Welcome
“Today I Write,” including these short newsletters, is all about actually writing. It’s about the opposite of writer’s block. The purpose of the newsletters is to be useful to people who want to start writing, to write more, or to reach The End.
I’ve been studying block for the last 5 years in 6 research studies, with more ahead. And my problem is: I kinda agree with the people who say there is no such thing. I’ve had block. I had it for years at one point. It has hit most writers (including most of the famous people we think of as productive and successful). But it doesn’t exist as a real thing you can point to. When therapists refer clients to me who are troubled by it, there is no official diagnosis code and it’s usually described as “depression.”
For different writers, "block" means various things that attack from different directions, strike in different ways and have to be battled with different weapons. In these “Today I Write” newsletters you’re not going to hear about some new one-size-fits-all cure that worked for my writing but might not work for yours. I do have some clear beliefs you’ll be hearing about. And if they contradict each other, that's fine with me.
To my way of thinking, talking about obstacles is not as helpful as talking about what to do and where to head for. That’s why it isn’t called “Today I Sit Around.” That’s why I’m writing about the opposite of block.
Okay, so let’s talk about actually writing.
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Today: creating time to write
I'll keep this brief, feel free to read it quickly.
“Lord, give me chastity and continence, but not yet.”
– Saint Augustine
I noticed years ago that I always did the second-to-most important thing on my list. And that gave me a useful way to get the important things done: I just made sure to have some task that was even more important. Even today, I got around to writing this because I had something more important to do. But you can only do that for so long before things pile up: the one most important thing never gets done.
But of course it does. The important task gets done, not because it gets more important (it doesn’t), but because something else changes. You see, importance isn’t, in fact, what controls what we decide to do. Here’s the central idea in how I think about actually writing: almost all the time, people prioritize what’s urgent over what’s important.
Even if the urgent is trivial. Even if the important is very important. Almost all the time, people prioritize what’s urgent over what’s important. The important task gets done just before the deadline... once it’s urgent.
People don’t buy insurance or make wills because it doesn’t seem to be urgent. And then one day it’s too late. Right?
I want to lose weight, but one more slice of cake doesn’t matter. You want to quit smoking, but one more cigarette won’t kill you. Until guess what.
You want to start writing your novel (or your script, or whatever), but you don’t want to start it today. Think for a moment. Was it the same yesterday? And the day before? And how long before that?
Here’s my belief. You really do want to start work on the novel (or whatever it is). It really is important to you. I don’t doubt that. But there will always be something more urgent.
Checking email. Making coffee. Straightening up the house. Little things that don’t take much time... so you do ten of them...
Every day there will be something more urgent. It's so stupid that it's embarrassing. And it happens to most of us. And it’s what I’d like you to change.
One way to change the urgency level is to sign up for one of those speedwriting events like National Novel Writing Month. That gives you three things: being part of a group, a sense of fun (I know, an unusual definition of fun, in the same way that running a marathon is fun), and a clear hard deadline. These are all helpful in getting yourself into a mindset where you might actually write.
Another way to change the urgency is to schedule your play time. This is called the Unschedule, and was invented by Neil Fiore. When you plan your time for next week (and please consider doing that) begin by planning your downtime. Like this:
Get your schedule. Whatever it looks like. A napkin with the days of the week written on it? Whatever. You can actually do this, instead of just reading along. Go, get it. Because your writing is important. Because we both respect your writing.
Ready?
Now schedule the things you can’t change – such as going to your day job.
Ready again?
The very next thing to schedule is your downtime. Going to the gym, if that is fun for you. Seeing friends. Watching tv. Doing nothing. All the things that you normally think of as distractions from worthwhile productive grown-up responsible activities.
Schedule them. Schedule them generously. Be good to yourself.
And now they are not distractions any longer. Now they’re legitimate activities you can do, at their allocated times, free of guilt.
Next, safe in the knowledge that there are no distractions, schedule your writing time. And when that time comes, writing will be more urgent than anything else, and you can enjoy it wholeheartedly.
One more time, my central idea: almost all the time, people prioritize the urgent over the important. Look for ways to make pressing activities less pressing, and to make writing more urgent.
Happy new year –
David
David Jung McGarva
+1 (818) 707 1871
Write me: david at todayiwrite dot com
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