I started off with the best of intentions this January.
I made fifty resolutions1 big and small, had huge plans! Especially around writing and my business.
Then I got pneumonia.
TWICE.
For the first four months of the year I was so ill that sometimes I was barely able to get out of bed. So that kind of put a dampener on those fifty resolutions, especially the writing ones.
Maybe you haven’t been ill. Maybe you’ve just not been inspired, or life got in the way. It happens. Sometimes the muses are held back by the mother of all writer’s block, or inspiration seems to be stuck in a traffic jam somewhere. But here’s the thing: every day is a new chance. Yes, it sounds cheesy doesn’t mean it’s not true.
Here’s another thing that maybe you can relate to. As well as being ill I’ve been having a really tough time at work, which has just added to the stagnation. It’s made me feel heavy and exhausted, completely uninspired. This Monday I found out that I didn’t get a job that I was really, really hoping for – pinning all my dreams to, hoping it would get me out of the mire of my current job. When I didn’t get it, I went into a downward spiral. Before I hit the bottom, I thought about the Ten of Swords. It’s a tarot card that I think about a lot. In most decks it’s a person pierced by ten swords, the very image of rock bottom.
But also… TEN swords? Really? Isn’t that a bit of overkill? Is it, perhaps, not as bad as you’re making out? That’s an important part of the meaning of the card for me: check in with yourself that you’re not making things worse by catastrophising. That doesn’t mean that you’re making a big deal of nothing – there are things to be sad or upset about – but that you’ve blown it out of proportion.
I realised that’s what I’ve been doing. With everything. With work, and with writing too. Struggling with finding time to write? I’m never ever going to get published, why even try! Going from one struggle and spinning it out into The Worst Possible Result. Which, you might realise, does not help. It only makes the writer’s block worse.
Do these Ten of Swords vibes sound familiar to you? It can be an easy bad habit to get into. The important thing to remember is that things are not that bad. They’re really not.
Here’s something that you can do to help move through this. You can either just treat this as a thought experiment, but I recommend journalling. This helps to move the worries out of the brain, through the body, and onto the paper.
- Consider the Worst Possible Result. In terms of writing, maybe that’s never getting published. This might make you sad but in reality, it isn’t going to put you in danger. Thinking about the real consequences in a more rational way can help damp down the anxiety that it causes.
- What if it does happen? Not only is it not the end of the world, it doesn’t have to be the end of your writing career either. There’s still the option of self-publishing. There are some incredibly successful self-published books out there, so don’t dismiss that option (and it’s easier than you might think).
- What action can you take to stop the Worst Possible Result from happening? This is an important one, because it helps you realise that there are things you can do. For me, I’ve decided to commit to a tiny writing habit. Tiny habits are habits so small that you can’t NOT do them. Mine is to spend five minutes every day focused on writing. That might be writing but it might just be thinking about writing, or making a character sheet, or making a board on Pinterest inspired by a location.
This process can be used for all kinds of things, not just writing, but that five-minute tiny habit has really helped me get writing again. If you’re also struggling to write, try using this technique to get past writer’s block and back into the writing flow.
Let me know in the comments if you try it!
- I know this sounds nuts, but I did it last year too and it was really helpful. Make a mix of HUGE resolutions and then tiny resolutions. Maybe your huge resolution is getting an agent, but then you have tiny resolutions like going to the seaside, or cooking ten new recipes. Things that you’re almost definitely going to do. So then even if you don’t reach that huge resolution, you can still see all the amazing progress you’ve made in those tiny resolutions. ↩︎