) but no worries. My body temperature is back to normal. I've created a radio spot. The day was a success.
All is fine and we're back. And now on to our regularly scheduled, if somewhat late post.
How to Keep Writing Once You've Begun
You're stuck. There's no getting around it.
Your novel/essay/research paper has jelled into a ball. It was flowing and going. And now? It's stopped. Panic sets in.
Similar to Elizabeth Kubler Ross's grief stages, we've got the writing stages.
Stage One: Excitement:
You wake up, your heart pounding. Every idea seems golden and will make you a mint (or give you an A).
Stage Two: Creative Flow:
You've been pounding away at your computer or scribbling away in your notebook. It's all moving at an amazing pace. Ideas are flowing from your pen.
Stage Three: The Roadblock:
We all hit it. This is the part where your character or plot just winds down. You planned for Little Jane or Johnny to walk to the right. He or she goes to the left. You try a little harder for your character to do what you want. Your book (or paper) rebels. Everything digs its feet into the mud.
Here's where we come in.
How do you get out of Stage 3?
Here's a list of time honored Writing Block Breakers
Step away from the computer screen: Sometimes staring anxiously into the monitor just creates more panic. All those words. You're wasting time. Deadline is approaching! Go for a walk. Take twenty minutes and focus on the feeling of your body moving. Relax. Usually, once you've helped your body to relax, your mind will follow suit and you can return to your desk with a fresh perspective.
Stretch: Never underestimate the power of movement. Stand up, plant your bare feet and lift your hands above your head. Breathe. Repeat five times. Sit back down.
Believe. There is no substitute for straight-up belief. As we talked about here, no one else will take over your body and believe for you. You must believe all on your own. But, I'm here to help with inspiration (for the post on YAWP and self-belief, go here)
[caption id="attachment_152" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Each Book is a Ray of Light. Someone created it."][/caption]I got a rejection letter today - that's two this week. It happens and I've learned that the stack of published stuff outweighs the pile of unpublished. And I love what I do. And I keep going.
Why?
I keep going because I live for the sounds of words, rippling through the air like music. I love words. I love how each word is a poem is like a musical note, and the entire thing forms a symphony. I do this because books, words, novels, and stories are our history. They are proof of our humanity, our shared passions and secrets, our hopes and our ordinary days. When you write a story, even if you are the only person to see it, or if you have a readership of millions, that's your heart, your love, your baby, your truth out there in the world. And your voice, my voice, our voices, our collective voices - they matter.
I began to look for inspiration. Here is what I found.
1) Finding your creative nerve is important. In this fantastic scene from Dead Poets' Society (1989) Mr. Keating (Robin Williams) inspires shy Todd (Ethan Hawke) to find his "barbaric yawp." That's the first step to creating. You have a YAWP, yes you do. Let it out!
"I sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world." - Walt Whitman
2)Don't give up. Show your moxie! Rock and roll legend Joan Jett (after she quit the Runaways) was rejected by 23 (that's 23!) record labels before getting picked up. As a reminder, Jett would be the woman who did this.
3) Believe in Magic: Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling worked as a temp for eight years and wrote in between making copies and getting coffee for her boss. She was considering taking a job teaching French when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was published. She is now one of the richest women in England, if not the world.
4) Don't Give Up (It's Worth Repeating):Horror megastar Stephen King worked as a English teacher, getting paid a whopping $19,000 a year and living in a trailer with his wife Tabitha and their first child before his first novel Carrie (1976) was published. Now? He's Stephen King. You've heard of him, right?
5) Follow the Beat of Your Own Drummer: Katherine Hepburn is now seen as an icon of style, strength and women's rights. Yet in the late 30s, she was labeled "box office poison." Then she did The Philadelphia Story and, hello fame. (First she performed on Broadway and bought the rights. Smart!)
6) Be Yourself. There Is Room In The World: Leonardo DiCaprio was told by an agent that his name was too "ethnic" and he would never be famous unless he changed it to something like "Lenny Williams." DiCaprio is now one of the largest names in Hollywood and I assume that agent is slinging hash in a diner somewhere.
Here's Lenny Williams - I mean, Leonardo DiCaprio - in Inception.
Tips and Writing Prompts
1) Keep going.
2) If you love what you do, you're already a success. - my dad (and someone else before him, I'm sure.) What do you love?
3) Keep going some more. Where do you stall? Where do you start?
4) Read about people who did what you are trying to do. You will no doubt find out the several ways that this person was rejected or told by others that he or she couldn't do it/didn't have the chops/wasn't enough. This is only true if YOU accept it.
5) If you're a writer, walk into a bookstore and see every single book in there as one success story. If you're an artist, every painting that you look at for the next week is one ray of light. Don't think about the competition, the economy, or all the "reasons" you have to stop right here and now.
6) Yawp. Loudly. When was the last time you did this?
In the 1977 film Julia, about the life of playwright Lillian Hellman (played by Jane Fonda), her lover, writer Dashiell Hammett (Jason Robards) says to her as she battles writer's block, "It's a great time to stop. No one will ever know that you existed." Ouch. Thanks, Dashiell. (Hammett may have been the hard-drinking granddaddy of hard boiled mysteries such as The Maltese Falcon, but I imagine he was not known for his breathtaking sensitivity.)
Still, what he meant was that no one will come to your door and politely ask you if you are ready to embrace your YAWP, if you are ready to live your honest life, or if you are ready to follow your dreams. YOU have to YAWP. I promise. You must do it. You must find that place inside you that believes with all of your heart that you have something worth saying - and that it is worth it for others to hear. And even if they don't want to hear, you commit to saying it. It is your truth and your choice, always.
It's your move and the world is waiting. More importantly, you are waiting. You are. You are waiting to step into your truth and your creative expression.
7) When was the last time you allowed yourself creative expression? Cooking? Singing? Painting? Acting? Writing? How did it feel? How did your body feel?
Go for it.
I wish us all the loudest and fiercest of YAWPS this weekend.
