{"id":1252,"date":"2016-11-26T04:17:48","date_gmt":"2016-11-26T04:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/2016\/11\/26\/getting-yourself-to-write\/"},"modified":"2016-11-26T04:17:48","modified_gmt":"2016-11-26T04:17:48","slug":"getting-yourself-to-write","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/2016\/11\/26\/getting-yourself-to-write\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cGetting\u201d yourself to write"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/azuresquirrel.tumblr.com\/post\/153657113108\/getting-yourself-to-write\" class=\"tumblr_blog\">azuresquirrel<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blueandbluer.tumblr.com\/post\/152639432778\">blueandbluer<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/epeeblade.tumblr.com\/post\/150382579286\">epeeblade<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/wrex-writes.tumblr.com\/post\/150277262676\">wrex-writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Yesterday, I was trawling iTunes for a decent podcast about writing. After a while, I gave up, because 90% of them talked incessantly about \u201cself-discipline,\u201d \u201cmaking writing a habit,\u201d \u201cgetting your butt in the chair,\u201d \u201cgetting yourself to write.\u201d To me, that\u2019s six flavors of fucked up.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, yes\u2014I see why we might want to \u201cmake writing a habit.\u201d If we want to finish anything, we\u2019ll have to write at least semi-regularly. In practical terms, I get it.<\/p>\n<p>But maybe before we force our butts into chairs, we should ask\u00a0<i>why <\/i>it\u2019s so hard to \u201cget\u201d ourselves to write. We aren\u2019t deranged; our brains say \u201cI don\u2019t want to do this\u201d for a reason. We should take that reason seriously.<\/p>\n<p>Most of us resist writing because it hurts and it\u2019s hard. Well, you say, writing isn\u2019t supposed to be <i>easy<\/i>\u2014but there\u2019s hard, and then there\u2019s <i>hard. <\/i>For many of us, sitting down to write feels like being asked to solve a problem that is both urgent and unsolvable\u2014\u201cI have to, but it\u2019s impossible, but <i>I have to<\/i>, but <i>it\u2019s impossible<\/i>.\u201d It feels fucking awful, so naturally we avoid it.<\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t \u201cmake writing a habit,\u201d then, until we make it less painful. Something we don\u2019t just \u201cget\u201d ourselves to do.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cmake writing a habit\u201d people are trying to do that, in their way. If you do something regularly, the theory goes, you stop dreading it with such special intensity because it just becomes a\u00a0thing you do. But my god, if you\u2019re still in that \u201cdreading it\u201d phase and someone tells you to \u201cmake writing a habit,\u201d that sounds <i>horrible.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>So many of us already dismiss our own pain constantly. If we turn writing into another occasion for mute suffering, for numb and joyless endurance, we 1) will <i>not<\/i> write more, and 2) <i>should <\/i>not write more, because we should not intentionally hurt ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>Seriously. If you want to write more, don\u2019t ask, \u201chow can I <i>make <\/i>myself write?\u201d Ask, \u201cwhy is writing so painful for me and how can I ease that pain?\u201d Show some compassion for yourself. Forgive yourself for not being the person you wish you were and treat the person you <i>are <\/i>with some basic decency. Give yourself a fucking break for avoiding a thing that makes you feel awful.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Jos\u00e9 Older, in <a href=\"http:\/\/t.umblr.com\/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fsevenscribes.com%2Fwriting-begins-with-forgiveness-why-one-of-the-most-common-pieces-of-writing-advice-is-wrong%2F&amp;t=OTk1YjNmMDRkODY2ODk4ZTA3NGY3ZWM4NmQ1OTI4ODdhNWMxMjc3MCwyUTgyRjU2Vg%3D%3D&amp;m=0\">my favorite article on writing ever<\/a>, has this to say to the people who admonish writers to write every day:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Here\u2019s what stops more people from writing than anything else: shame. That creeping, nagging sense of \u2018should be,\u2019 \u2018should have been,\u2019 and \u2018if only I had\u2026\u2019 Shame lives in the body, it clenches our muscles when we sit at the keyboard, takes up valuable mental space with useless, repetitive conversations. Shame, and the resulting paralysis, are what happen when the whole world drills into you that you should be writing every day and you\u2019re not.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The antidote, he says, is to treat yourself kindly:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For me, writing always begins with self-forgiveness. I don\u2019t sit down and rush headlong into the blank page. I make coffee. I put on a song I like. I drink the coffee, listen to the song. I don\u2019t write. Beginning with forgiveness revolutionizes the writing process, returns its being to a journey of creativity rather than an exercise in self-flagellation. I forgive myself for not sitting down to write sooner, for taking yesterday off, for living my life. That shame? I release it. My body unclenches; a new lightness takes over once that burden has floated off. There is room, now, for story, idea, life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Writing has the potential to bring us so much joy. Why else would we want<i> <\/i>to do it? But first we\u2019ve got to unlearn the pain and dread and anxiety and <i>shame\u00a0<\/i>attached to writing\u2014not just so we can write more, but for our own sakes!\u00a0Forget \u201cmaking writing a habit\u201d\u2014how about\u00a0\u201cbeing less miserable\u201d? That\u2019s a worthy goal too!<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, there are ways to do this. But before I get into them, please absorb this lesson: if you want to write, start by valuing your own well-being. Start by forgiving yourself. And <i>listen <\/i>to yourself when something hurts.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><b>Next post: freewriting<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"http:\/\/wrex-writes.tumblr.com\/ask\" class=\"\">Ask me a question or send me feedback!\u00a0Podcast recommendations welcome\u2026<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I need to read this again and again and again<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Great post is great, and this goes for ANY thing you have trouble motivating yourself to do\u2026 homework, cleaning, etc. You need to work WITH, not AGAINST, yourself. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>IMPORTANT.<\/p>\n<p>This goes on main blog. &gt;:(<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>azuresquirrel: blueandbluer: epeeblade: wrex-writes: Yesterday, I was trawling iTunes for a decent podcast about writing. After a while, I gave up, because 90% of them talked incessantly about \u201cself-discipline,\u201d \u201cmaking writing a habit,\u201d \u201cgetting your butt in the chair,\u201d \u201cgetting yourself to write.\u201d To me, that\u2019s six flavors of fucked up. Okay, yes\u2014I see why &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/2016\/11\/26\/getting-yourself-to-write\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">\u201cGetting\u201d yourself to write<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[618,137],"class_list":["post-1252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-important","tag-writing","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archive.gabapple.com\/tumblr\/gabapple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}