I couldn’t wait to get back to novel writing this morning after a prolonged, chosen and necessary time away due to a family death. My middle grade novel in verse called to me, and I answered.
I’m going to get a bunch of writing done this morning!
But by the time I put my current partial draft in front of me, along with five copies of the pages I’d submitted to my critique group almost a month ago (pages written prior to my family event) and another sheaf of rearranged poems I’d begun to cut and revise, my body told me I was overwhelmed.
How? My personal internal signal feels like Medusa’s snake-hairdo in my upper abdomen. And, oh yes, I wasn’t writing. I wasn’t doing anything.
Writer’s block is a complex experience and entity. But being overwhelmed is one cause.
So I took a deep breath, and thought, I’ll head out to the coffee shop and work there, with just the right amount of distraction.
No sooner had I returned to my prior writing place than thirty people sat down at the large table next to me and began speaking French. I like a certain buzz to ensure my concentration, not too loud and not too soft.
French buzz was way too distracting.
Medusa’s snake-hair returned to my abdomen. I knew I had to take some steps to nip a negative-leaning feeling in the bud.
The tips I have for you are tips I follow myself, three questions that can unblock that overwhelmed feeling:
1. Whoa! (yes, I’m a closet cowgirl) Can I pull back for a minute? I stopped myself from diving into the overwhelmed-ness. A deep breath really does help to distance and calm you.
2. What can I control, right now, right here?
I asked myself how I wanted to use the limited time I had right at the moment. I had already spent some of my writing time feeling overwhelmed and travelling to the coffee shop. Did I want to use more time that way? No.
I needed to make a decision. I couldn’t control the time that had passed since I’d worked on the novel in verse, nor the work ahead, nor the French-speaking club at the next table. I had already left home, and no other place in the coffee shop was quieter. So I decided I could control some aspect of my work, right where I was, feeling somewhat distracted by the French-speaking group.
I wouldn’t be getting “a bunch of writing” done, but I could do something.
3. What specific task can I choose to do that will give me a sense of accomplishment and completion?
For me, finishing something small feels better than finishing a part of something bigger. So I ran through some options. Draft a new poem? No – I was not yet back “into” my story deeply enough to write fresh material. Make sure that the reorganization of the poems was in sync with my plot mini-outline (using my current favorite tool, Blake Snyder’s Beat Sheet)? No – I had only 40 minutes before I had to be home for a phone consultation. Then I knew: I could transfer all my critique partners’ suggestions to my own draft, mark down what I wanted to change, keep notes on the rest. Yes – that was definitely doable.
The minute I offered myself these positive options, I relaxed, the noise took a background seat to my work ethic, and I achieved a first step of re-entry into my novel-writing life.
Some might say, “But you hardly got anything done!”
When you’re overwhelmed and negativity threatens, you may accomplish nothing. Completing a small task is way better than that.
When you come to deeply understand that negativity shuts down problem-solving abilities and creativity, you have more of an incentive to use these tips, or tips of your own, to extricate yourself from feeling overwhelmed, and to get back to work.
Do you find yourself surprised by overwhelmed-ness sometimes? What are your personal “signals”? How do you talk yourself into a more positive place?
Great tips, Carol!
Thanks. This came at the right time for me. I am struggling with a similar “block.”
Yesterday, all I managed was to make notes on two chapters. The thought of actually writing them just seemed too difficult that day.
The idea that a small step is okay assures me that the progress I’ve been able to eke out is good enough for now.
I have ADD and spend every single day struggling not to be overwhelmed. It’s so easy to just set things aside and work a crossword or something less taxing and more easily focused than a novel revision.
Small goals that give a sense of accomplishment. Brilliant.
Hi, Carol:
Thanks for sharing this experience…
I haven’t been big on setting goals and coming up with “resolutions” for a number of years now, because I saw over and over again that they didn’t work. And I saw that the most important thing is for us to succeed – at something. At anything. Because positive emotion results from success, and then the positive emotion opens us up, gives emotional and intellectual energy and clarity.
I often get big laughs during workshops or group sessions when I suggest that people lower their expectations and set tinier goals. If we tell ourselves the truth – that getting something, anything, done is better than setting a high goal that overwhelms you – it’s easier to figure out exactly what it is that we can accomplish. I ask myself, “What is absolutely, unquestionably do-able?”
When I knew that I could return to revising my middle grade novel this week, my first step was writing “write” at the top of every date book page, from 8-10 in the morning. It carved out a sacred space in my mind and in my calendar. I guess that’s always my first step.
I do some similar things. I try to remember what I have control over at the moment. I also remember to breathe and if that doesn’t work I’ll do something physical for a little while.
And, I break things into smaller pieces. This is something I tried to teach my students to do when I was teaching.
Sorry for your loss.
Paul
Hi, Paul –
Did you find that kids could catch on to enjoying “small pieces”?
Great Carol. Medusa’s snake hair is a great image for stomach churning. The battle of the writer to persist is where we all win or lose – both as writers or readers.
Hi Carol,
Your post and comment remind me of an old adage I like to use: Slow Progress is Better than No Progress. Or, as you might say, Getting some small things done is better than getting no big things done. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks, Carmela; it’s a good adage. Every time I rush or try to cut corners I’m reminded in one way or another that I can’t get away with it.