I’ve never really been one for writing down ideas in notebooks. I have tried to do so in the past, but I never maintained the practice. I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that it was a waste of time. In the brief periods where I have recorded some of my ideas, I found little benefit…
The other day I came across a quote by Jim Rohn that reminded me of something profoundly important, something that I had let myself forget, and because of that, I am now suffering the consequences. The quote I’m talking about is this one: Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development,…
Continuing on with this series about some of my non-literary influences, I would like to talk about someone who was a profound influence on me at one time, and that is Bill Hicks. I say one time because as I explained in the last post, I try not to get too influenced by anything or…
I used to hate the fact that I was an introvert. When I was a teenager and I would go to parties, I would always end up sitting in some corner, wracked with discomfort, out of place, wishing I could be more like the extroverts in the room. These days, I’m happy not going to…
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about achievement it’s this: you have to keep going and persevere with what you are doing. More than anything else, perseverance will see you through to the end. Perseverance is almost like a skill and it contains a few different elements that you should be aware off in order…
Sometimes being a writer is the easiest thing in the world. Those times when ideas are clear and words seem to flow without effort—when the act of writing itself is pure joy—those times are awesome and they make you glad you chose to be a writer.
Other times being a writer is the hardest thing in the world. Those times when ideas are few and far between and what ideas you do have are woefully inadequate. Those times when the words refuse to come, when it appears you are suffering from a mental block that stifles your creativity.
While I can’t comment on which one of these scenarios you most find yourself in, it’s a pretty sure bet that all writers find themselves in the latter scenario more times than they care to mention.
But what causes this negative downturn? How do things go from good to bad seemingly overnight without any logical cause?
The answer to that lies in writer’s doubt.
In any creative endeavor, productivity matters. You can be as creative as you like, but that won’t matter if you don’t finish anything or get your work out there for all to see.
As a writer, if all you do is write and don’t publish anything, or worse, don’t finish anything, how is that being productive?
In my book, that’s about as unproductive as you can get.
But what is the main cause of being unproductive?
In a word: perfectionism.
It’s a curse that helps no one.
If you want to know how to beat it, read on.
It’s no great secret that people who have excelled in one discipline will often excel in another when they turn their attention to it.
Why?
They have learned the art of mastery.
The previously mastered discipline is not important.
What are important are the lessons to be learned from it.
For the purpose of this article, we are going to be looking at some of the lessons to be learned from mastering a particular discipline, then we are going to apply those lessons to writing.
Mastery is the same across all disciplines, whether in sports, the arts, science or whatever.
To master your discipline—in this case writing—there are certain things you must do in order to make that possible.
If writing means more to you than superficial success—and if you want to master writing and being a writer—learn and apply the following lessons.
The old saying of it’s better to burn out than fade away may apply to rock stars and flaming celebrities, but it certainly doesn’t apply to writers.
There is nothing glamorous about burning out to the point where you stop production and loose your grasp on being a writer.
If you stop writing you are no longer a writer. Why would you want that?
You wouldn’t want that of course, but if you are not careful, that’s exactly what can happen.
In this article I’m going to show you how to spot the signs that indicate writers burnout is just around the corner, if not already there. That way, you can do something about it before it hits and causes real damage, otherwise you may end up writing your twisted memoirs on an imaginary typewriter in the wing of a mental hospital somewhere, and no one wants that.