Tip 30: Write or do nothing

Thoughts on creative unblocking

Hey, Bec here

There’s nothing I love more than rolling up my sleeves to fix a writing block. The past week has given me plenty of opportunities to flush out creative blockages, and I’ve been busy answering questions and offering advice while hosting our mid-point motivator webinar and coaching on Mslexia’s Novel School.¹

It struck me that writers often get stuck after they hit a milestone. I remember one academic describing the desert between research projects that they felt unable to cross, another writer recently completed the second draft of their book only to find themselves panicking about writing the third draft.

It can happen at smaller milestones too - I hit a block every time I completed a chapter of my first book. Rather than celebrating my progress, doubt and fear flooded in and I felt like a fraud, telling myself that the previous chapter was a fluke; there was no way I could write another. I wanted to run away and give up.

Sit with it

Because I’d booked time at a co-working space to write for two hours a day, I felt compelled to sit at the desk to get my money’s worth. Two painful hours of looking at my outline feeling unable to do justice to my plans. I would show up the next day to do the same. It was agony. But by the third day, I began to write.

Chapter after chapter I experienced an abyss between completion and beginning again. It took me a while to notice the pattern, from despair, sitting with discomfort, then restarting. This was my process.² I just had to sit long enough for it pass and I would write again.

Write or do nothing

It reminded me of the advice from Raymond Chandler to follow two simple rules when sitting down to write: “a. you don’t have to write. b. you can’t do anything else”.³

Here’s the full quote from his 1949 letter to Alex Barris:

“The important thing is that there should be a space of time, say four hours a day at the least, when a professional writer doesn’t do anything but write. He doesn’t have to write, and if he doesn’t feel like it, he shouldn’t try. He can look out the window or stand on his head or writhe on the floor. But he is not to do any other positive thing, not read, write letters, glance at magazines, or write checks. Either write or nothing…. I find it works. Two very simple rules, a: you don’t have to write. b: you can’t do anything else. The rest comes of itself.”

- Raymond Chandler

Setting aside the luxury of having four hours a day to write⁴ we are able to sit for a 25-minute Pomodoro, or even less, five minutes might be enough. Indeed for many of us, it would be a joy to have five uninterrupted, distraction-free minutes to focus on our writing/not writing, to look out of the window, stand on our head, or writhe on the floor.⁵

Back in the 1940s Chandler didn’t have portable distraction machines in the shape of phones, but he was still surrounded by easier, more fun, more rewarding activities than writing - the ‘positive’ things he lists all make us feel we are doing something, when in fact we are just distracting ourselves. The best advice can be to do nothing, to sit with the problem rather than busy yourself with solutions.

Keep going, Bec

PS. If you like this post, we’d be so grateful if you could leave us a ❤️​ or share it with another writer in your life. Thank you!

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A few links you might like

» Watch our webinar: 🎥 REPLAY: Mid-year motivator

» 5 ways to turn your midyear slump into a spark

» Tip 21: Focus on practice not output

» Tip 28: Find your slip road

» Tip 29: 4 ways to shake up your writing routine

Another mid-year motivator via Adam Grant on Instagram sharing an illustration from Janis Ozolins

1. And yes, this is also why I’m a day late with this newsletter - lots on at the moment!

2. In the same way we say productivity is personal so is process. I mostly enjoy writing, but this part was the painful bit for me. You’ll have different moments of flow and blockages.

3. Over the years many people have given this advice, such as Neil Gaiman who described going to his writing shed with the intention of doing two things there, either write or do nothing at all. You can listen to his interview with Tim Ferriss on this.

4. Or spending our time writing cheques - imagine!

5. Note to self - possible future writing tips 😆