I’ve blogged here about how transitions can be difficult periods.
Still, they’re not fun, so I keep forgetting that I always seem to need them.
Take my current transition between planning a revision and actually beginning the writing. It was like starting an old, faithful car in a Chicago winter that had been standing unused for a few days.
Not that I hadn’t been writing for the five months I’d kept my current w-i-p in a drawer away from my prying eyes. Just that I hadn’t worked on it, hadn’t written the particular way I’m writing in this book.
So I planned to start work Monday. Then I didn’t – although I did charge my netbook and put the manuscript in my knapsack, talk over my pondered revisions with my magnificent critique group, and then came home to see clients.
Then I planned to work Tuesday, but I got distracted with a list of have-to-do things around the house.
I heard myself think, “You are procrastinating. Maybe you can’t – ”
On the verge of a negative self-deprecating comment, I stopped. I noticed what I was doing. It was my transition from getting-ready-to-revise to actually revising.
When I gave it a name, I changed my language, reminded myself that I have a hard time with transitions, and that I was probably revving up my engine. That was all.
Once that happened, I could make it fine that I didn’t spend the whole day writing, which I’d planned to do. I worked on a few pages, and looked forward to the next day.
The next morning I told myself I’d do whatever I could, but another few pages started chugging my engine into warmth. By the end of the day yesterday, I was out of the transition and into fully-committed writing mode again, feeling warm and full of energy.
Maybe I’ll remember the next time…But maybe not. So in case I don’t (or you don’t, for your own transitions), here are my tips:
- Catch your negative thoughts asap;
- Notice what you’re doing (“This is interesting” removes you from the process a bit);
- Give what you’re doing a name – in this case, “transition time”; and
- Be gentle with yourself as you go through whatever process you need to in the transition from one place to another.
Great tips, Carol! In our house we joke about just carrying our manuscript around. It’s the first step that eventually leads to working on it. But just that one act is step forward.
Oh, that first step…! I’m going to use your comment as an entre on a further discussion of transitions tomorrow, Paul – thanks!