Doing the Work
I’m trying to figure out why I don’t write more… why don’t I share my thoughts and ideas more often than I do? Why do I feel so often have this feeling of perpetual stuckness?
What’s strange is that I don’t even think I have writers block per se… I have a lot of ideas; it’s just that most of the time whenever I finally sit down to consider an action plan, or sit down to write out particular thoughts and ideas to share online or turn into a story or a product or whatever, the ideas seem to crumble up before my very eyes and suddenly seem entirely worthless and unnecessary and no longer worth pursuing or sharing or bringing forth into this reality.
— Rachelle Fordyce, My Creative Struggle
Like Rachelle, my silence on this site hasn’t been due to a lack of things to write about. I’m constantly reading through the day and in the evening, bookmarking articles to come back to, tagging magazines with things to write about, or just endlessly thinking about life. I have a stack of ideas building up in my head, but never get around to putting things down and hitting publish.
That becomes a problem for me, not because I believe there is a growing audience wanting to read my stuff, but because of how it affects me. Some ideas are going around and around my mind, slowly driving me crazy. They need an outlet to get out of my mind so I can focus on other things. Instead, they sit in the jail of my mind, peering out of their cells, reminding me that they have to be dealt with and can’t remain inside forever.
There are a few solutions that could be put in place to help me resolve this issue. The more popular being a 21 or 30 day challenge of publishing something daily, like what Wil Wheaton is currently doing on his site. I don’t think I’m disciplined to do a challenge like that though. I tend to go down a few rabbit holes exploring different (and random) topics, or end up getting engrossed in a series on Netflix (you have seen ‘Black Mirror’ right?) that takes away my motivation to write.
I think the better solution for me is to create an environment for me to do the work. Eliminating the distractions of my desk (the other books, tagged magazines) and moving into my Lay Z Boy chair has helped me focus on reading my books. That’s where I am now, listening to music in my headphones, smelling the scents of leather and tobacco from a candle from Bespoke Post, and sipping on an Old Fashioned. It creates the perfect atmosphere for me to want to write more and engage in my work.
My mind is relaxed. I’m ready to keep writing tonight and hope I can recreate this environment throughout the long winter1 to keep myself feeling productive and fresh. As long as I focus on what I’m producing, and not on what I’m not producing, this experiment should turn out for the better.
- Not terribly long in Kelowna, mind you. ↩
