focus

Spiral UP? Or spiral DOWN? Your choice!

Published on by Kristi Holl

For over a year, I’ve been dealing with three difficult circumstances that impacted everything, causing one downward spiral after another. Since I tend to handle things privately, I disappeared from social media. 

But this fall, I felt the urge to get back to thriving instead of simply surviving.

Easy to say, but hard to do!

Self-Examination

I had picked up some escapist survival habits that were more engrained than I first believed. I had great intentions at the beginning of the day; however, failure to follow through happened with regularity (like many times daily). One or two poor choices flipped me into that excuse of “I’ve ruined today, so I’ll start again tomorrow.”

I don’t think I’ve had a perfect day yet where I made good eating choices, writing choices, and relationship choices without fail. And my lightning quick brain finally realized perfection wasn’t EVER going to be possible. Not this side of heaven anyway. But I finally learned something critical that improved every area that needed healing:

Every poor choice is the beginning of a spiral. Like a circular staircase, you can either spiral up or down. You always have two options, and you get to choose.”

Spiral Down Fast

Each day contains at least one poor choice we make. (Often it is several.) A poor choice is one that doesn’t fit your goals. It could be a writing goal, a health goal, a time management goal, or a relationship goal.

A poor choice could be

  • scrolling social media during your writing time,
  • eating two sugary donuts,
  • binge watching TV till midnight, or
  • snapping at your child.

Your first poor choice is your critical choice moment. 

You can make a poor choice and SPIRAL DOWNWARD FAST. Imagine yourself at the top of this twisty slide. One push, and down you go, around and around until you hit bottom.

Practically speaking, what might that look like?

  • You can decide that the day is already ruined when you eat a donut for breakfast. So, you eat junk food and sugar bombs the rest of the day.
  • You feel guilty, so you add binge watching a favorite TV series until you are blotto.
  • You put away your manuscript again to tend to your headache, and
  • give the obstinate child the silent treatment for good measure.

Choice #2: Spiral Up (Slowly but Steadily)

On the other hand, you can make THE VERY SAME POOR CHOICE, then decide to SPIRAL UP SLOWLY, STEP BY TINY STEP, instead. 

You can stop the downward trajectory immediately by taking a small step UP.

  • After your donut, you might brush your teeth or plan a healthy lunch.
  • You might close all the live streaming tabs on your laptop.
  • You might turn to where you left off during your last writing session and re-read the page.
  • You might apologize to the child and hold her on your lap for a minute.
  • You might take a slow, five-minute walk to interrupt your negative thinking.

Continual Choices

Yes, the upward spiral is a slower path, but it’s a steady path of growth. The steps up don’t have to be big at all. And you can take lots of pauses to refresh with a stretch or walk around the yard or enjoy some planned treat with a favorite book.

The downward spiral that comes with several poor choices is a slippery, speedy easy path that comes with a hard landing. But even then, it’s not all over.

Pick yourself up at the bottom of the slide. Choose the upward spiral staircase right away, and just focus on the smallest step right in front of you. And after a pause, when you’re ready, take another step up. And eventually another. 

Every single poor choice throughout your week is just the beginning of a spiral. But whether you spiral up or down is entirely up to you. It really is. Pause. Relax. Breathe deeply. (And if you’re like me, pray for help.)

REMEMBER: the poor choice is the first step in both sequences. The direction (of your day, your week, and ultimately your life) is your CHOICE.

 

Getting Unstuck after 2020

Published on by Kristi Holl

After losing two family members in the pandemic, I had a month-long severe reaction this spring to my second Covid shot. When I resurfaced, feeling practically comatose, I was behind on one Christmas mystery book deadline and a novel (set in 1850s England.) None of my decades-old “get started” techniques worked, which induced a near panic.

But one day I heard a podcast. (Details are included at the end.) Did you know that we have 60,000-70,000 thoughts per day? Roughly 95% of the thoughts are repetitive and unconscious. Only 5% of our daily thoughts are conscious and new. The negative ones, both conscious and unconscious, keep us stuck.

“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind,” the Bible urges. To do that, we need to first notice the conscious negative thoughts that keep us stuck. (Mine included “I’m too old for this.” “There’s not enough time.” “I’m too tired to even start.”) Then you grab a pencil and paper and ask yourself the following questions.

Unstuck with Five Magical Questions

  1. If I feel overloaded, what would it take for this task to be easy? What would have to change for this situation to be simplified? I asked this when I felt overwhelmed, whether I needed to outline my cozy mystery or put away Christmas decorations. Sometimes the answer was to cut the goal into tiny pieces to make it easy. Or I deleted the task, or delegated it, or postponed it because it wasn’t critical. Sometimes I  rearranged my schedule to eliminate overload. (I felt every bit as overloaded as this sheep!)
  2. What is an improvement I’m willing to make? The smaller, the better, if you want to get moving quickly. Maybe I can’t write for an hour, but I’m willing to write ten minutes. I can’t walk three miles today, but I’m willing to walk around the block. I don’t want to stick to my diet today, but I’m willing to cut this candy bar in half. Small steps lead to larger ones.
  3. What perspective would I need in order to feel different? I use this question when I want to change my fearful, doubtful, or pessimistic mood. My change in perspective often includes a particular Bible verse that speaks to my need. Then I can look at my situation from a better point of view instead of my own limited one.
  4. In this particular situation, where do I need to be a little more patient, and where do I need to push a little harder? I ask the question, sit quietly, and listen. You’ll know if you need to rest more and be patient with healing, or if you actually are loafing and need to push yourself a bit.
  5. What is the difference between a true solution and a distraction? When I’m tired or discouraged, what actually renews my energy, a nap or a pint of ice cream? When I’m behind on a deadline and fighting panic, is watching a British movie a solution, or is it a distraction? The real self-care task isn’t always the most appealing choice. But it will be a true solution.

Questions for Every Season of Your Life

These powerful questions turned out to be so helpful that I taped the list in several places: beside my computer, in my daily planner, and in my prayer journal. They help me every day—not just in my writing, but in my food choices, exercise, home care, and when my grandkids are here.

Questions are a great way to use the 5% of our thoughts we have control over! Bring God into the process. Then the answers you receive will fit your personality, goals, and season in life.

More Help to Get Unstuck

(Taken in part from “Ten Questions that Change Everything” by Primal Potential podcaster, Elizabeth Benton; my post was first published on the National ACFW blog.)

Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results from Atomic Habits

Published on by Kristi Holl

A new book was released officially today that I hope every one of you will buy. A couple of weeks ago, I received and listened to an early audio recording of Atomic Habits by James Clear. And I’m eager to read it when my hard copy arrives today. 

James Clear’s work has been covered by dozens of major media outlets including The New York Times, Entrepreneur, TIME, and on CBS This Morning. His work scientifically backs up his premise that it’s not your goals that help you achieve your dreams. It’s the daily (often tiny) incremental habits of the systems you have in place.

If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again, not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. As Clear puts it,

“I believe that you do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

Practical Advice that Works!

If you want to have a steady writing career or want to accomplish anything that requires daily good behavior, do check out James Clear. I have read his excellent articles for years, including his free 45-page Transform Your Habits: The Science of How to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones e-book. I went through his Habits Academy classes last year, which were excellent.

Atomic Habits is the culmination of his years of studying what works–and what doesn’t–when building habits that will give you the kind of life you yearn for. And he shows you how just like the book’s subtitle says: with tiny changes that yield remarkable results.

 

 

Focus Shift: Photoshop Your Moods!

Published on by Kristi Holl

In addition to a Covid family death, I lost two friends in December, plus my last (and favorite) uncle. The focus was on grieving, plus a severe autoimmune flare-up it caused.

With Christmas around the corner, I found it difficult to feel the joy of the season. And writing? That felt out of the question, so my work-in-progress languished. Everywhere I turned were reminders of loss and the pain of suffering loved ones left behind. It seemed there was little I could do but pray and endure and pretend to be happy, so that I didn’t dampen anyone else’s holidays.

But there was more I could do, which I learned inadvertently from my teenage granddaughter, Abby. She’s taking dozens of my W.I.P. England photos, resizing and refocusing them for use in blogs, plus Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest posts. I watched her change photos from bright and cheery to somber and shadowy, in keeping with my mystery series.

Photoshop Your Days

Abby was taking reality (the amateur photos I took), and either brightening or darkening the mood by what she chose to emphasize. So, I tried it myself, experimenting with a Yorkshire Dales graveyard photo (shown first below.) Using cropping and blurring and tints and hues, I brightened the mood (the second photo) and then used the same techniques in reverse to darken the mood (the third photo.)

Here is a shift away from the darker elements to a brighter spot in the photo. Definitely a cheerier mood.

Here is a shift in focus again, but this time ignoring the brighter spots, but focusing on the somber, darker elements.

A light dawned. Could I finagle with my own downcast soul in the same way I adjusted the photos? Could I take the circumstances of loss and sickness—the true snapshot of my current life—and adjust my mood by choosing what to focus on? What could I crop out that wasn’t helpful to focus on? Could I brighten the tone? What heightened contrast would give a truer perspective?

Focus on Eternal Truths

Yes, the truth was that those were sad days. But what else was true? These loved ones were out of pain now. I trusted that I’d see them again one day. True, I felt unwell, but thanks to Covid isolation, I was already expert at ordering food via Instacart. So two Christmas dinners arrived with all the prep work done. And since I love Christmas music and movies, I filled the empty spaces with more intentional joy. It was Philippians 4:8 in action.

But in addition to changing the focus to things that were true and uplifting and kind, I had to crop out a few things from the current picture. First was to stop thinking about negative events in the world and in the extended family that, beyond fervently praying, I couldn’t change. I reviewed my old copy of Codependent No More by Melody Beattie to remind myself what problems I was responsible for, and which problems in the extended family I clearly was not responsible for fixing. And stepping back to view the whole situation made it look much less disheartening.

Making these seemingly small changes reminded me of another book on my shelves, The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time by Alex Korb, PhD. According to science, these small “photo app” changes  shift brain chemistry from depression to hopeful joy. I even read some of my own blog posts, like From Panic to Focus: Save Your Writing Project and Find Your Focus: Stick to the ONE Thing.

So, if your 2021 New Year looks less joyous than in previous years (for any reason), don’t despair. Do some creative cropping, change your focus, and brighten the picture. Watch how you are transformed by the renewing of your mind!

[Originally published January 3, 2021, on the American Christian Fiction Writers blog]

Find Your Focus: Stick to the ONE Thing

Published on by Kristi Holl

“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.” ~Josh Billings

This quote comes from a book I love called The ONE Thing: the Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller. As I mentioned last week, after a number of back-to-back setbacks, I needed to relaunch my writing habits. It has been harder than I expected for a number of reasons.

For one thing, I had waited several months to be able to see again and also to move my right hand. So, I didn’t just get behind on my writing. In addition, I “lost sight” of a few other important goals. I was in enough pain that exercising just made the pain worse. So, I quit for a short season (which turned into a loooong season). Because I couldn’t see to drive at night for months, some events with friends and family members were canceled. 

So when I finally felt well enough to write again, I wasn’t just behind with the writing. I had gained some weight I wanted to lose and was breathless and out of shape. And, of course, I wanted to re-schedule important events with friends and family. AND THERE WASN’T TIME TO DO EVERYTHING.

Juggling MANY Things

Life is a juggling act in the best of times. But when we’re knocked out of commission for a while, due to health or family or job crises, we are eager to get caught up in all areas of our lives. In the past, I tried to ramp up performance in all areas simultaneously, becoming a writer running on adrenaline. After all, most of our dearest goals are truly important! You want to catch up on them all. And that, in turn, makes us feel overwhelmed and stuck.

The author of The ONE Thing was in a similar situation. He finally realized he couldn’t do it all, at least not at one time. He couldn’t do five things, or four, or even two–and do them really well. Not with full focus. Not with enough focus to be successful. The question he learned to ask himself repeatedly, in every situation, turned his entire life around.

What was that question?

“What’s the ONE Thing you can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”

Sorting It All Out

According to the1thing.com website, “Gary Keller has identified that behind every successful person is their ONE Thing. No matter how success is measured, personal or professional, only the ability to dismiss distractions and concentrate on your ONE Thing stands between you and your goals. The ONE Thing is about getting extraordinary results in every situation.” Not only does this strategy help you really focus so you can succeed, it also cuts your stress. 

To me, there’s nothing quite as stressful as jumping back and forth from one task to another on my “to do” list. I didn’t focus on my major goal—in this case, writing a book. Instead I put out fires and crossed items off my list that were either the easiest or the quickest. Many items led down rabbit trails, since answering one email usually leads to several more. Adding a short update to your Facebook page leads to scrolling, reading, commenting and liking your friends’ posts. Time is lost, and you haven’t even started your most important project.

If you’re like me, you might be saying, “But I have several very important goals. I can’t choose just one!” I understand that feeling. But focusing on one main thing is a skill we can learn. If learning how to focus on one main goal FIRST is important to you, give this book a try. In addition to much practical help in the book, the author provides free downloads, podcasts, and teachings for their “ONE Thing” method at their Resources page. 

Choosing The ONE Thing

Yes, right now I am taking small steps with an exercise program. I’ve also rescheduled smaller events with friends and family. However, I decided that my ONE thing to focus “all in” during the rest of the summer was re-establishing my writing habit and finishing a book I started months ago. To accomplish this, I am using what the author calls time blocking. So far, it’s working really well. 

In past years, my “one thing” was dealing with health issues that had stopped me cold in my writing. Once I got the autoimmune disease in remission, my “one thing” could be something else. Other years I have had 6-9 months where my “one thing” had to be working on a particular relationship that was impacting everything else in my life.   

Focusing On the Right One Thing

Usually we sense which goal is our most important one. But we can be wrong! Don’t automatically assume you know what your “one thing” is. Suppose you want to lose weight, so it seems obvious that your goal is to eat less and exercise more. But when you ask yourself the book’s key question (What’s the ONE Thing you can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?), you might discover that actually it’s your lack of sufficient sleep leading you to not exercise, want comfort carbs at all hours, and be depressed. So, your “one thing” that would make everything easier might be going to bed every night by 10:00. It could fix a host of problems causing you to gain weight.

Take time alone to think, pray, journal, and listen for guidance when choosing your ONE thing. If you need help to identify your focused goal right now, The1Thing website has some helpful articles. Read “How to Identify What Matters Most.” Then for help implementing your plan, see “Revisiting Your System for Time Blocking.” 

Then you’ll be like a postage stamp. You’ll stick to one thing until you successfully get there.

Books for Discouraged or Overwhelmed Writers

Published on by Kristi Holl
Young overwhelmed woman.

During the summer, when trying to stay above the health issues and do things with my grandkids and keep up with a few strict publishing deadlines, I read two books that were especially helpful.

I found I was fighting on a regular basis two discouraging ideas.

One: what had happened to my “dream” novel, the novel of my heart, while dealing with all these other urgent things? It had floundered.

Two: how could I get a handle on everything that had piled up and still get back to my dream novel? [I had a conference coming up where I had signed up to pitch my novel to an editor and agent. If “life” hadn’t interfered for months, I could have easily had it finished.]

As so often happens with me, my prayers for help led me to a book. Or, in this case, two books. One fed my soul with encouragement. The other gave me the practical help and coaching that I needed to get perspective. I don’t believe in re-inventing the wheel if someone else has already solved a problem and written about it. Maybe one or both of these books will help you too.

The Dream Giver

This book inspired me at a time I needed to know that my dream of the last five years wasn’t dead or dying, but meant to be. The Dream Giver: Following Your God-Given Destiny by Bruce Wilkinson has been a bestseller for many years. Here’s the back blurb (and yes, it’s a Christian book.)

“Are you living your dream? Or just living your life? Welcome to a little story about a very big idea. This compelling modern-day parable tells the story of Ordinary, who dares to leave the Land of Familiar to pursue his Big Dream. [Note: it follows the ups and downs of achieving his dream. I could identify with all the stages!] You, too, have been give a Big Dream. One that can change your life. One that the Dream Giver wants you to achieve. Does your Big Dream seem hopelessly out of reach? Are you waiting for something or someone to make your dream happen? Then you’re ready for The Dream Giver.”

Growing Gills

This book was recommended to me by a blog reader who gave such a rave review of this book that I had to check it out. I’m so glad I did! Growing Gills: How to Find Creative Focus When You’re Drowning in Your Daily Life by Jessica Abel is so very good. Don’t you love that title? Jessica also has a great blog. ( Click and scroll down.) Growing Gills comes with a free workbook you can download and print out, which I did, and then work through the exercises to do what her title promises. Here’s part of  the blurb:

“Go from overwhelmed, anxious, and stuck, to consistent, clear, and in control of your creative life. If you feel like you’re floundering in the deep end (Not waving, drowning!), and anxiety over the complexity and enormousness of your creative projects overwhelms you, stop scrambling to fit everything in and feeling stretched thin.

Dive Deep and Swim

  • Sustain the energy you feel when thinking of how awesome your projects could be.
  • Value your own creative work as highly as work you do for other people.
  • Build a reusable structure and process that will consistently get you to the finish line.
  • Blast through your stuck-ness.
  • Finish. Move on to the next project.

You’re a creative person. Even if you have a hard time calling yourself a “writer” or an “artist” in public, making your creative work is core to who you are and how you see the world. You may be harboring a big, ambitious idea for a project. Possibly a lot of them. And it’s killing you.

You lie awake thinking about it…and hating yourself for not doing more to make it real. And then in the morning you’re exhausted, and you can’t believe you “wasted” more time on this stupid idea. Whoever told you that you were creative anyway? You try to shove your idea away, to forget it. But your creative work is what keeps you sane. You can’t not do this. So you live with guilt and anxiety all the time.” [If you follow the workbook as you read her book, this can be a thing of the past.]

 

Compartmentalize to End Procrastination . . . But How?

Published on by Kristi Holl

When re-reading Getting It Done by Andrew J. DuBrin, PH.D., I came to a section on dealing with procrastination. One piece of advice is something I’d like your feedback on. I have struggled to compartmentalize as he suggested. Except for occasional months here or there, I haven’t acquired that skill.

The author said you can make progress with procrastination if you “compartmentalize spheres of life.” He says that if you have multiple demands on your time that seem overwhelming, “mentally wear the same blinders placed on horses so they can concentrate better on the race and not be distracted.”

Box It Up!

I would love to be able to do that on a regular basis! Are you able to compartmentalize? I agree with the author that procrastination is more tempting when multiple demands are swirling and competing in your mind.

I think that male writers have an advantage here. They seem able to put things in boxes, tape the lids shut, and then deal with one box at a time. (I know this for a fact because I can tell when I am being put in the “wife” or “Nana” box while trying to write!) I was thinking about this topic just last week when someone showed me this article.

Women, however, mix things up instead of compartmentalizing. Our concern for our child’s health or marriage problems or a sibling’s financial crisis “bleeds over” into our writing time. And we tend to feel guilty if we’re happily typing away while a member of our family is in trouble or needs us.

‘Fess Up: How Do YOU Compartmentalize?

So…please share your wisdom with me. Men, if you can explain how to put things in boxes or make blinders work, please advise. Ladies, if you’ve figured out how to push aside your other concerns while you write, please share. Is the key just starting small? (Compartmentalize for 2 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 10?)

I bet we could all use some tips! [Added later: you might want to read the tips people are leaving. There is a wealth of ideas there.]

Uncluttered Office Equals Focused Mind

Published on by Kristi Holl

Are you ever overwhelmed by clutter (even good clutter)?

This will be primarily a photo sharing blog post—and you can skip to the last half of the post if you want to—but I want to share what prompted my office decluttering project.

I have a small 10-foot X 10-foot office which holds a treadmill/desk, a computer desk, a large table, and nine bookcases. 

Plenty of room for books, right?

You’d think so, but I also had books stacked everywhere, and no place to work or spread out research and papers. I have writing deadlines I must meet this summer, but I couldn’t settle down to work in my terribly cluttered office.

What To Do When Life Happens: Buy Books!

Since January when I broke my hand, followed by a couple of eye surgeries, things have piled up in my office. The rest of my house is junk free (other than closets and pantry), but I struggle with my office. Especially considering my bargain book-buying habit.

Lately, I’ve avoided my office, but there’s no other good place in my house to work. The chairs elsewhere hurt my back. There’s noise (even though I have a quiet husband). And my reference materials are stored in the office.

I thought my trouble was focusing as I’ve tried to get a grasp on my writing time since returning from vacation. But when reading I Was Busy, Now I’m Not by Joseph Peck, I was struck rather forcibly by this statement:

“There are two things to organize—your time and your space… Removing clutter from your physical environment helps you think more clearly and brings more peace. Getting organized is crucial to the matter of redeeming the time.”

Where Do I Start? Unclutter 101

I had tried to straighten up my office many times, but I simply had no room for everything, especially the books I had collected for the last 25 years. What to do? As when dealing with any issue, I figured there was help available “out there,” and so there was. I found the Becoming Minimalist website and signed up for a 12-week Uncluttered course. I thought that surely, with the help of videos and weekly email pep talks, I could bite the bullet and get my office functional again.

One weekend and fourteen fewer bags of books later, it looks terrific. (See the contrast below.) All the book shelves are still full, but the floors are clear, I can see the treadmill again, I re-discovered so many unread books, and I can find things! Five bags of books were donated to the Book Cellar downtown for re-sale, and nine bags of books went out in the trash. (I mark up all my nonfiction and scribble notes all over the margins, and no one wants them for re-sale.)

Saying Good-Bye to Friends

I grieved, truly, as I parted with my books. I glanced in many of them, noting the dates and messages in the margins which reminded me of what I was dealing with at the time. Those writing books and self-help books chronicled my various recoveries over the years, and those books were like my friends. Those authors and their support or advice were always at my fingertips. If only I could have kept them all!

Here are the before and after photos of various parts of my office. There are many British photos and mementos from my trips to England, and yes, my mini Christmas tree with the British ornaments stays up all year. I love my office now and can’t wait to go in there in the morning. The minute I sit down at my cleared-off desk, I actually feel focused. And I am still surrounded by a ton of books, which makes me really happy.

If you need to do this too, I hope you bite the bullet. You may find that it’s the only cure you need to give yourself instant focus.

BEFORE and AFTER Removing the Clutter

   

   

 

   

 

For other ways to focus, try some of these articles.

From Panicky and Distracted, to Peaceful and Focused

Published on by Kristi Holl

Right now, I really must be focused. When this posts on Friday, I will be in Houston, waiting to board British Airways to head across the ocean. But less than 24 hours before leaving, I am sitting here fighting panic at everything left to do before we leave. I should have realized this weeks ago, but packing for a month’s absence is a bit more complicated than being gone for a week. A no-brainer, right?

Usually my To-Do lists are orderly, with little check boxes beside each item. I have tasks in all areas: writing, fitness, family, food choices, and other areas that I like to track.

NOT TODAY!

I gave up earlier this week on having orderly to-do lists because I had too many items every day to fit into my normal planner. No problem, I thought. I’ll just systematically and calmly deal with each item, check it off, and go on to the next one.

Except at the end of each day this week, I had more left to do than I’d hoped for. To honest, I panicked at the amount of extra tasks to do (on top of regular life stuff). So on much of two afternoons, I watched Britbox and Acorn TV instead, dreaming of England without actually making much progress to get there! (Why do we do this? While it felt calming at the time, I actually set myself back even further.)

Calm the PANICKY Brain

So this is my to-do list left for today, with five or six writer things to do before I can start the packing or run to the store for shampoo and all the little travel things you need. Then run some laundry, clean out the refrigerator, and try to figure out how I am going to fit everything I want to take with me into a suitcase and carry-on.

My mind goes TILT-TILT-TILT as I think of packing plenty of warm clothes, hiking boots, books I simply MUST have with me (despite carrying a fully loaded Kindle), those plugs that will enable me to use appliances and my computer without starting a fire, my special foods, and all the rest.

It’s obvious that a third of it will have to stay home. I always choose to take the books, so this trip I may be wearing the same sweater and jeans in every photo taken! Perhaps I’ll go to the nearest village that has an Oxfam store (like our Goodwill) and get a few “gently worn” sweaters.

But what’s the answer to my panic this morning and exchanging it for peace? Taking several really big, deep breaths to calm my racing heart. Closing my eyes and meditating on some truths I know in my heart.

Shifting the Worries to Bigger Shoulders

Related imageI’m not the Good Shepherd. I’m not even an assistant shepherd. Instead, I’m like one of these Yorkshire sheep. I’m not in charge, and I’m not doing life alone. He leads me beside the still waters.

All I need to do is pray for help. And keep breathing! And calmly take one task at a time. It will all get done. I’m not alone in this adventure. And what’s more, it will be fun!

See you all on the other side of the pond!

Writing Under the Influence and Its Effect on Creativity

Published on by Kristi Holl

creativityBack in high school, I watched people transform from shy wallflowers to social butterflies by drinking. They grew talkative and tried things they would never have done sober. Being under the influence didn’t truly help them, although they swore it did.

Being under the influence doesn’t help a writer’s creativity either. [And that includes many other things we’re dependent on for dopamine hits, including sugar, chocolate, and Netflix bingeing.]

Why do we binge on our favorite things when the words are slow to come? Do we somehow think it will speed things up and make the words flow better? That has been the folklore surrounding many famous writers in the past.

Mental Evacuation

Recently I re-read one of the very best books on writing that I own. If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland is a classic. In one chapter she talked about how creative words and our really good ideas come slowly–and how impatient writers try to “hurry” the words in unproductive, artificial ways.

“…good thoughts come slowly. And so it is nothing for you to worry about or to be afraid of, and it is even a bad plan to hurry them artificially. For when you do so, there may be suddenly many thoughts, but that does not mean that they are especially good ones or interesting. It is just as when you give a thoughtful, slightly tired person a stiff drink. Before the drink, he says nothing but what seems to him interesting and important. He mentally discards the thoughts that are not important enough to make up for the fatigue of saying them. But after the drink, all his thoughts come out head over heels, whatever crosses his mind. There are suddenly many thoughts; but they are just like the flutter of thoughts that come out of one of those unfortunate people who cannot keep from talking all the time. This kind of talking [or writing, I might add] is not creation. It is just mental evacuation.”

Drug of Choice

Although I never drank, I had my own stimulants to shift my mind into gear. I wasn’t a coffee drinker or smoker, but at one point in my early days of writing when my four children were very young, I had a four-candy-bar-a-day habit, and my day started with two Diet Cokes. When I got bogged down and blocked and didn’t know what to write next, a sugar rush and caffeine jolt could get me producing again. It took me years to see that the quality of the writing suffered during such times.

Ueland quotes Tolstoy (Anna Karenina, War and Peace) on this subject of being quiet and thinking, and waiting for the words and “tiny, tiny alterations of consciousness” to come:

“It is at such times that one needs the greatest clearness to decide correctly the questions that have arisen, and it is just then that one glass of beer, or one cigarette [or candy bar or donut or Coke, I might add] may prevent the solution of the question, may postpone the decision, stifle the voice …”

Creativity Rewarded by Quiet Patience

We get in such a hurry to write, to revise, to submit. When the words don’t come quickly, we use stimulants to force the issue, and often end up with something (Ueland calls) “superficial and automatic, like children yelling at a birthday party,” not something tried and tested and true.

I know I’ve been guilty of this “hurry” habit with my writing in the past, but yesterday I made a conscious effort NOT to do so. I gave it time, and when the words didn’t come readily, I waited (instead of making my usual trip to the fridge or to check out Britbox.) It was uncomfortable at times. But I ended up writing for over two solid hours without interruption, and I’m excited about what I wrote. It may not be War and Peace, but it’s not “superficial and automatic” either.

What do you consider a healthy creative life? Is it hard for you to write without artificial help? Does being under the influence of something affect your writing–or had you thought about it? Try writing “with” and “without,” and see if it makes a difference.