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Just make the bed
Jan. 15th, 2012 03:05 pmSo, I was looking around, trying to find some sort of inspiration to write today. It's football and normally, I just knit, but maybe I should put words down, or do something? Maybe I should edit or... Well, the brain went into so many things that I should be doing that I'm losing sight of what needs to be done.
And trolling around the internet during a commercial break, I found a blog post, via several other blog posts that makes sense:
Just Make the Bed.
Sarah Ockler makes the point that making resolutions and having huge goals can be a good thing, but it can also be overwhelming and paralyzing. Don't stop making them, but if you do get overwhelmed, step back and just make the damned bed. A single, simple, little thing like sketching out a scene, writing a single sentence, editing a single paragraph can start taking out the overwhelmingness of the task before you.
I usually use this theory in other things in my life, but applying it to writing/creativity? For some reason it never occurred to me.
When I clean, I say "I'm going to fold this basket" and that inspires me to fold the next basket, to do the one side of the sink full of dishes, to sweep one thing. However, when I write or I work any of my hand crafts, I tend to only take the project as a whole rather than one small step at a time.
Meaning, I look at my shawl, I see everything not knitting a single row. I don't look at the Geisha and see stitching a single color, but the whole pattern. Which makes them very overwhelming. I do the same thing with writing. I look at the whole story, not the single plot point, or the single scene or the single character voice.
I need to work on that. I need to just write that single plot point, that single scene. Eventually, the whole will come, but doing the single one is the way to start.
And trolling around the internet during a commercial break, I found a blog post, via several other blog posts that makes sense:
Just Make the Bed.
Sarah Ockler makes the point that making resolutions and having huge goals can be a good thing, but it can also be overwhelming and paralyzing. Don't stop making them, but if you do get overwhelmed, step back and just make the damned bed. A single, simple, little thing like sketching out a scene, writing a single sentence, editing a single paragraph can start taking out the overwhelmingness of the task before you.
I usually use this theory in other things in my life, but applying it to writing/creativity? For some reason it never occurred to me.
When I clean, I say "I'm going to fold this basket" and that inspires me to fold the next basket, to do the one side of the sink full of dishes, to sweep one thing. However, when I write or I work any of my hand crafts, I tend to only take the project as a whole rather than one small step at a time.
Meaning, I look at my shawl, I see everything not knitting a single row. I don't look at the Geisha and see stitching a single color, but the whole pattern. Which makes them very overwhelming. I do the same thing with writing. I look at the whole story, not the single plot point, or the single scene or the single character voice.
I need to work on that. I need to just write that single plot point, that single scene. Eventually, the whole will come, but doing the single one is the way to start.
