I'm dealing with input overwhelm. Inputs are coming at me from every direction, and it takes so much energy to handle, that I don't have time for creating output.
Wow. This is so good. I kept pulling quotes from it to share in the writers' collective Discord I'm in, but settled on sharing the whole post because it resonates SO MUCH.
I, too, used to spend hours writing in notebooks (those Five Star 5-subject suckers were my mainstays) and journaling (on the computer, but without any expectations for "content" as the output). I'm also feeling the pull to get away from #lifeontheinternet and back into real life. Connecting with people in person. Looking around at life just for life (and for things to write about because I think they're interesting, not because I think Google and Twitter will reward me).
Thank you for saying all this. I know you wrote it last year, but it's 100% pertinent to my life right now and the way I'm thinking about writing. It's scary to step off the internet hamster wheel and go back to writing for your own interests and pleasure. There's a sense that you will Fail.
But, as you point out, fail at what? Fail at sharing things on the internet? Maybe we all need to "fail" a little more at that and pay more attention to our lives.
YESSSS, I love what you just said about failing a little more at sharing things on the internet. And, frankly, I'm happy to fail at analog life a bit if it means I'm doing things and creating things.
And this is for sure still relevant. Just right now, two hours ago, I realized I was staring at my computer, processing emails -- doing nothing, essentially. Or nothing important. What I was really doing was waiting for something digital to happen for me to respond to, and what I was really really doing was avoiding tackling a story revision. So I forced myself to get up and free write what was wrong with the story and ways that I could fix it, if I even could, and in twenty minutes I figured it out and am halfway through a rewrite. What it really took was telling myself, "You know you'll feel better if you try to figure out this story." It was hard, though, tearing myself away and facing the possibility of *not* figuring it out.
Good for you for noticing and breaking out of the pattern!
I had a similar experience yesterday when trying to edit a piece. I usually write in Notion so that I can drag blocks around, leave myself comments, etc. But I couldn't get the piece to come together...so I printed it out, grabbed a red pen, and did an old-school edit.
WOW, what a difference in how that felt! I could actually focus!
I can't tell you how many times that has happened to me! Now it's my process: write longhand, type it in, print it out, make revisions, type it in, print it out, etc. It's a lot of paper (SORRY, TREES) but it works so much better for me.
Haha, that's funny! I sometimes find old papers that I did something on the back of, and when I flip it over out of curiosity, I find myself in the middle of an old story or report.
Wow. This is so good. I kept pulling quotes from it to share in the writers' collective Discord I'm in, but settled on sharing the whole post because it resonates SO MUCH.
I, too, used to spend hours writing in notebooks (those Five Star 5-subject suckers were my mainstays) and journaling (on the computer, but without any expectations for "content" as the output). I'm also feeling the pull to get away from #lifeontheinternet and back into real life. Connecting with people in person. Looking around at life just for life (and for things to write about because I think they're interesting, not because I think Google and Twitter will reward me).
Thank you for saying all this. I know you wrote it last year, but it's 100% pertinent to my life right now and the way I'm thinking about writing. It's scary to step off the internet hamster wheel and go back to writing for your own interests and pleasure. There's a sense that you will Fail.
But, as you point out, fail at what? Fail at sharing things on the internet? Maybe we all need to "fail" a little more at that and pay more attention to our lives.
YESSSS, I love what you just said about failing a little more at sharing things on the internet. And, frankly, I'm happy to fail at analog life a bit if it means I'm doing things and creating things.
And this is for sure still relevant. Just right now, two hours ago, I realized I was staring at my computer, processing emails -- doing nothing, essentially. Or nothing important. What I was really doing was waiting for something digital to happen for me to respond to, and what I was really really doing was avoiding tackling a story revision. So I forced myself to get up and free write what was wrong with the story and ways that I could fix it, if I even could, and in twenty minutes I figured it out and am halfway through a rewrite. What it really took was telling myself, "You know you'll feel better if you try to figure out this story." It was hard, though, tearing myself away and facing the possibility of *not* figuring it out.
Good for you for noticing and breaking out of the pattern!
I had a similar experience yesterday when trying to edit a piece. I usually write in Notion so that I can drag blocks around, leave myself comments, etc. But I couldn't get the piece to come together...so I printed it out, grabbed a red pen, and did an old-school edit.
WOW, what a difference in how that felt! I could actually focus!
I can't tell you how many times that has happened to me! Now it's my process: write longhand, type it in, print it out, make revisions, type it in, print it out, etc. It's a lot of paper (SORRY, TREES) but it works so much better for me.
Paper can always get reused for other things--like brainstorming more ideas! 😁
I'm always writing notes to my kids on the back of old drafts, and they're like, "What IS this??"
Haha, that's funny! I sometimes find old papers that I did something on the back of, and when I flip it over out of curiosity, I find myself in the middle of an old story or report.