The Art of Writing, SMART Blogging and Elephant Eating

The problems of writers can vary from finding the initial idea, format or media, to their realisation in form to the way they reach their audience. Writing like any art has so many variations that saying something is finished feels almost impossible.

'Art is never finished only abandoned.'

(Paul Valery, 1966)

There are many times I have felt like abandoning my novel and calling it 'finished'. How many drafts does it need? How will I know? When is it ready? When do I show it to people?

At a writing course I subjected my prologue and first 3 chapters to the scrutiny of the tutor and the nine other people on the course, who I had either only met twice before, once or not at all. The build up to it was horrendous. The actual reading and feedback was bearable. And the editing afterwards, based on the feedback, was surprisingly productive and enjoyable. However I did tend to ignore what I didn't agree with and anything which I'd already had suspicions about was reinforced and I made changes accordingly.

Continuing to Eat the Elephant

Referring back to the Eating the Elephant  and the One Thing Every Day posts I realised that although my commitment to submit to agents every day until successful was a good idea it was not one I was ready for. Or more importantly not one the book was ready for. After editing the first three chapters I realised that the rest of the book now needed the same treatment.

So how do I get there? What is my goal (aside from the ultimate one of having my book published and appearing on children's school reading lists)? So in the meantime, what is my interim goal and how will I know I have achieved it? 

We learn at school or at work about SMART goals or targets - could that system work here?

Specific

Measurable

Attainable & Agreed

Relevant & Realistic

Time bound

SMART makes sense and is a template used in various other motivational strategies. For instance Locke and Latham (1990) talk about 5 Principles of  Goal Setting and needing the have the following to motivate (the brackets show the relevance to SMART:

1. Clarity. (Specific, Measurable, Time bound)
2. Challenge.(Relevant & Realistic)
3. Commitment.(Agreed)
4. Feedback. (Measurable)
5. Task complexity. (Attainable)

Any success I have enjoyed in any area from formal education to writing practise have worked in this way without me knowing it.

SMART Blogging

Take for instance, even the act of blogging. When left to my own devices in the past I might have blogged intermittently on anything that took my fancy, whereas this blog 52 Quotes has taken a new turn from previous efforts with regular posts, researching in between and a focus for every week on a new area for development. I did not apply any of the goal setting strategies at the outset but now can see why I am achieving more than I have in previous efforts, when I apply the formula now.

I have been clear in what I am trying to achieve from 52 Quotes - learn from the learned. The time frame is 52 weeks, meaning at least 52 quotes and at least one blog post a week. It is relevant to my work as community worker and realistic in terms of scope and time management and skill base. It is a commitment I can make and have agreed with my peers to keep me motivated and challenged. I can measure success by by my learning (recorded here) and from feedback from peers. It is a project that is complex enough to engage and challenge me while also able to be broken down to attainable parts for an attainable overall end result.

Applying the Formula to My Writing

My  Goal: To complete the rewrite of the book and synopsis by the end of Christmas Holidays (Jan 6th) and start sending out submissions every day from the 7th to agents and seeking critique from them and others who I send the full book to for feedback.

In other words one elephant will be eaten by the 6th and I will start on another one on the 7th. That's how you eat the elephant - one bite at a time.

Locke, E. A. and Latham, G. P. (1990) A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance, Prentice Hall College Div
Valery, P. (1966) Quoted in Friends, p. 74, The Princeton University Library Chronicle: Volumes 28-29,  Princeton University

10 Barriers to Getting Stuff Done & How to 'Berlin Wall' Them

1989 saw the fall of the Berlin Wall. We had go so used to it , it seemed a permanent fixture. It was an insurmountable obstacle, a boundary between West and East. It was a man made Everest of a feature, freezing people out, with barbed wire instead of peace flags and the promise of a dream come true.

Whatever we feel about our barriers, however insurmountable we think they are. They become such a habit of thought sometimes that we find comfort in them and can't imagine them gone. The barriers become boundaries protecting us. We can work hard to overcome them but most people spend more time in the base camp of Everest than they ever do on the summit. And luck does play a part. Everest expeditions are planned for the best weather but storms come in and clouds clear without the weather man always knowing. We prefer to read the books and watch the documentaries in the safety of our own living rooms. We will read the 'How to' guides to everything and not necessarily ever use them. Like this post. I can write it and you can read it but whether we ever do anything more than that remains to be seen. It's not life and death. Why bother? How do we ever get stuff done ever?

10 Barriers to Getting Stuff Done:

1. I can't do it
2. I don't need to do it
3. I don't want to do it
4. I am too tired to do it
5. I don't have time to do it
6. I don't like doing it
7. I don't have to do it
8. I don't have the tools to do it
9. I think that if I wait long enough someone else will do it or it won't need to be done
10. I do it sometimes but not as much as it needs to be done

1. I can't do it. Either I don't know how to do it or I am afraid of getting it wrong. Here the barrier can be perceived or real and mean not just having to complete a task but having to learn how to do the task itself. Like a funding application. If its not your forte, you have to read all the criteria and research the language and format and find that before you can put fingers to keyboard you have a whole range of activities on your To Do list that are all under the heading of Funding Application and that's without even thinking of all the information you need to gather from financial details to aims, objectives and benefits. Don't even get me started on appliance manuals or flat-pack instructions.
2. I don't need to do it. This is the kind of barrier to tasks that are 'taken for granted' or 'common sense'. Why write a plan or programme or risk assessment when its all in your head and you have been doing it for years. Yes it does mean that if you get sick nobody can run the show without you but that gives you a sense of control while meaning you can never leave your job because you have no systems in place for other people to take over. You are your own reference guide, instruction leaflet or manual. No wonder you don't have time for anything else.
3. I don't want to do it. This one is for the 'cleaning the toilet' tasks...we all want them done but just not by us. It's also for the 'If I feel like I'm being made to do it – I will obstinately not want to do it!' This is the 5 year old in you who won't eat your sprouts. This is a hard feeling to shake, nobody likes not feeling in control or being dictated to. And in reality this is the barrier of all barriers because at the end of the day, if we want to do anything we will do it. It is the only real barrier – all the rest are just a version of it for different reasons.
4. I'm too tired to do it. This one is the task that really, we again just don't want to do because if we did we would, because we are not too tired to watch the TV or do that shopping or go for that coffee. We hide it under the 'I'm too tired to do it' excuse. Although the effort of constantly thinking of all the things on the To Do List (because they are constant – when they are not getting done) is pretty much why it feels like you're too tired to do to it, or in fact anything on the To Do List.
5. I don't have time to do it. Or also known as the I can't be bothered doing it. It's not a priority. I have other more important things to do. Like avoiding doing the other 72 things on my To Do List, the epic proportions of which have so stunted my progress, that there is no point in ever starting because I will never see the end. Also see 3& 4
6. I don't like doing it. Back to the sprouts and toilet cleaning. Whatever the reason whether its unpalatable or seems hard or scary or because it's tedious or boring. All are overcome if you actually wanted to do it – the 5 year old in you strikes again. (See 1, 3 & 4)
7. I don't have to do it. Yes there are things that are not your responsibility but if you put it on your To Do list, you know you should be doing it. And even if you don't, if you know it should be done and no ones doing it, the letter of the law might state that you don't have to do it but the spirit of the law say you do. And you know the difference.
8. I don't have the tools to do it. We are not just talking power tools here but it might be the laptop's not charged or you don't have the book you need. Of course the solution of using a pen instead of a keyboard or using the internet instead of a book is completely impossible when you just don't want to do it. (See 3)
9. I think that if I wait long enough that someone else will do it or it won't need to be done. Unfortunately and fortunately, this happens. Its true and that's why its a huge barrier. If you leave it long enough then if someone wants coffee they will change the coffee filter or the Christmas decorations will be taken down or car oil will be changed. Then it doesn't need to be done (at least until next time). Of course there are those times when you put off cancelling an appointment for weeks only to find the other person cancels at the last minute. Or when you put off writing a proposal only to find out that criteria has been changed and negates anything you might have done before. Or you put off buying that present or doing that essay and the day either are due you happen to get the most perfect inspiration. And if the 5 year old in you, waits quietly long enough maybe Mum and Dad won't notice you are there and you won't have to go to bed early or it will be too late to have your bath and brush your teeth or if you fall asleep on the sofa you can avoid it all.
10. I do it sometimes but not as much as it needs to be done. Seems unfair that when you are motivated to do something that you don't want to do that you have to find the motivation to do it all over again. 'It's just not fair' – says the 5 year old! (see 3, 7 & 9).

10 Ways to 'Berlin Wall' Barriers to Getting Stuff Done:

1. Realise your Motivation. That the only barrier is not wanting to do something. Because as soon as you want to do something barriers melt away. You are motivated.
2. Do it anyway. When you realise that you don't want to do something. Do it anyway in defiance. In denial. You are trying to prove to your self that it was not that you didn't want to do it. That it was because of time or lack of tools. I'll show you! And when you realise the ridiculousness of this you will just be left with the pleasure of what you have accomplished in light of the adversity of a lack of motivation which seemed an insurmountable barrier which you overcame.
3. Exercise Your Freedom. You have free will. You allow people to control you. You decide what you are going to do. You have a choice. If you are told to do something and don't want to do it. You don't have to do it. You can choose. As long as you consider consequences, you can say 'no'. But if you say you are going to do something – do it. Or don't say you will.
4. Make your Peace with Procrastination. If you put it off, you put it off. As long as its done, before any deadline, its done...doesn't matter if its last minute. That's your style, not a barrier.
5. Do something. Not necessarily all of it...just start. Tell yourself you don't have to do it all. As soon as you feel you have a choice – you have a choice. The old saying 'A journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step' makes sense but most of your tasks are not going to be a 1000 miles big however much you think they are.
6. Be accountable. Think of all the things as a child you did not want to do, from going to bed early to homework to brushing your teeth. You were accountable to someone. Make yourself accountable.
7. Purge the Perfect. Get out of the vicious circle of perfectionism. It will stop you doing anything because the effort to accomplish anything 'perfect' is so enormous that just thinking about it is tiring. Don't and just do stuff. Sometimes it will work and other times it won't and you will learn with practise and get better...actually nearer perfection than if you didn't do anything, but that's beside the point.
8. Eat the Elephant. One bite at a time. Just do 5 or 10 minutes doing something you don't want to do and swap to something you like better. Who knows you might get caught up in it. Either way the Elephant might take a little longer to eat but at least you are taking some chunks out of it.
9. Make a Habit of it. Do things you don't want to do regularly to form a habit. When you form a habit you don't have the same feelings about the tasks because you tend not to think about them at all because they are a habit. Yes tying your shoe laces was a pain until you learned and now ...well its a habit and you don't think about it. 
10. Remember your Motivation. That the only barrier is not wanting to do something. Because as soon as you want to do something barriers melt away. You are motivated. (yes that was pretty much a repetition of No. 1 – reinforcement is key to creating good habits – that's how the 5 year old learns!)

10 Quotes on Procrastination and Living Your Ideals

I am a procrastinator. I leave things until last minute, put them off until I have to do them and avoid my To Do List in many and varied ways. If I have to write a report or essay it will be in on time but just about. Even my recent effort in light of illness came to the same end. I had written the essay 10 days before the deadline. All I had to do was add a couple of references and send it on-line. When did I do that? 3 hours before the deadline. 

Sometimes it works out that if I leave things long enough - they go away or are solved in a way I hadn't expected. Or people have changed their minds or cancelled.

Starting things are the hardest ...so are continuing things as well as keeping going til the end. So my only problem is starting, continuing and completing.

10 Quotes on Procrastination

1. 'My advice is to never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.' (Charles Dickens, 1850 in David Copperfield)
2.  'Never put off till to-morrow what you can do day after to-morrow just as well.' (Mark Train, 1870, The Galaxy Magazine)
3. 'When faced with two equally tough choices, most people choose the third choice: to not choose' ( Jarod Kintz, 2012 in This Book has No Title).
4. 'We are so scared of being judged that we look for every excuse to procrastinate.' (Erica Jong, 2006, Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life)
5. 'The scholar's greatest weakness: calling procrastination research' (Stephen King, 2011 in 11/22/63)
6. “But indefinite visions of ambition are weak against the ease of doing what is habitual or beguilingly agreeable; and we all know the difficulty of carrying out a resolve when we secretly long that it may turn out to be unnecessary. In such states of mind the most incredulous person has a private leaning towards miracle: impossible to conceive how our wish could be fulfilled, still - very wonderful things have happened! (George Elliot or May Ann Evans, 1874 in Middlemarch)
7.  'How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.' Anne Frank, 1947, The Diary of a Young Girl)
8. 'You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.' (Martin Luter King Jnr TBC)
9. 'If not now then when?' (Tracy Chapman, 1988, in her album Tracy Chapman).
10. 'Had we but world enough and time...But at my back I always hear, Times winged chariot hurrying near...' Andrew Marvell, around 1650, in his poem To His Coy Mistress)

The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness and Effectivenes

... by Epictetus around 100 AD (translated by Sharon Lebell, 2004) had this to say on the subject of procrastination: 

  

'Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. Once you have determined the spiritual principles you wish to exemplify, abide by these as if they were laws, as if it were indeed sinful to compromise them. Don't mind if others don't share your convictions. 

How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer. Put your principles into practice—now. Stop the excuses and the procrastination. This is your life! You aren't a child anymore. The sooner you set yourself to your spiritual program, the happier you will be. 

The longer you wait, the more you will be vulnerable to mediocrity and feel filled with shame and regret, because you know you are capable of better. From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do—now.'

Eating the Elephant

'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.'

 Lao Tzu

AKA 
Q 'How do you eat an elephant?'
A 'One bite at a time.'

I realised when Carl asked if he was in my book that every young person I ever knew including myself probably was. Then next morning, hearing Timmy identify with some lines he read, I thought some more about it. How much we identify with characters we read and write. How much we want to learn about ourselves in what we read and write. How much we take comfort in empathising with these fictional people with realistic character traits. And how we know they are real because they are feeling what we feel. Why we start to care about them because we feel what they feel.

When someone tells you that their life has been summed up in two sentences that you have written, you must be doing something right - at least in those two sentences. The trick then is to get the other nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety eight to the same standard.

Why do these sentences resonate?  The character Jez, a thinker and worrier who's thoughts on the infinite consequences of his actions and their domino effects, freeze him and prevent him from making choices and doing anything, Timmy could relate to this, as could I. Its why I have stalled on writing until now.

I am learning about myself. When I pick up a book it feels like I am asking the author to tell me about myself. When I read what a character says or does or feels I measure against what I say or do or feel. Would I act in the same way as the character? Why? What would I do, say or feel differently and what does that say about me? What part of me do I leave on the page? 

So the part of Jez I wrote about being locked in a state of frozen inaction because of his ability to see so many possibilities and their domino effects is the same part of me that has had to be worked through to get the book to the next stage. Now when I am making a decision, I try to ignore the zillions of other possibilities (my very active imagination brings to mind) and concentrate on one issue at a time. For instance before I sent out the first chapter to my writing class (nine people I had only met twice), all I concentrated on was getting the last few bits of editing done of that draft and only thought of it in terms of the feed back I would get from the nine people reading it, as that was a daunting enough prospect on its own. It was only last night (Thursday) I remembered, with genuine shock, that it is going to be read out in class on Saturday. I had completely blocked it from my mind, I think if I had thought of that aspect it might have prevented me doing the first action - sending it out. And once the first action was done - I could do nothing about it and at least that was done. All of it together would have been too much to contemplate. 

I am now somewhat calmer but can still barely believe that I had forgotten that the first chapter is  going to be read out by the tutor to this group of people I have only met twice. The mind works in mysterious ways, to protect us. Or maybe we just take our natural ability to freeze the action, to pause it a while until we are ready, to deal with one thing at a time, until its time for action again and we can press 'play.' 

Unfortunately I always think of that stupid elephant joke, even when a more eloquent way to say it would be: 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step'. No, that seems too serene, too whimsical, too lovely an idea. Whereas the stupid elephant joke seems to be more in keeping with how I feel about daunting prospects and the overwhelming sensation and the 'bigness' of stuff feeling like an elephant sitting on my chest or just being the cliched 'elephant in the room'. The question, 'How do you eat an elephant?' and its answer 'One bite at a time' says more to me about my issues. However distasteful it is at first, its only a bite and once you swallow its gone and the next bites the same and eventually the elephant is gone. I am not advocating eating elephants but for me it works and sometimes to get one bite down you have to forget about how much of the elephant is left.