Writing in a Time of Crisis—On Pressure, Opportunity, & Creative “Shoulds”

We live in interesting times.

We’re all processing the events from COVID19, and the implications for our lives, in different ways. I’ve seen almost every emotional reaction to news of the pandemic, ranging from stoicism, panic, anger, resignation, disbelief, messages of love and support, and absurdist humor. Never has the bland, vague adjective “interesting” felt so pitch-perfect.

Most of the time, “interesting” is a useless word, and I want to nuke it from orbit. But then, we’d lose Terry Pratchett’s book of the same name, and I’d lose a handy label for our current situation.

The internet, airwaves, and our personal and professional circles have become inundated with (mostly well-meaning) advice. There are lots of suggestions about how to fill the time one is spending in quarantine or shelter in place. One of them is this: now’s the time to work on that project [usually a creative one] you’ve been putting off forever!

Is it, though? Is this the perfect time to write your book?

Let go of the end result

Firstly, I’d like to recognize a few truths. One, our schedules have been upended and we may very well have the time—and few distractions—to undertake a creative pursuit. Two, some of you might feel a kind of pressure to create a specific, tangible result from this creative pursuit. E.g., a book, a painting, recording X number of songs. Being on social media and reading what all the creative types are doing and accomplishing might give you a whole new variety of FOMO.

This kind of pressure is not useful to the creative process, which is what writing a book is.

In my virtual book club, we’ve just finished reading and discussing the book The Practicing Mind by Thomas M. Sterner.* In Chapter 2, “Process, Not Product” he says:

We have a very unhealthy habit of making the *product*—our intended result—the goal, instead of the *process* of reaching that goal.

I’m sure more than a few of you relate to Dorothy Parker, who said, “I hate writing, I love having written.”

But writing is a process, just like exercise, meditation, gardening, home improvement, tinkering with the car, creating music…There’s no point at which we come to an end, say, “I’m done!” and walk away, expecting the results to last forever.

If you’re feeling pressure around creative pursuits such as writing a book, I encourage you to step back and remember the process…and let go of what the end result may look like. Counterintuitively, this creates the best conditions for your success.

And let’s not forget the most process-oriented approach to writing yet, the personal journal.

The long game

Every book is a long game—our ideas and the book that ultimately results are always separated from each other by a significant stretch of time. This is a 5K, at least, not a sprint. And I’d like you to enjoy the journey.

“We look at the process of getting there as almost a necessary nuisance we have to go through in order to get to our goal,” Sterner writes. When we focus on the end product, we very much lose our enjoyment of trying to get there.

How likely are you to continue with an activity you don’t enjoy? Not very, in my experience. The same goes for activities that we pick up because we believe (or are told) they are “good” for us. This goes for pandemic times, too.

Hear it from me: writing a book because you “should”–out of a sense of moral good–is not a reason or sufficient motivation to carry you through.

If you’re in this for a quick hit, you’re in the wrong place.

Present moment

There’s very little we can each directly control. I think about this a lot, and not just in times of crisis. What we can control is how we approach whatever we are doing. Sterner has a solution for dealing with the pressures our results-oriented approach give us: Stay in the present moment.

When you focus your mind on the present moment, on the process of what you are doing right now, you are always where you want to be and where you should be. All your energy goes into what you are doing.
…
When you shift your goal from the product you are trying to achieve to the process of achieving it, a wonderful phenomenon occurs: all pressure drops away.

Isn’t that lovely? You are exactly where you want to be. What a wonderful place. Just imagining this makes my whole body relax.

This chapter where you are? Exactly where you should be. However many words you have, is precisely right.

Bottom Line

As you consider whether this is the time to write your magnum opus, I’d like you to practice letting go of the end result. Be where you are. Especially in the times we are living in, I think this is the healthiest approach.

So do you want to write this book?

What about in this moment? Or in this one?

It’s fine if the answer is no.

*I swear, we picked this book before the start of the year; the choice was not influenced by current events!

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