by Jenna | Mar 25, 2014 | Writing Articles
When we're learning something new, we like to think that our progress will happen in a straight line.
But progress is rarely linear, is it?
Sometimes we feel discouraged about our progress and try to cheer ourselves up by saying, "well, two steps forward, and one step back."
It helps is normalize our feelings about how things are going.
Other times it can feel like we're just going around and around in circles, never getting anywhere or improving. It's easy to get disheartened when it feels like that.
The spiral path
A long time ago, when I designed the logo for my old website, I had an idea about how our learning and growth DOES seem to have a cyclical nature to it.
But my observation was that on every pass around that circle, I felt myself moving closer and closer to the core of what I was learning, whether it was a new skill for work or a change in my personal growth.
I've written before about mindset and the value of approaching things from the perspective of learning and experimentation versus "failure".
This "spiral path" perspective has been hugely helpful for me in recognizing that when I find myself thinking, "crap, am I HERE AGAIN?", it may actually be that I'm revisiting a familiar place in my path of learning -- but at a deeper level.
The core of truth
Sometimes people like to see the spiral moving outward -- if that works best for you, great!
My take is that there's a core of truth and (self-)knowledge that we're moving closer and closer to over time -- as long as we're paying attention.
For example, as I'm learning to improve my screenwriting skills, I'm finding myself making mistakes I was making a year ago. I could decide that I've "failed" or that I'm not improving, OR, I can choose to see my knowledge and recognition of the mistake as being one "pass" closer to being able to no longer make that mistake because now I understand it and notice it, which is the first step toward making a change.
The levels of mastery
One of my other favorite tools for understanding the learning process is the levels of mastery.
There are four levels of mastery we move through:
- Unconscious incompetence: Where we DON'T KNOW what we don't know, and we're making mistakes over and over again that we don't even recognize, except perhaps in the sense that things "just aren't working".
- Conscious incompetence: This is when we KNOW what we're doing "wrong" but we struggle with changing it. This is one of the most uncomfortable stages of progress and learning, because we can see where we want to be, but we just can't quite get there.
- Conscious competence: When we reach this stage, we know what to do and we know how to do it. But we still have to THINK our way through it, step by step. It feels better, because we're getting the results we want, but we have to plod away at it bit.
- Unconscious competence: This is the blissful level of mastery where we've reached the inner core of knowledge and we no longer even have to think about what we're doing, we just do it.
If you think back to learning to drive a car (or write a screenplay!), you can see how these four levels can play out.
- At level one, unconscious incompetence, you might have argued with your dad when he was trying to teach you how to drive, thinking you knew better than him -- but guess what? You didn't, and you bumped the car into that dumpster he TOLD you that you were going to hit (that never happened to me :) ).
- At level two, conscious incompetence, you had the basic ideas down, but the darn car kept popping into the wrong gear when you shifted and it would lug across the middle of the intersection and all the other cars had to wait (that never happened to me either :) ).
- At level three, conscious competence, you knew what you were doing, but you still had to think about every little detail, in a kind of running commentary in your mind, like this: "Okay, now check the mirrors and the blind spots, make sure there's no one there, turn on the turn signals, check the mirrors again, merge over carefully, turn off the blinkers", etc.
- At level four, unconscious competence, it's easy. Now you just drive -- like you're on autopilot.
The levels of mastery and the spiral path
My sense is that as we move farther "up" the levels of mastery, we're making sweeps around that cyclical path, moving ever closer to that core of knowledge, which we could also call "unconscious competence".
The beauty of this perspective is understanding that we HAVE TO make a lot of "mistakes" and "fail" frequently in order to learn, and we can trust that as long as we hold on to our goals and determination, keep doing the work, and are willing to stay in the discomfort of learning, we can and will get better and better at what it is that we've set out to do, whether it's writing at a new level, learning a new skill, working on our relationships, or raising the bar in our work.
by Jenna | Feb 24, 2014 | Writing Articles
Between being pregnant and having the flu shortly after my Design Your Writing Life class series and the holiday whirlwind, I found myself flat out not writing for much of January. As someone who pretty much always writes six days per week (with the exception of vacations), I was surprised that I actually couldn't write.
The flu this year is a particularly bad one, and I was in bed for two weeks straight, between fever, exhaustion, and a "bonus" sinus infection and massive headaches. And since my immune system is busy doing other things (like not attacking the baby), it's taken me an extra long time to get better, let alone "get back on the writing wagon". (And even longer to get back to blogging, which I've been missing.)
Here's the thing.
Even once you have a solid writing habit established, major life disruptions CAN come along and throw you off your game. And when that happens, what can you do about it? Resistance is a tricky, stealthy operator, and it can concoct all sorts of bizarre reasons and excuses not to start writing again.
So how do you tell the difference between being too tired to write and being "too tired" to write?
What I tell the writers in my community is this: The only person that can ever really know the answer to that is you.
And interestingly for me, that answer has been, "Yes."
In other words— BOTH. I've been truly exhausted and unable to do much of anything other than feed myself, take care of my son, keep my business running, and do the minimum amount of work to keep participating in the classes I'm taking. But I have ALSO had days where I've been in a resistance pickle over not wanting to write — not wanting to face the challenge, being afraid I won't be able to do the work "properly" (perfectionism alert!), and otherwise just avoiding the writing. Plus my regular writing routine (and schedule) have been disrupted by my desperate need for sleep and rest at weird hours. So it's all been tangled up together into one confusing lump of writing, exhaustion, angst, resistance, and not writing.
These kinds of situations can result from all sorts of things, like suddenly having a crushing deadline at work, losing a loved one, a relationship ending, losing a job, other major illnesses, pregnancy, birth, long vacations, etc. Major life transitions can wreak havoc with our regular patterns and we're suddenly back to square one — having lost our writing habit and feeling resistance to getting back on track.
Getting back on track
So let's talk strategy — how to get back on board:
1. Step One: Acknowledge what's going on.
Pay attention to the realities of the emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual needs that are coming up for you. Also notice what's coming up on the writing front in terms of resistance. Are you avoiding it? Does it feel scary? There's no need for judgment here, just compassionate observation.
Acknowledging what's going on will help you make new choices about how to best support yourself through it.
2. Step Two: Coax yourself through the resistance.
If you've gotten off the writing track, there WILL be resistance. It's normal, it's nothing to worry about, and it can be hard to overcome. So coax yourself through it.
At times like this, I tell myself, "How about writing for just 15 minutes? I bet you can do just a little bit." And then once I get the ball rolling, I feel the tremendous sense of relief, accomplishment, and positive energy that I need to keep my writing habit going over time. (Actually writing instead of resisting is anxiety relieving. For more about why, see this article here.)
3. Step Three: Make an "ease back into it" plan.
One of the principles we use in the writing community is goal refinement. Start with what you think is an attainable writing goal for yourself, given all of the above in steps one and two. Then test it. If you achieve it, great! Do it again the next day. But if you find yourself NOT able to hit your target, make it smaller. Keep making the goal smaller until you KNOW you can and will do it. You can — and will — build back up to more writing time later on.
My choice was to start very simply, with morning pages. Once I had the minimum amount of energy I needed to actually get up more or less on time, I made a commitment to spend my first 20 waking minutes (approximately) writing in my notebook, stream of consciousness. It was a wonderful way to ease myself back into writing regularly.
4. Step Four: Begin building back up to your regular writing routine.
Then, over time, begin building your writing habit, schedule, and routine back up to where it was before you got off track. It's okay to make downward adjustments here too. For instance, if you were writing for two hours a day, but now you've been ill or had a major loss that you're dealing with, you may find that aiming that high just doesn't work anymore, at least not in the short term. So perhaps you'll aim for one hour now, and work up to it incrementally.
Before I got sick, I was writing between three to four hours a day. Over the last few weeks I've been hitting more like one consistently. I've also found that my normal six days a week schedule just isn't working for me, and I'm needing to cut it down to five days a week. Starting this week, I'm working on ramping back up to two hours a day. And I'm being extra gentle with myself about it. Aiming for it, but not self-flagellating if I don't make it.
5. Step Five: If you can, get support.
Having people around you who believe in you and support your writing is a powerful tool to get back on track as well. I'm so grateful to have my community cheering me on, each and every day, helping me observe my writing choices and keep my writing top-of-mind, even when the going gets tough. I also have my screenwriting pals to commiserate and celebrate with in equal measure. It helps to have people who "get it" — how hard it is, how much joy it brings, and how much it means to us. So surround yourself with people who can help you keep the dream in focus, even when you've lost your way.
Thanks for reading!
Warmly,
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by Jenna | Dec 4, 2013 | Writing Articles
If you're struggling to claim your creative identity as a writer -- or to reclaim it -- there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Write regularly. Consistent daily writing will help you find your way back to your writing identity. Binge-bust writing patterns don't create a sustainable sense of identity. Writing on a regular basis does.
- Introduce yourself as a writer. Decide that you are a writer and say so when you talk to people. If you're on social media, put "writer" on your account profiles.
- Validate yourself as a writer. Stop looking for permission outside yourself to known or validated as a writer. Reward yourself for overcoming the resistance to writing EVERY DAY.
- Be clear about what it means to be a writer. Try on the idea that writers write. And then make sure you're doing that. Try letting go of the idea that you have to be paid before it "counts". Or published. Or on the big screen. Writers write.
- Take your dream of writing seriously. Don't treat it as something to be shoehorned in around the edges. Design your life around your writing -- not the other way around. Align all your levels of experience (surroundings, beliefs, values, actions, etc.) with your writing.
- Look for positive messages about writing. There are lots and lots and LOTS of people out there ready and willing to tell you how impossible it all is, that you/they will never make it, and it's too hard. Choose to put yourself around people who know there is always a way in, even if you/they haven't found it yet.
- Surround yourself with other (positive) writers. Your consciousness is affected by the people around you. Put yourself in situations where other people see you as a writer (classes are a great place to start). If you're on social media, fill your feed with writers. Hang out with writers -- but make sure they're the writers that know that succeeding as a writer is possible.
Thanks for reading!
I always love to hear what you think in the comments.
Warmly,
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by Jenna | Nov 26, 2013 | Writing Articles
I've seen a number of debates and blog posts and flow charts on the internet over the last few months about how to tell if you are a "real" writer or not. This is something people struggle a lot with when it comes to their creative identity.
The bottom line of these conversations is this: Writers write. If you're a writer, you're writing. And, if you're paid to write, you're a professional writer.
As a general rule, I agree with these notions.
However!
And this is a big however: I believe these ideas are doing a grave disservice to people who WANT to write but haven't found their way to it yet. And to the writers who have written — but for whatever the reason — aren't writing right now.
It's pretty discouraging.
As a coach, I hate to see discouragement happening out there in the world.
I hate to think of all the people NOT writing right now because they've bought into this notion that since they're not writing YET, they must not be writers -- at least not in the core sense of who they are and who they can become.
Even one of my former writing idols, Joss Whedon, practically undid me when he said, "You either have to write or you shouldn't be writing." Since I wasn't writing "enough" at the time, I thought, "Wait, does this mean I'm not a writer? Or that I can't be a writer?"
So there are all these intense messages out there in the world telling you that you're not a writer if you're not writing. And okay, again, I see the point.
But, what if:
- You have a massive amount of fear and resistance about writing, even though you've always dreamed about writing, and you don't know how to deal with it.
- You're stuck with your project and you don't know where to go next.
- You're blocked, you can't pick a project to focus on, or you're paralyzed by performance anxiety or perfectionism.
- You've just suffered a major loss of a loved one or gone through a horrific breakup and you're in the throes of grief, and you can't find your way back to the page.
- You're caught up in the myths about writing (like not having enough time or money so you think you can't write).
- You haven't yet built your writing habit skills, and you're writing irregularly or inconsistently at best.
- You've bought into the belief that you have to be naturally talented to be a writer so you aren't even giving yourself a chance.
- You believe you need more training or skills before you can write.
In my opinion, you are still a writer — at your core — even under these conditions. Yes, a writer who needs support, discipline, and structure to help get back on track. But still a writer. It means you are a writer who needs a jump start, or maybe a little coaxing to come out of your cocoon and into the world.
The thing is, if you're called to write, you must write. And if you're buying into this story, "I guess I'm not a writer because I'm not writing", you will NEVER write. That's not okay with me. I believe that our souls speak to us about what we are meant to be doing -- they know WHO WE ARE at a deep level. And so even if you haven't CLAIMED that dream yet, it's still yours for the taking.
So let's help you claim that dream and start writing. It's your soul calling to you, after all.
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by Jenna | Nov 20, 2013 | Writing Articles
I've had three experiences lately that have triggered performance anxiety for me. Two assignments, where I've delivered a project to someone else, and one where I'm sharing my work with other people in a public forum. Now you might think I'd be over that by now, given that I'm writing publicly every week, teaching classes, and coaching on the spot all the time. I'm in a constant practice of "performing" or being in the spotlight.
But the truth is, that whenever we venture into new territory, our fears and doubts about our ability to "deliver" can come cropping up fairly quickly. I've observed that performance anxiety tends to come up as a result of three things:
- We're trying something new.
- We're holding high expectations about the quality of the work we "should" be delivering.
- Other people are holding high expectations about our work as well (or we believe they are).
Performance anxiety tends to trigger an inner conversation (if we're even conscious of it, which we might not be) that goes something like this: "What if I let them down? What if it's not as good as they expect? What if I can't live up to their expectations? What if I can't live up to my own expectations?"
And that conversation in turn tends to leads to paralysis, perfectionism, and procrastination -- the three Ps of writing doom.
What's your mindset?
As I was noticing this behavior in myself as well as the inner conversation about it, I was reminded of Carol Dweck's book on Mindset* that I've been reading lately.
In it, she describes interesting scenarios under which people demonstrate either a fixed or growth mindset. The sports examples particularly resonated for me.
In one example, she talked about how John McEnroe, a tennis player famous for his on-court temper tantrums, illustrated the fixed mindset perfectly. The minute anything would go wrong with his game, he was full of excuses about distractions, noises, other people, etc. It was never his fault and never his responsibility. This is very common among people who perceive themselves as talented or have the belief that other people see them as talented.
In other words, because we are so talented, we believe we shouldn't have to work at it.
On the other hand, she also described Michael Jordon, and how after his basketball comeback, when they lost the big game of the season, he went back to the gym that night and worked on his game. He knew that he'd been resting on his laurels, thinking he could just drop back into the game after time away, and he was determined to change that -- through hard work and dedication to raising the bar on his skill set.
And that's the difference, that right there. The belief that talent and ability are fixed versus the belief that a skill set can be mastered and improved.
Strategies for dealing with performance anxiety
I've worked with two teachers lately who have really brought this home for me: Hal Croasmun of ScreenwritingU.com and Corey Mandell, both screenwriting instructors. Hal reminds me to have a "beginner's mind" and to learn to be comfortable with the discomfort of growth. Corey reminds me to focus on what I'm learning, not on where I'm failing.
Ideas for dealing with performance anxiety:
- Make growth mindset choices rather than fixed mindset choices. Keep working, learning, and growing. You'll only get better.
- As Hal says, be comfortable with the discomfort of growth and be willing to allow yourself to be a beginner.
- As Corey suggests, keep your focus on what you're learning, not on how you haven't yet mastered the new skill you're attempting to integrate.
- Shift your self-talk by first recognizing that fear and doubt are coming up and helping yourself through it. "Okay, I'm worried about what other people think. What if I just let that go and focus on doing the best work I'm capable of right now, and allow myself to learn as I go?"
- Give yourself permission to fully engage in the messy, glorious process of learning and revel in it.
- Reward yourself for your efforts.
- Have lots of support from your peers.
- Be authentic about what you're experiencing with yourself and with your peers. You'll all benefit from it.
- Find ways to create accountability for yourself so that you do the work, even in the face of creative anxiety.
- Create a little extra time and space around the learning to help ease up on the pressure.
What works for you?
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Warmly,
p.s. I haven't forgotten that I promised last week to write more about creative identity -- and I will, soon! Stay tuned. :)
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