Keeping going

Writing and rewriting can feel like you've dismantled an engine with no way to put it back together. We talk about getting through the muddle, why keeping going matters & offer to help you.

Hello there writing friends,

When you’re up to your elbows in writing, it can feel overwhelmingly uncertain. Like you’ve got all the bits of an engine you’re trying to fix strewn around you.

You might know this feeling yourself. We know this experience from writing our book Written.

Some of the engine parts still function. Others function a bit and some are completely broken. You’re fairly confident that you can get some bits working at some point (maybe they’re rusty and need just a bit of a clean) but others? It’s hard to say. Maybe they’ll never work.

There are parts missing too. Only you don’t know which parts of course and when you might discover they’re missing. Plus, there’s no manual to follow. Or there are too many guides and people keep giving you conflicting advice on which part goes where – which all adds to the confusion.

Don’t let your brain win

What I’m trying to say with this tortuously-stretched analogy is that writing – or indeed any creative project you embark on – can feel very uncertain. So uncertain that it’s amazing that anything gets finished at all.

The human brain hates unpredictability. It likes straight lines, but a creative endeavour is anything but. In many ways, creativity runs contrary to our certainty-obsessed brains – which is why you need to find a way to keep going if you don’t want your brain to win.

Take this Substack newsletter. We’ve been writing it every week for coming up to a year. Tips on a Monday, a more general column like this one on a Wednesday. But it’s been hard. I’m not complaining – it’s entirely our own choice and it’s not like we’re grafting down a coal mine after all. But hard nevertheless.

Some things have worked while other things haven’t. There have been plenty of blind alleys and wrong turns. It certainly hasn’t been one of those meant-to-be-inspiring-but-actually-demoralising ‘how I make $10k a week on Substack’ stories that you often hear – Nowhere. Remotely. Close.

We kept going

However, against our brains’ (better?) advice we have kept going. We promised to ourselves that we’d do it to a schedule for a year. Two of us write it and we share an office and a life so that helps (sometimes). We’ve had positive feedback and it’s been an absolute joy to talk to you in the comments. That has kept us going - thank you.

We kept our promise to do a year and have learnt a lot from that experience. Now we’re looking ahead to year two and how we can continue to help you. We have some exciting plans afoot. As a taster of what’s to come we’d love to invite you to our Substack anniversary Ask Us Anything.

Helping you with your writing productivity questions has helped us keep going. Hopefully, it will help you to keep going too.

Anything to ask?

Got any questions on battling procrastination, finding time, or building a writing habit? Let us help. Sign up here.👇​

How to Keep Writing: online Q&A with Bec and Chris
Thursday 29 February 2024 6PM GMT / 1PM EST / 10AM PST
➡️ Sign up on Zoom to join live or get the recording

That’s all for now, keep writing and we’ll see you soon.

Chris