Hi again, writer friends,
I’ve been reading a lot of articles recently about how, almost two years into this pandemic, the writing life continues to be a struggle for some of us.
I find this interesting because, for many of my clients, it’s been the exact opposite.
They’re doing well. They’re writing more, they’re making more money, they’re having more success. Many have been traveling. Some have built entire new income streams in this time.
And as a result, do you know what these smart, successful, badass writers have been doing?
They’ve been sabotaging.
Creating struggle.
Making it harder than it needs to be.
Because when everyone around you is struggling or feeling lack and you’re not, it’s incredibly easy to feel guilty, judged, or like you’re doing something wrong.
I’ve spent the last week, first in individual calls and then finally in a group coaching call with some of my Bookish Pursuits members, trying to convince them (and myself) that if life and work and money and relationships are easy, that’s a good thing.
We spend our entire lives working so that we can create ease in our days. We want more success, more money, better relationships, more fulfilling work so that we can have ease in our life.
And when that ease comes?
We often don’t allow ourselves to have it.
Challenge is good. Creative people need challenge.
But life will give you enough challenges without you having to create them.
When I work with writers, I find that often the real reason they can’t write thousands of words a day or finish their projects has very little to do with time or energy or focus, and almost always everything to do with the mindset of suffering.
I coached a writer once who, after a few weeks of resisting, finally let go and allowed himself to truly go all in. After struggling for about four years on his unfinished manuscript, we worked our way through his blocks so that he could stop thinking, obsessing, and blocking, and start releasing.
He messaged me one evening on a high. He had written 4,000 words in two hours. It had been easy. Effortless. The words were high quality, and he’d never experienced a creative high like this in his life.
I can finish this book now, he said. I have seen how possible it is to get it done.
And then, a day later, it kicked in.
The guilt.
The notions of how if it was easy, if it came without struggle, if it came with no suffering, there had to be something wrong with it.
Unsurprisingly, a week later, he had written nothing new and was convinced that the 4,000 words that day had been a fluke. (We worked through those emotions until he was able to repeat it, and the more he repeated it, the more he was able to normalize and replicate it.)
The first time I wrote 8,000 words in a single day and found that it was easy, effortless, and involved no sacrifice of my life, my days, and my mental well-being, I truly was able to understand the stories I’d been telling myself.
That it has to take time.
That I need to be really focused to do it.
How I need to have space and quiet and no distractions.
But that’s not how I did that first 8,000. I did it in 10- and 15-minute intervals through the day.
And that’s not how I do it now.
I never have to tell writers that the writing life will involve pain and suffering and struggle. They have that piece down. Expertly so.
I have to convince them that it can be easy.
Sometimes, I have to convince myself, too.
The more I do it, the more I believe in my ability to do it.
The more they do it, the more they believe in their ability to do it.
The more you do it, the more you will believe in your ability to do it.
That belief is important.
I believe every writer has the capability to go as fast or as slow as they want.
I don’t want you to write faster if you prefer to go slow.
But what I see so often is people who are stuck. Writers who would like to find ways to make their writing faster, easier, and more flow-based, but who feel stuck and unable to get there.
And if that’s you, then the Write 5K Every Day Bundle is for you.
I created Write 5K Every Day because I’m so incredibly tired of writers holding up 1,000 words a day as this honorary gold standard by which we should all measure ourselves, when it is just as easy, if not more so, to do more.
I created Write 5K Every Day because I get frustrated when I hear writers describing themselves as being blocked when really, all they’re lacking is clarity on what they want to say and how they’re going to say it.
I created Write 5K Every Day because too many writers, even today, even successful ones, believe writing must be done in huge blocks of time, with little to no distractions, alone.
In Write 5K Every Day, I’ll bust these long-standing myths not only by teaching you why they’re wrong, but by showing you a better way.
If you’re ready, Write 5K Every Day is open and waiting for you.
I’m going to show you how to be happier, more productive, more creative, and therefore, more successful.
But you have to believe that it’s possible in the first place.
And once you do, your writing life will never be the same again.
I should know. I took seven years to write a novel once. And I can’t imagine going through that hell ever again.
Details + price + breakdown of each training here.
I’ll see you there.
Cheers,
Natasha