"I feel stuck and uninspired"
"When I'm feeling it, it's great, but when I'm not, it's a disaster."
"There is so much pressure for it to be good and engaging, make it stop!"
Writing, amiright?
It's a struggle.
I will be the first to tell you that a lot of the external pressure for unending production is unwarranted.
Our job is to answer the questions that our audience has, so they can get to the solution they need.
Our job is not to push, push, push, non stop.
That's why a bank needs to communicate in a different way to a government department needs to communicate in a different way to a shop that only sells fun socks.
But, as solo business owners and marketers, we do need to put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and put words in the best order.
And with so many people doing it surely someone has unlocked the secret to getting it done without the struggle?
Maybe the answer is in the location.
Is a writing nest the answer?
I know that, when I need to do some deep writing, I'm more likely to change my location. I'll move from a big screen and desk setup to laptop on lap, comfy chair, with headphones instead of ambient tunes.
I recently watched this old video of Roald Dahl (ps Roald Dahl's life is WILD. Listen to the BBC's Great Lives episode on him. Jaw dropped.
He talks about his writing "nest". I am quite into this idea, although I would need to clean the floor.
Even with his very specific space set up, and four hours of dedicated writing time, he said, "The pencil doesn't often touch the paper." The extra time, he says, is for the thinking, looking and creating.
Ok, so location isn't the key to just sitting down and smashing it out.
What about time?
He talks about his writing "nest". I am quite into this idea, although I would need to clean the floor.
Even with his very specific space set up, and four hours of dedicated writing time, he said, "The pencil doesn't often touch the paper." The extra time, he says, is for the thinking, looking and creating.
Let's check out the daily rituals of some famous creative people - in infographic form. For those of you who couldn't be bothered to click through, they're all over the place. Some enjoy the middle of the night. Some work consistently through the day. But most get up and start work early in the morning.
Part of me wishes that I could just block an early morning hour in my calendar and know that I'd write from start to finish. But, I know that the reality doesn't always look like sitting and writing non stop when you want to. Or it doesn't when you want to write good, structured words.
It does work when you just want to work through some ideas in an unstructured way. When you write what comes. When you want to build a writing habit. You might not think there is a massive link between journalling, morning pages or other writing practices and getting your business content done when you need to, but there is.
You see, I believe that (unless you have a job where you write all the time, like mine) most of the people on this email list haven't had to write long, structured pieces since high school or university. This means, that when we sit down to write something, our brains do an absolute number on us.
We go back to school. We think we're getting assessed. We fear that the answer will be wrong. We will be graded poorly. We'll get back a page covered in red ink.
But there is no teacher marking your work. You will not be graded. You can write something that has a spelling mistake and you'll still be safe.
Taking the time to just write for writings sake, with no practical goal in sight, can help overcome this fear. It's why we were told to do endless practice essays before exams. We need to stop our hands and brain freezing on us under the weight of our inner editor.
There is no perfect time to write, but writing regularly might just help.
Even though I write all the time. Even though I think it's mostly good. Even though it's often very bad. Even though people literally pay me to do this, I still think that one day I will find the writing magic bullet.
It's why I watch videos of Roald Dahl. Have infographics bookmarked. And have read Bird by Bird more times than I'd like to admit.
So, maybe it's time to turn to one of my favourite creators, Lin Manuel Miranda (creator of Hamilton, my personal favourite In The Heights, the songs of Moana and so much more) and see what he has to say on the subject:
"Be anti-superstitious when it comes to writing.
Don't worry about...having just the right Moleskin and having the right light in the air and, "I write best from 3 - 3:45PM."
[motions NO].
Write. Write write write."
Ahhhhh. There is no magic bullet. There isn't even a magic Moleskin, pen or soundtrack.
So, when you feel yourself getting frustrated and thinking "I'm not good at this" remember, even people who do this all day every day feel like that. Don't stress yourself out. Take a deep breath. And write.
Write write write.