Writing In Crisis: Reasons to Hope and Be Positive
Writing is tough. Lately, it has been challenging.
Most people around me consider writing as a gift, something that flows in a stream.
Wake up. Take a seat. Start typing. Birth a piece of art. Period.
Writing is a job
The truth is that writing is a fierce act that doesn’t come along well with conjecture, turmoil, and competition.
The truth is, creativity drowns in the deep waters of the pandemic fuss.
A daily login on Medium spits dozens of articles at me, spreading other writers’ achievements all over the place. How much they earn! How outstanding their talent is! How tiny and dull I am!
The feeling resembles my Instagram feed, which scatters beautiful people wandering around their immense mansions, playing the piano, and drinking extravagantly self-made healthy smoothies. Viral videos of this actress teaching YouTube how to wash their hands made me want to shout at the top of my voice. When was the last time they cleaned the toilet bowl themselves for Housekeepers’ sake?
I might slightly be exhausted. For the last 12 weeks, my 6-year-old twin daughters have gone to school not much further than at the dining table. I struggled for groceries. I struggled to keep up with housecleaning. I struggled to not yell at hubby and kids when they were all driving me crazy.
How on Earth would I be able to work correctly and birth a piece of art? A single bit of creativity would make my day. I am far from publishing an article a day as I am advised to, courtesy of most Medium Successful Writers Tips.
I am not the Give-up type
Don’t count on me to let go without a good fight.
Here is a series of thoughts that cheer me up in times like these.
1. Social Media are filtered
Including Medium Successful Writers Tips Section.
Beauty, happiness, success, and nonchalance occupy the front rows. They lay under your gaze to fill you up with immediate relief, joy, and confidence. Just as, you know, these flash diets engaging you in starvation at first, ending in a scale explosion at last.
What about sweat? What about doubts? What about hard work?
They seldom take the center of the stage, although they are the essence of victory (says a former athlete!)
2. Success can’t be a quantitative perspective
As every writer, I wish my work to reach out vastly. I want my audience to increase quickly. But I also crave to have an impact. To touch lives. To matter in some way.
Recently I received many personal messages and comments about a story I wrote about vulnerability (Letter to my Friend Who Says Sorry). Love is overwhelming. And a powerful motivation to keep on writing.
3. Recognition requires time and patience
Medium is vast. There’s a lot of great content out there. Standing out is not mere. Craft needs honing. Careers take consistency. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Every unread article is a way to learn and improve. Then, you shine. Then, you go back to darkness. Sun will be back.
4. Make a plan
I write a blog in French and English, feed a Facebook Page, a Twitter wall, and a LinkedIn account. I write a book about my life. I work on my first novel. I need money as well because my writing doesn’t pay the bills just yet.
Sometimes I ponder whether I should keep going with my Social communities (my ongoing book future audience) or write selling articles that can feed my kids. Then I reassess my priorities.
- Writing an essay (“Walk! A journey to myself” coming soon — please register below to keep in touch)
- Building a community (i.e., social media, newsletter…)
- Writing a novel
Why this ranking?
Because the essay is my future income ground, the community a condition for selling it, and the novel a way to fuel my creativity and make it to the end of the book.
I don’t have much time to write right now, so I make sure I spend it according to my priorities.
5. Stick to the plan
Motivation is the sustainable layer of a project, as is clarity. I don’t believe that thanks to the initial priorities assessment, everything will naturally follow.
I rely on 3 efficient tools and a weekly perspective:
A creative calendar to embark everything I aim to produce and publish the following week, from the writing lead to the displaying media.
I have a color-memo scheme to help me track my progress. I fill in the Excel sheet every Sunday night. Then update daily. A great way to not overload with too much to do, and don’t waste time in creating fruitless pieces.
A time-blocking production strategy to secure my productivity.
Blocks help tasks and projects to fit in their best place when my focus and energy levels can handle them. Time-blocking, when associated with self-awareness and a good comprehension of energy-management, is super-efficient. It also relieves the feeling of exhaustion we all get when we work against the clock and all performance-odds.
Although I don’t move around my routines (one self-hour in the very morning) and some basics (Make a plan, communicate widely, stick to it), I do adjust my schedule and blocks to the current reality.
Lately, I have implemented a two-hour block of work before my daughters awake. Then I get fully involved with them to resume homeschooling. I give myself another two hours block late morning when the girls have completed their homework, while I ask them to play by themselves.
In the afternoon, we head out to the park, where I can only manage a bit of reading, which is great already. When they are in bed, I get on creative writing. The timing is alright: I am tired for sure, but the house’s quietness lands me a couple of hours to focus on a piece I feel pleasure to write.
Short-term goals that I can measure and reward to increase my fulfillment.
This week I have decided to complete two stories for Medium, plus 2 500 words on my novel. They can be worthless. I don’t care. It means moving on, and in the current mess, it’s already a massive pride and joy.
“Don’t ever give up” is my mojo. Keep calm and write.
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Florence Gravellier is a writer, speaker, Paralympian, mother of twins, and constant dreamer. She earned bronze twice in Beijing 2008 in wheelchair tennis. Her many life struggles fostered a strong temper, a passion for self-awareness, and a desire to empower young women to live a great life. Reach out on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and on her website which features work in French and English.
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