when word count shoots up due to dots being connected. So have a little patience, but keep plodding on.

I struggled with many of the lies on this countdown, and I postponed my writing for more than a decade (yes, there are projects going into double digits as I write this blog).

It’s only recently I decided to let go of the anxiety and just write. I changed my song from Tomorrow to Set It All Free (queue shameless movie reference for Sing).

In business and project management we’re told to make goals SMART – Specific, Measurable,  Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. When it comes to getting yourself off the couch and at your typewriter (metaphorically speaking for most of us), being SMART is also quite useful.

What we’ve discussed in this article fits completely into that SMART outline.

Specific – How many words are you aiming for today? What are you writing on? It’s not enough to simply have a “writing time” but you want to be specific about what you’re writing during each session. This should be decided ahead of time so that you can maximize on the actual writing time.

Measurable – Give a specific word count or objective. 2,000 words. 2 blog articles. Always set targets so that you can gauge your progress. And have compassion with yourself. Not all days will be 2,000 word days.

Attainable – Set word counts that are manageable for you. While it might be awesome to imagine writing 7,000 words a session, that is not achievable for most writers. Aim for something that can easily be accomplished so you can get dopamine from a job completed.

Relevant – It must be said. If you’re working on a novel, then writing a blog during your writing time isn’t going to help the novel get done. Schedule another time for your blog. 

Time-bound – Schedule the beginning and end times of sessions, set target completion dates for the projects you’re working on, and be consistent with your efforts. When you schedule writing time, it’s useful to set aside the same days and times each week so that your brain gets into the habit of writing during the allocated sessions. That is the best way to train the writer in you.

So, stop thinking about what can be done tomorrow and get it together to start writing today, and every other day you can schedule.

As always, happy writing.

Lie #3 – Nobody Wants to Read My Writing Anyway

There is a certain amount of truth in the statement “Nobody wants to read my writing.” People aren’t interested in your rhetoric, no matter how eloquent it is, unless it resonates with them somehow. People read what’s interesting to them. They read what will benefit them. In other words, if your writing doesn’t appeal to your audience or provide them with value, don’t expect anyone to line up for a chance to get a copy. 

But that’s not the thing keeping most writers back. The ones who say (or feel deep inside) that nobody wants to read their writing are battling with something else.

Behind the words “Nobody wants to read my writing anyway” is a long list of fears that writers often don’t want to face. Writing is a communication activity that’s so closely entwined with who we are as individuals that any comment on our writing feels like a knife twisting in our heart. Yet these are fears that writers can learn to overcome to get started, to continue, and to get published.

Even though social media has made it possible for daggers to be thrown anonymously from behind computers located anywhere in the world, this is only a small portion of the fear lurking in the minds of many writers. While the fear of rejection and failure is real, it is fueled by the fear of not being good enough, which is far stronger than most of us would care to admit.

Many people undervalue their abilities and strengths. If you look around, the average person seems to be like this and it’s like the default way of living. We put ourselves down and make an event of laughing at what we consider flaws and failures. 

All a person has to do is a quick search online for “fails” in order to be bombarded by video after video highlighting all different kinds of mishaps. We look at these and laugh because they’re entertainment, all the while nursing our own fears, secretly cringing inside as hopes and dreams fade. 

For those of us who hide behind this lie, if we’re honest with the cause of our procrastination and hesitation, we’d realize that insecurity is by far the most dangerous challenge we face as writers. Insecurity feeds our fears, closes our minds to inspiration, cages our free spirit, and creates a chasm between us and our goals.

And when this happens, writers feel like they’re the only ones going through it. Obviously, anyone who has ever published has never felt this way, right?

I’m sure as you’re reading that, intellectually you’re thinking that isn’t true but in your chest is still tightening in defiance.

An awesome quote I stumbled upon said, “Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” (Carrie Fischer) 

There’s even a book titled Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (Susan Jeffers, PhD).

You’re not the only one who has these feelings, and the good news is that there’s something you can do to move beyond the fear to what you want to accomplish.

What can you do? 

Here’s one thing you can do right now, at this moment. Schedule some writing time. 

If you haven’t gotten started on that blog or novel or nonfiction book, schedule the time. If you’ve started but somehow can’t seem to complete it, schedule the time.

Many times writers think that they can only write at certain times when the conditions are right (another lie we’ll be discussing) but the truth is that we have it in our power to make the conditions as right as possible. And that means scheduling the time to ensure it gets done.

If it’s not on a schedule then it’s likely to keep getting shoved aside. One of the best ways to do this is to find a writing buddy. There’s nothing like someone else waiting for you to get you going. Just being in the presence of others who are working on their own writing is encouraging. If you don’t know anyone who would step into that role for you, why not sign up for a co-writing session?

At WERD Coach Creative, we offer co-writing sessions twice a week – Mondays 6 pm to 8 pm AST, and Thursdays 9 am to 11 am AST. The sessions are totally free. All you have to do is to click the link below to register, then turn up at the appointed time.

WEEKLY CO-WRITING SESSIONS

Let me say it once and for all, there are people out there who are not only willing to read what you’re writing, they’re actually waiting for it. So get started.

As always, happy writing.

Lie #2 – I Can Only Write When I’m Inspired

Ahhh, there’s nothing that screams INSPIRATION like a moldy wall with flaking paint. You can’t get better than that! Right?

Well, that’s a matter of opinion. I don’t know about you, but I would have just walked past that wall, probably wondering why the hell I was there in the first place. Even with my creative mind, I would not have come up with something like what’s depicted in that photo.

When people say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” they have no idea how true that statement is. Beauty is, indeed, in the mind of the beholder…your mind’s eye, so to speak.

In truth, beauty can be found many places, but more often than not it’s most precious where it’s created. Yes, when we look at something and find it soul-stirringly profound, it’s more of a testament of who we are than what that thing is. Five people can watch the same movie and come away with five different perspectives. Ten people can listen to the same music and reveal ten different emotional responses.

You see, we each connect with unique parts of the world around us. Our experiences, education, influences from the people around us, and literally where we’re standing at a given moment, all shape the way we view life.

Yet many people believe that writers have some specially assigned cosmic muse who whispers magical words in their ear as they write. Loads of aspiring writers struggle to find that inner voice because they’re looking for it to come from the outside, when by definition it must come from within.

Here’s what I want you to understand: you can develop the ability to inspire yourself every day.

“How?” I can hear the wheels of the skeptical mind grinding away as you wonder whether to throw your head back and laugh at this absurdity, or shake your head slowly from side to side with a dismissive and disapproving tsk, tsk, tsk.

So let me get to the task of proving it to you.

You can stop believing the lie of cosmic inspiration by choosing to live every moment of every day. Yeah, that’s it. Sounds simple, but for most of us bustling through life, it’ll take some doing before we truly get it. We can’t recall what we had for breakfast last week Monday, let alone the color of the plate we used. Opening yourself up to the wonder of the mundane is the answer, and it’s something you can learn.

I often play storytelling games with my daughters to celebrate their creativity and refine my own. These aren’t the type of games that cause you to gather around a table with family and friends, however. They are ongoing games that crop up anytime, anywhere. We add voices to animals, create conversations between birds on a wire, dogs trotting about, and even butterflies flitting from flower to flower.

We pick random strangers out of a crowd and give them a back story based on the way they’re dressed and their facial expressions. We provide plausible reasons for the erroneous placement of objects and create a rationale for actions and behaviors.

And we notice the little things – the shadows dancing on the ground as wind blows through the trees at sunset; the varying shades of gray on clouds as the sky prepares for rain; the way sunlight sparkles differently on different objects; and how an ant seems to float aimlessly like an anomaly in a weird snow globe when you put a drop of water on it.

Everyday life is full of details that we constantly miss, details that are funny and amazing and keep us full of wonder. It takes nothing but a few moments to stop and notice.

When you can reimagine the world around you, there is no shortage of inspiration. It’s nice to say, “Go out there and find beauty,” but I prefer to say, “Go out there and create it.”

Following on the heels of your response to Lie #1, you would have, at this point, already scheduled some writing time. Now, as you buckle down to respond effectively to Lie #2, all you need to do is to write at the allotted time.

At first, it won’t come easy, but after some time of letting your brain know “This Is Writing Time!” you’ll find that ideas come, and writing will take place.

If you’re working on nonfiction, use the time to make notes on relevant articles or topics. You can even respond to a video or documentary you looked at. If you’re working on fiction, use the time to enhance your character or setting description as you create worlds and people. Whatever you do, when you sit to write, make sure that you write.

You can even be cheeky and write something like, “I’m sitting here thinking about what to write and nothing seems to be coming, but this article I read said I should just write and so I am doing that…just write.”

Then reflect on that sentence and write the next thing that comes to your mind.

Or you can be a bit more proactive and decide ahead of time what you’ll be writing about and then sit and write about that thing.

At any rate, it really will only be a matter of time before you get into the habit of writing, of producing, and then the magic will happen.

So, dispense with the lies you’ve been telling yourself about waiting for inspiration, and get started on actively creating it.

As always, happy writing.

Lie #1 – I Don’t Have Time to Write

This particular lie is number 1 for a reason. I told myself this lie for many, many years…when I was working 7 am to 7 pm, when I was raising 2 children, when I was on vacation, and even when I was unemployed. It didn’t matter what I was doing, or not doing, I was convinced that I didn’t have time. And guess what, I didn’t. 

The devious nature of this lie gets us believing that we are too busy to write that novel that’s been on our minds for the longest while, or the article that could get us paid, or even the story for that annual writer’s competition we were told about more than 3 years ago (true story). 

We believe the lie because our preoccupation with everyday things and lack of organization has us darting from activity to activity like a honey bee desperately collecting nectar. The thing is, though, the honey bee has purpose and direction, but we lack both.

When we see the hours and minutes ticking away and everything else in our lives seems so urgent and important, and a thousand things a day are loudly demanding our attention, we believe the lie. We believe we don’t have time. So we set aside our dreams, and we quiet the voice within us that’s screaming for us to share our thoughts and ideas with the world.

We don’t have time to live because we’re busy existing.  But the voice inside telling us (even begging us) to share our story simply would not shut up. We try to drown it with more activities, with activities we pretend have meaning, with drink and food, and the company of friends until we believe we can’t hear it anymore.

Yet the moment we pause, the moment we stand still long enough to recognize our own breath, we hear it again…words that are so much a part of us we can’t think of anything else.

This lie does nothing to satisfy the hunger and yearning to share our voice with the world. It only temporarily numbs us.

The only way to deal with this lie is to recognize the fallacy, and understand that the reason the lie exists is because we’re afraid.  

Yes, we’re afraid of our own voices. We’re afraid of failure. We’re afraid of success. We’re afraid because we know that to write means to connect with something beyond ourselves that we don’t control, and that lack of control is scary.

And these are real fears. Make no mistake, there are actual concerns and legitimate feelings brewing inside you that are halting your writing or preventing you from getting those words out.

But here’s the thing: you can move beyond those fears. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the embracing of the thing that once kept you in the shadows while you step into the light. You get to tell everyone that you were afraid, but you did it anyway.

Fear doesn’t have to be something that keeps us back. It can be something that lets us know what we’re doing is significant. If we weren’t afraid from time to time we’d never truly understand the importance of anything.

So, notice the fear and take steps toward overcoming it. Choose to give those words coiled in your soul the light and life they need for you to truly live.

Ok, lots of inspirational words, but I know that’s easier said than done, so here’s my #1 recommendation for getting out of that rut and dealing with this lie: Get a writing buddy. 

You’d be surprised at the number of people who are stuck and would love the support of another writer going through something similar. Great places to find writing buddies are through online or in-person writing groups and at your local library.

Co-working is a thing. If you’ve never heard the term, it refers to a situation where different people who are working on different things come together to share a space. In this context, it means two (or more) people working at the same time, in the same space (whether online or in-person), but on different projects.

It’s not collaboration or coaching because you’re doing your own thing without discussion or interruption from the other parties.

The way it works is that there’s a commitment created when an agreement on date and duration is settled, and there’s an expectation created because someone else is counting on you to show up. That’s the motivation that many people thrive on.

You’ll definitely need to let others know that you’re in the market for someone to sit and write with, and you may even have to explain a few times what you’re looking for. But once you get that sorted, you’ll be well on your way to writing. I’ve done it and continue doing it to help myself get my stories and books out.

So, go out there, find a writing buddy, and get your writing done!

Remember, there are people out there who need to read what you’ve written, so get the support you need to get your writing done.

And as always, happy writing!