April 2018
I’m a little late getting the monthly newsletter out, but I was focused on meeting an important goal: getting to chapter 30, the midpoint, of my next novel, Blake Jordan #5.
You’d think it would get easier writing another novel in the series when you’ve already written four of ’em. After all, the story world already exists. The main characters exist. I just have to come up with a new story to tell. But it isn’t getting easier, and I’ve been struggling to understand why every new book in the series seems to be harder to write.
So why is it becoming so hard? And why do I feel so much self-doubt about my story? And why am I getting writer’s block when I sit down at the keyboard and try to write?
I recently listened to a podcast by Seth Godin who says plumbers don’t get plumber’s block. They don’t show up at your home and say, “I don’t know, I’m feeling kind of stuck today. Maybe if you lit some candles and put on some Beethoven I’d be able to unclog your drain for you.” No, plumbers don’t get plumber’s block just like nobody else that does anything worthwhile gets blocked. So why should writers get a special exception?
Seth argues there’s no such thing as writer’s block and says the real reason why we feel stuck when writing is because we don’t have any ideas that are perfectly formed. He says when you don’t have something you’re sure will work as your reputation increases at the same time, it becomes even more difficult to overcome this problem.
And that’s so true.
Because when I wrote The Senator, my first Blake Jordan novel, nobody knew who I was. It was my first attempt at fiction. I had an email list of about 100 people. I had no reservations about putting the book out there because there were no expectations.
But the book did extremely well. So I wrote another, which did better than the first.
So I wrote a third book.
Then a fourth.
Each novel I wrote outdid the prior book in the series. My following grew, and along with it grew my own expectations to try and outdo myself with every new book I’d write.
And that’s dangerous. Because if we’re not careful, we’ll start censoring ourselves. We’ll want our streak to continue. And we’ll focus on the problem of trying to write something that’s perfect instead of taking creative chances and exploring new ideas.
The midpoint of a novel is an interesting place. It’s a moment of revelation for the hero. Everything that didn’t make sense in the first half of the book now becomes clear because of new information the hero gets. He didn’t understand before. He does now.
And now I know why I’ve been struggling. I understand that I don’t have to be perfect anymore. I can only do my best and if it’s not great, I can rewrite it and make it better.
Whatever you’re working on, stop trying to be so perfect at it. Allow yourself to make some mistakes. The first draft of anything you create is just that: a draft. It’s a place to explore and mess up and find out what your work of art could become if you let it. No one should ever see a first draft except for you, anyway, so stop applying unnecessary pressure. Have fun and see what happens if you allow yourself make mistakes and be imperfect. And understand that nobody ever achieved greatness by playing it safe.
So today, I’m starting on chapter 31. The first chapter in the second half of the novel. The chapter where my hero now acts, understanding full well what he has to do to win.
And his writer will press on, too, with the understanding that just like my story’s hero, I don’t know how everything will work out in the end. But that’s part of the fun of going on the adventure. I just have one job to do: write the story and stop trying to be so perfect.
Writer’s block isn’t real. What is real is fear. Fear that the next thing we write won’t be good enough. Fear that we only have one more shot and the next thing we do better be good or else. Fear that our fans will go away and everything we’ve worked so hard for will go away with them. Seth argues that as writers, our profession is to create something that matters. Whether others think it’s good enough or not doesn’t matter. Our job is to sit down each day and give the world the best we’ve got to offer right now.
So here goes.