Time to Write

The Power of Deadlines

Sometimes when I'm supposed to be doing something, I find I'm drawn to doing something else--usually something easier and less important. Entrepreneur and writer Peter Gasca discussed a similar problem in an interview on Inc.com:

"I am mostly too organized, bordering on O.C.D., and have a mild case of Adult Attention Deficit Disorder (self-diagnosed). This often gets me trapped in endless loops of being productive and getting meaningless things done. I have found this causes creativity paralysis, which is the inability to start a creative endeavor for fear of not being able to complete it.

I have mostly overcome this by engaging in projects that have deadlines, or giving myself deadlines, which forces me to start and complete a task, even if at the last minute."

He has a way of looking at deadlines that I like:

"I have come to understand that by having deadlines, artificial or real, my mind turns off the ‘input’ process and switches to ‘output,’ which forces me to be deliberate about a task in front of me."

That speaks to the danger of continuing to research the topic or to watch lots of videos and read lots of articles because, who knows, maybe there'll be something useful in them. Those are all 'input.' With a deadline, it's easier to be aware of when to throw that switch to 'output.'

(You may also be interested in the productivity techniques in my book, Focus: Use the Power of Targeted Thinking to Get More Done. It's published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

 

The man with 21,000 rejections

A man who's collected 21,000 rejections? What a loser, right?

Nope, very, very wrong.

Jacob M. Appel is a doctor, lawyer, bioethicist, author, professor, and tour guide. He has seven master's degrees, a JD from Harvard Law School, an MD, and is a practicing psychiatrist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

His short fiction has been published in 215 literary journals, his debut novel won the Dundee Prize in 2012 and raves from Philip Pullman and Stephen Fry. He's published 16 books and written ten plays. Next month he's making appearances at literary events in Connecticut, Virginia, New York, and Ohio. 

Can we agree this guy must be a genius? 

Maybe, then, you'll be surprised to hear that in addition to all his awards and accolades, he's had 21,000 rejections.

That means he's submitted work 21,000 times (actually more, because not all were rejected). He's 46 now.

I don't know at what age he started submitting work but let's say it was early, at 16. That's 30 years. That's 700 submissions per year, about two per day. And he still had time left over to become a doctor, lawyer, teacher, and tour guide. 

Very few will ever match Appel's abilities and achievements, but I think there are four things we can learn from him:

1. You have to produce.
2. You have to get it out there.
3. You will get a lot of rejections.
4. You can't let the rejections stop you.
   

Writing Excuses Demolished: "I don't know if my idea is good enough."

Some people never get around to writing because they don't know whether their idea is good enough to succeed in the marketplace.

Welcome to the club!

Every book, poem, short story, and screenplay is a gamble. Even the top publishers are not very good at predicting which books will take off and which will have disappointing sales. The same goes for movie studios, hence the famous William Goldman quote, "Nobody knows anything."

Sometimes writers have a huge success with one project and a huge flop with the next one, or vice-versa. 

All you can do is your best. Write the book or script, do as much as you can to help make people aware that it exists, and move on to the next one while still devoting some time to marketing your previous projects.

Writing excuses demolished: "I can't decide what to write."

An excuse that sometimes comes up for not writing is that you have so many ideas and you can't decide which one to write.

First, congratulations on having a lot of ideas!

There are two main criteria for deciding which idea to work on. One is how excited you are by it. Writing a novel or screenplay takes time and effort, so the more excited you are by the project, the more likely that you’ll stick with it.

I’m assuming you’d like to sell your book or script, which is where the second criterion comes in: how much of a market is there for the project? While you can never be sure, you may be able to make an educated guess. The main question to consider is whether you have a fresh angle on a popular genre. If so, you may be onto a winner.

A good strategy is to assess each of your ideas using these two measures and choose the one that scores highest in both. Then commit to it and don’t second-guess your choice when the going gets tough.

Sometimes people say, “All my ideas are equally good, I just can’t choose between them!” This excuse is just a humble brag that makes procrastination sound like it’s the result of genius.

If you think all your ideas are equally good, flip a coin. Choose one, start and finish it, and move on to the next one.

Writing Excuses Demolished: "I don't have time."

One of the most common reasons that comes up when people say they want to write but they aren't is "I don't have time."

Really? Do you watch TV, go to the movies, use social media? I’m not saying you have to eliminate these, but you could cut back on them and other things that take up your time in order to carve out at least a few hours every week for writing. For instance, is it more important to know who's dancing with the stars or getting chucked out of the baking competition, or writing your script or novel?

Many novels have been written in moments stolen from lunch hours and work breaks, or early mornings or late nights. One friend of mine took a job working at a pizza parlor because during the slow hours between lunch and dinner he had the chance to work on his novel. His supervisor didn’t care, as long as the customers who came in were tended to.

What are the odd moments you could use—if not to actually write, maybe to brainstorm in order to flesh out your characters or plot?

What's one thing that you can stop doing and use that time to write? 

The Least Compelling Movie Logline I've Ever Read

The logline for a film is supposed to get you interested in seeing the movie. Today I saw the least compelling one ever:

Raindance Festival: "Egor, a fearless state forest guard living in the Siberian Taiga, lives a happy life with his wife and children."