If You Are a Creative, Momentum is Your Best Friend

And a few ways how you can build it for yourself

Those who have never written anything before, think that authors get kicked in the head with inspiration for a new book.

As if Zeus himself comes down from the clouds and whispers the idea (as well as the detailed outline) of a new book into the author’s ear.

Suddenly, KABOOM!

The Author goes into a trans-state and locks himself in his room for weeks, stopping only for eating and bathroom breaks, until he finishes what he’s working on.

Those of us who do write, know that all of this is bullshit, of course.

Authors (and any type of creative person, for that matter) ride the wave of momentum.

Not advice from Zeus. (Fuck him, actually)

The larger the wave of this momentum — the bigger projects the creative person can take on.

What Momentum Looks Like

Imagine you are pushing a train. For some reason, you just need to (and you’re actually able to).

The moment you start, it feels terribly hard. The train is heavy, the wheels are rusty and a mosquito bites you in the butt.

But as soon as you get the first movement going, it becomes easier and easier to push the train forward.

By pushing the train, it becomes easier to push it, so you push harder — and it becomes even easier to push it further. You have a feedback loop.

Now you can actually let go — the train will continue to go on without your help.

You’ve built momentum.

Now try stopping it. It’s going to be no easier, than when you started pushing in the very beginning. The train is now propelled by momentum and it will take a certain amount of time before it stops.

Your Work Has Momentum

Not only trains pushed by weirdos have momentum, but so does your work. Especially creative work.

The rule of thumb: the more you work — the more momentum you’ll build.

But it won’t happen if you pull an all-nighter. The key is to work consistently.

Consider Stephen King.

• Stephen King wakes up everyday and writes 2,000 words
• He doesn’t stop or look anywhere or hear anything until he is finished
• It doesn’t matter whether he’s feeling sick or “not in the mood”. He still does his 2,000 words per day.
• Once he’s done with 2,000 words he stops and takes the rest of the day off

The key here is not the number of words or hours Stephen King spends actually doing the work. You can adjust that to your own preferences and it doesn’t matter.

What matters is consistency. Stephen King has momentum because he is doing something on a regular basis.

In fact, Stephen King works every single day — including Christmas, his birthday and the Fourth of July.

He has a system that allows him to be productive every day, no matter the circumstances, internal or external. He follows the rule of thumb: the more you work — the more momentum you’ll build.

By writing 2,000 words per day, Stephen King can produce 730,000 words per year (considering he doesn’t take weekends or vacations). That’s 14 full books right there. (Shit, even I am surprised by this number)

Good Writers Have Momentum (And Discipline)

Bad writers wait for the “Muse”. Although I do believe that we are not the only ones in charge of creation — and view it as something divine.

But good writers don’t wait for the Muse. Rather, they invoke it. Read Steven Pressfield’s Do The Work. And then War of Art. And then Turning Pro. It’ll change your life.

Good writers know that Muse is a beast that has to be tamed with discipline

By showing up each day, you’ll build momentum. And just like pushing the train, it’ll be easier and easier each day to invoke the Muse and start creating. Good writers know that Muse is a beast that has to be tamed with discipline.

Woody Allen famously said:

90% of success is showing up

And it worked for him, didn’t it?

Momentum Is Something That Has To Be Earned

Every single day you wake up, have breakfast, drink your coffee and go on to build your momentum.

It won’t happen by itself, nobody else will do it for you and you won’t get a free pass.

Just like everybody else, from Picasso to Einstein to Steve Jobs, you’ll have to earn your momentum yourself.

Have you ever felt it hard to work out after a long break? Yeah, me too. It’s because you broke the momentum of daily (or weekly, depends on how often you do it) exercise.

What’s most important in getting ready for a big test (like SAT, GMAT, GRE, or university exams)? Exactly. Momentum. The ability to “sit through” for 4 hours straight and not killing yourself. You build that only with practice.

What’s most important for any business? Sales. You’re right. And you get to have more sales by having something called “brand reputation”. It’s never built in a day (although it can disappear in an instant).

Earn your momentum each day. Just like everybody else, from Picasso to Einstein to Steve Jobs, you’ll have to earn your momentum yourself.

The artist and the warrior have the same job in this sense: they have to fight a new battle each day.