Y S Lee

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You are here: Home / Things I Do / “I’m stuck.”

“I’m stuck.”

May 27, 2015 By Ying 8 Comments

Hello, friends. This week, I felt tired. I was easily irritated. I slept poorly, drank too much coffee, and didn’t get enough fresh air. It follows that I also didn’t write as much of my novel as I’d hoped – and not for lack of honest effort.

In the past, I’d have been angry with myself. I’d have decided that I was a slacker and an impostor, and found ways to punish myself. It would not have occurred to me that a) I don’t treat others this way, and 2) I would not tolerate this treatment from someone else.

However, in a small but encouraging sign that change is always possible, I didn’t fall for the own-worst-enemy routine. Instead, I decided to be gentle with myself. I gave myself an hour off. And when that hour was over, I went to my writing shed and happily fixed a scene that had been troubling me for 2 days. It really works, not being a jerk to oneself.

In an effort to step back and protect myself in future rough weeks, I’ve made a checklist called, “I’m stuck/tired/lethargic/don’t feel up to writing, WAAAAAH.” As its name so subtly suggests, I’m aiming to train myself to refer to this list every time I feel stuck, etc.

When I mentioned my checklist on Twitter, I got an immediate response and fell into a really interesting private conversation with another writer, which made me think that I should share my list here. It’s geared to me as a self-employed writer, of course, but I think it’s much more broadly applicable.

So, on days or in moments when I feel stuck, etc., my goal is to step back and consider: why do I feel this way? Is it a) low mood, 2) mental fatigue, 3) physical fatigue, or 4) a combination (or something else entirely)?

Then, I have a list of strategies for each type of problem.

Low mood

  • Focus on self-care: go for a walk, practise yoga, or make a cup of tea and drink it while looking at the garden.
  • Do a couple of small tasks that cost little energy and are satisfying to check off on a list (viva the bullet journal!).
  • Organize something small; choose something that gives positive concrete results.
  • Think about another aspect of my life that I could change, with satisfying results, and make a plan to take care of it.
  • After an period of self-care, try slipping into a writing session. Even a couple of hundred words can be a triumph.

Mental fatigue

  • Take a short break from work.
  • Focus on something concrete and personal (NOT for the children!).
  • Maybe do something domestic: garden, bake, tidy.
  • After a break, turn towards the WIP: where am I in this project? What tweaks do I need to make? Make notes towards the next writing session. Maybe slip into that writing session, or maybe not.

Physical fatigue

  • Rest, already!
  • Read (secondary sources or go over the existing WIP).
  • Think about an aspect of the WIP and where it’s going. Once the brain is humming, slip into a writing session.

If progress on the WIP remains elusive

  • Work on a secondary project (mine is currently a picture book)
  • Make a list of scenes, flesh out in the historical detail in the existing WIP
  • Read secondary sources
  • Figure out how to start the next writing session with a sense of momentum, inevitability – map out where I need to go

That’s my checklist-in-progress. It’s far from exhaustive, though, and I hope to build on it. What do you do, friends? How do you manage work slumps and protect yourself from your harshest critic?

Filed Under: Things I Do Tagged With: life stuff, Things I Do, work habits, writing advice, writing life

Comments

  1. Christine Duncan says

    May 27, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    What a fabulous list… hope you won’t mind if I pin and share with my writing friends 🙂 Thanks Ying!

  2. Ying says

    May 27, 2015 at 5:38 pm

    Hi, Christine! I’d be happy for you to share. Hope you’re blooming!

  3. GEW says

    May 27, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    I love this! I want to share it with my online writing group, too. 🙂

  4. Ying says

    May 28, 2015 at 7:35 am

    Thanks, GEW! Share away. (Any traction on the writing shed yet?)

  5. GEW says

    May 29, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    No shed yet. I think it will be a few years. Perhaps that’s why I piddled away a least one hour (or more) this morning before getting my butt out the door and to the coffee shop. Shed or no shed, I need to make clear, daily plans. Have you been keeping on your shoes and heading straight to your shed? Part of my problem is that I like to start the day (after dropping of the kids) with a walk. It makes me and the dog happy. But then I have to get cleaned up and eat something, and it’s very easy to get sucked into home tasks somewhere during the transitions. Gotta figure it out!

  6. Ying says

    June 2, 2015 at 11:20 am

    Every time I take off my shoes “just for one thing”, I get sucked right into the vortex of housework/phone calls/email. So yes, straight to the shed. I’ve learned to leave my laptop, water bottle, and cup of coffee right by the door. But clear daily plans help a ton, too. Have you tried out the bullet journal or something similar? That’s helped immensely, too.

  7. Mel says

    June 4, 2015 at 12:36 pm

    I go away. Like right now, my never ending work pile continues to grow, I go for a long drive. I’m taking a day off tomorrow and camp alone in the woods.

    I look forward to finishing Rivals in the City and start Firebug by Lish McBride.

  8. Ying says

    June 5, 2015 at 5:19 pm

    Mel, I LOVE the idea of camping alone in the woods! What a brilliant way to clear your mind. Thanks for commenting.

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