Day 5
30 mins planning + 1 hr planned writing + 1hr journal entry
+ 10 mins gratitude journal
Jacqui starts with a quick check on whether we are concerned that the work we’ve done so far hasn’t been ‘good enough’. She reminds us that this is not the focus yet, and reassures us that the ‘how to’s will come in the next section.
Today, we are looking at negative voices. Uh oh. I have many. Jacqui gives some examples of negative thoughts. As I read each one, I nod and wholeheartedly agree with its dour pronouncement. I’ll spare you those, or the additional ones I’ve come up with. Which I do, at length, as we do another:
Journal exercise
Record every reason why you shouldn’t write. (gulp)
According to Jacqui these are Limiting Thoughts. As a i) writer and a ii) pessimist and a iii) Brit, I am probably more deferential to limiting thoughts than I need to be. I know that limiting thoughts can be comforting thoughts; if it’s unlikely to happen, I don’t need to go through the struggle of trying. So while I am wary of forcing myself to ignore what I mostly consider good instincts and sensible expectations, I am also willing to be challenged and have my assumptions questioned.
Jacqui’s view is that we need to broaden our idea of success from a specific achievement, to an appreciation of “the writing life”. Here is a bit of tough love: you are not entitled to your desired outcomes. And if you don’t get them — or, if you do get them but you’re still not happy — then you are only left with Writing itself. So that had better be enough for you… or you’re in the wrong gig.
This is starting to sound a little pessimistic, so I’m relieved. No, she’s not trying to convince us that all of our limiting thoughts are wrong. Maybe you’re correct that you’ll never make a billion dollars as a writer. So, how are you going to feel about that?
Well, Jacqui wants us to create an alternative list, which is about why we love the writing life and have faith in ourselves. That should help with motivation — or, learning that you’re in the wrong game!
She also wants us to directly counter the limiting thoughts about writing, figuring out what’s wrong with each one. Okay; this is more of a direct challenge to negative thinking and I grudgingly accept 😉
She concludes with a nod to “long term persistence” which I think is a massive component of achievement. I’m not sure if she’s going to come back to it, or if practicing persistence is already implied in undertaking a 30 Day writing commitment. But it’s a topic I hope to explore more fully elsewhere.
Exercise
- start a gratitude journal, noting 10 things each day to connect you to the benefits in your writing and life — do this for a week
- find a little more time than usual, even if it’s “only half an hour” — use it to plan your next scene (there are some prompt questions provided to help us) to decide what the focus will be
- 1,000 words: planned writing
My response
- Having the opportunity to plan the scene was a sweet relief to me (for the reasons I explained in the last blog post)
- I do feel that I got more out of the scene after being prompted to decide / design certain aspects in advance, and the output felt like a better use of my writing time. It’s a bit like being a director, giving the actors performance notes before running an improvised scene. The actors can take it where they want, but there are boundaries in place which keeps the material coherent.
A further note about timings and the order of tasks
As I said on the last blog post, I find that the reflective work takes time, if it’s done with care and honest attention. I wasn’t able to complete what ended up being three deep-thinking journal exercises, plus taking more time to plan, plus the 1,000 word exercise. The 1,000 words took priority for me, so I still don’t know all of my counter-arguments to my negative thoughts, or why I love the writing life! If I find out, I’ll let you know.
Now, we also have gratitude journaling at the end of the day. It will be a useful tool for some people, and I am happy to do it…
… but I feel overwhelmed by the amount of content today. I don’t mind trying to add 30 mins of planning to my writing, or incorporating personal reflections into my day, but I think that these additions needed to be spread over three or four sessions. There was no way that all of the above was going to fit into my original time slot.
I also think that each element of the personal reflection task would have more impact if there was a day to process the previous one. And the journaling can be emotional, depending on how you’re feeling. I struggled to do my creative exercise right after it. I think it would better to do the the creative exercise first.
all course content copyright Jacqui Lofthouse thewritingcoach.co.uk