How I cured my writer's block (um, knock on wood)
So, after a LONG time with bad writer's block, I am getting over it. Here's what happened.
1) I think, first and foremost, that I had some crucial ideas finally 'congeal' in my head. Do I do my most important thinking subconsciously? I'm not sure.
But here's a story. When I was a year old, I'd started talking a bit. And then, for two months, I went totally silent. After those two months -- and yes, this makes me fourteen months old -- I started talking in complete sentences, like a grownup. (It was weird for people.) My mom's theory is that I got pissed off about not being able to communicate, so gave up briefly out of stubbornness until I could do it right.
Maybe there's something to that. Maybe my development will always follow a similar trajectory. Perhaps I could diagram it like this:
Part one: GOOGOOGAAGAA WHAAA?
Part two: ummmmmmmmmmmmmm... naptime.
Part three: Fluency. Masterpiece!
I jest, of course. But -- seriously, people, this feels GOOD. I really, really like part three.
2) I've embraced my natural nocturnal schedule. this is perhaps a bad thing in some ways -- but now that I've accepted that I work best at absurd times of night, I'm getting lots done.
3) The "Stop It!" widget on my Mac is a LIFESAVER. I use it to get past my inertia by setting it for 10-15 minutes when I start working. Almost invariably, I feel just fine about keeping going past that ten minutes. That is, as long as I only commit to another ten minutes. Fine with me.
4) SCRIVENER. Scrivener is everything it claims to be. It's like a helper monkey for the non-linear thinker.
Okay, you come up with a better simile at 3:44AM.
Seriously though. It's an elegant interface, and has found elegant ways around a LOT of the organizational problems that hinder people who write like I do -- again, not in straight lines. It in fact works WITH this way of thinking, and is my new best friend.
1) I think, first and foremost, that I had some crucial ideas finally 'congeal' in my head. Do I do my most important thinking subconsciously? I'm not sure.
But here's a story. When I was a year old, I'd started talking a bit. And then, for two months, I went totally silent. After those two months -- and yes, this makes me fourteen months old -- I started talking in complete sentences, like a grownup. (It was weird for people.) My mom's theory is that I got pissed off about not being able to communicate, so gave up briefly out of stubbornness until I could do it right.
Maybe there's something to that. Maybe my development will always follow a similar trajectory. Perhaps I could diagram it like this:
Part one: GOOGOOGAAGAA WHAAA?
Part two: ummmmmmmmmmmmmm... naptime.
Part three: Fluency. Masterpiece!
I jest, of course. But -- seriously, people, this feels GOOD. I really, really like part three.
2) I've embraced my natural nocturnal schedule. this is perhaps a bad thing in some ways -- but now that I've accepted that I work best at absurd times of night, I'm getting lots done.
3) The "Stop It!" widget on my Mac is a LIFESAVER. I use it to get past my inertia by setting it for 10-15 minutes when I start working. Almost invariably, I feel just fine about keeping going past that ten minutes. That is, as long as I only commit to another ten minutes. Fine with me.
4) SCRIVENER. Scrivener is everything it claims to be. It's like a helper monkey for the non-linear thinker.
Okay, you come up with a better simile at 3:44AM.
Seriously though. It's an elegant interface, and has found elegant ways around a LOT of the organizational problems that hinder people who write like I do -- again, not in straight lines. It in fact works WITH this way of thinking, and is my new best friend.