I was afraid at some point this would happen.
I’ve been writing at a good clip, building a daily habit, and feeling confident.
Then along comes a busy week, one of the busiest of my year in fact. Despite trudging through, thinking, “I’m so glad I’ve got the weekend to plan my next post”, here I am, about to break my streak.
And then, if by some stroke of luck, I check my inbox only to find an email from Matt Ragland, whose emails blasts I subscribe to and read regularly.
Matt’s post is about “10 Habits Beginning Writers Face”. And right there, staring me in the face, is my problem right now, at this very moment.
This gets me thinking about a Twitter post from someone whose work I respect, restarting her blog.
And in response to her announcement of the blog restarting, I read the advice I offer to her.
“Just keep going”.
Sometimes, that’s enough. And other times, it’s not.
So as part of my response, I shared three short video clips I’d seen posted in several other regular email blasts of which I’m a close follower.
The videos are of three musicians. Each I greatly enjoy and appreciate their vast talents and hard work.
The lessons, while about music, can be applied to writing. And, tying it back to my original problem and to Matt Ragland’s post, the wisdom is immensely helpful.
7 Lessons on Writing from 3 Great Musicians:
1. Do it for yourself, to draw out your inner strength and voice.
2. Don’t work to fulfill other people’s expectations.
3. Go out in the water, a bit past your comfort zone. When your feet can barely touch the bottom, that’s when you know you’re on the verge of something special.
4. Regarding the “10,000 hour rule”, the more you write, the more you get the clean water flowing out of the pipe. But first, you have to get the [dirty] water flowing.
5. Be nice to people, write a lot of songs (blog posts), and do gigs (publish).
6. Improvise (It requires a “stupid brave”.)
7. Get fearless.
My overarching takeaway from three all-time great musicians and creators?
The best outcomes result when the focus is in the right place.
“Process over product.”