Newsletter #9: March 3, 2008
Approx 550 words - I’ll be brief, but feel free to read quickly anyway.
The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday - but never jam today.
- Lewis Carroll, 1865.
A reader writes, "Note to David: Some of us have real trouble with self-created deadlines. Since they are not 'real', they are not deadlines."
Making your deadlines real is a challenge I’ve touched on before. I’m always meeting actors who came out here to Los Angeles to work in the Industry, who hate working in Starbucks instead, and who haven’t sent out their headshots to anyone. Makes sense? No, it’s insane.
And it’s so very human. “I know it’s important but wtf, today or tomorrow makes no difference and I have to be at Starbucks in an hour."
And people do it for months and for years.
Writer’s block is kind of like that, isn’t it? Writing is important, but writing today isn’t. I can make it sound even sillier: writing every single day is important, and somehow today is different.
Here’s my guess: for most creative people, being your own boss basically doesn’t work.
How do we get around this? I talked about it months ago, back at the start of these letters. I said that people need a coach like me to give them accountability. A friend might do it, but it would have to be a special kind of friend who combined integrity and toughness with an exceptional sense of perspective.
A third possibility is to hire a manager. You won’t, of course, but let’s pretend you did. Or a secretary if you prefer. Someone who will keep track of your appointments, tell you where you’re supposed to be each day and every hour, and see that you get there. Would that work for you?
I think it would for many of us. Toughen it up a little if you like, and make it your boss; but I was hoping you wouldn’t have to. For my purpose today I prefer the secretary, someone whose advice you respect and follow because you chose it. Because you chose to request it and permit it.
Okay, so in my fantasy, here you are with a secretary (or office manager). S/he says to you each day, “Your writing hours are from 7am to 8.30am and I need a thousand words." And you just might do it.
Now let’s tiptoe one step back from the full-on fantasy, and I’ll show you the less expensive model.
Don't hire anyone. Be your manager. When it’s time to sit at the desk, sit at the desk because your manager self is watching! When you’re behind the schedule you set, let the manager figure out whether it matters and what to do, and then do that because you respect his/her professional advice! At all times, ask yourself, “WWMMD?”
You’re creative enough to make it work.
And feel free to send me team photos.
What did you think of those actors? What’s the most important act you could perform right now, at this stage?
Something you can try today: split your personality. Stop trying to manage yourself. Instead become a (most of the time) writer self and a (sometimes) manager self. When the manager declares a plan, the writer is to follow it without question, as if you were paying good money for him/her to do that; as if your professional life depended on it. No, because your professional life depends on it. Without question; without even thinking about it; just working away at your true calling because you finally grasp that that is what you are working away at.
David
David Jung McGarva
+1 (818) 707 1871
Write me: david at todayiwrite dot com
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