How to get shit done

Something to think about

Ethan Hawke on creativity - I never used to think of myself as a creative person even though the rest of my family is. My Dad, amongst other things, is a bit of a wood turner. My Mum can turn her hand to a variety of crafts as can my sister. Me? I always thought of myself as the black sheep of the family. Then I discovered I enjoyed writing. Never pigeonhole yourself. https://www.ted.com/talks/ethan_hawke_give_yourself_permission_to_be_creative?subtitle=en

Writing is hard.

Writing IS hard, at least when you’re not “feeling” like writing anything.

When those creative juices seem to have dried up.

And you’re left staring at the screen with zero ideas about what to write about…even when you’ve searched your swipe file for inspiration.

30 minutes drag by and you’ve not typed a word.

And you’re feeling more like a failure by the second.

Well, that was me until about 60 seconds ago.

My creative juices had dried up, and there was nothing there.

I’d gone through my inbox, looked at my IG account, and yet it was still nada, ikki noget, frien.

The minutes were flashing and the voice in my head got louder…

And louder…

And louder…

Before I realised there was only one for it…start typing.

Writing is just like training, some days are great you’re in the zone and everything feels brilliant. 

Others are the complete opposite.

You feel like someone rolled you up and put you away wet the night before and you’re looking for any excuse to bail.

Well, today was the latter.

And a few minutes ago I was still searching for inspiration, or fucking around on Facebook as it’s more commonly known, desperately avoiding the hard task of typing words out on the screen.

Yet, here we are a couple of hundred words in and I’m in the flow.

As soon as I typed -

 “Sometimes writing is hard”

My brain was like were spraying out of my brain like bubbles out of a bottle of Moet Chandon on an F1 podium.

Because suddenly I knew what I was writing -

That yes, writing can be hard but you shouldn’t let that stop you.

And I can assure you writing can still be hard, even when writing is something you do every day…

Even when you get paid to “put pen to paper”...

Even when you know the positive impact your words can have on other people…writing can be hard.

The trick is to say “Fuck it, I don’t care if what I write is utter dog shit” and crack on.

Honestly, getting write down to it, embracing the suck and writing is liberating.

You’ll be surprised how good ideas start to flow once you start typing.

That what you type is utter dog shit doesn’t matter because good writing isn’t the product of what you type out first time around. 

Not in the slightest.

That first draft is about getting the idea out of your head.

The magic happens when you edit what you’ve written.

Once you’ve finished writing, leave it alone and do something else…ideally not writing.

Then, when your brain’s had a rest, come back to what’s on the page and do a number on it. Turning that initial brain dump into a beautifully crafted gem of an email that perfectly conveys your point.

Then, and only then, do you pop that email into your email software to send to your readers.

Just like I did with this.

An email that took 45 minutes of procrastination and thinking I had nothing to write about.

20 minutes of typing.

And 10 minutes of editing.

But the TL:DR

Just

Fucking 

Do 

It

Trust me, you’ll feel better if you do.

Later ‘gater

Colin