Dear Readers,
Every now and then I like to offer this tiny writing/life tip to my students, my supervisees (MA, PhD etc) and on my socials. I believe I did write a post about this on a previous iteration of this website that crashed many years ago (and I lost a lot of posts!). Since it disappeared, I’m writing another post because it might help someone. Because I like to pay it forward.
Like many perfectionists who put a lot of pressure on themselves, every now and then I get really stuck at something I do, something that I feel I should be good doing. It could be writing, or reading, or research, or music, or art. Heck, on bad weeks, it’s basic things to look after myself. I’ve come to keep to a general rule of thumb that gets me unstuck eventually. And then I’m galloping away again at my goals. Years ago, when I was struggling with my PhD dissertation while also in danger of becoming unhoused, this is how I disciplined myself: I was keeping office hours in the super-slick thesis hub which had very limited slots (but my supervisor managed to get me one). I made checklists and promised myself that each day I would at least write one paragraph that advanced my dissertation. This helped me during an extremely difficult and traumatic time. Eventually one paragraph became a handful and then a chapter, and then several chapter drafts/revisions. A few months later, I submitted my dissertation amidst the chaos of re-acclimatizing myself to life in Malaysia again after relocating back from Australia, and while teaching a full schedule of courses.
For my fiction, I modified this tiny rule/hack because honestly some days fiction feels harder than academic writing because it comes from some place deeper inside of me. When I’m stuck or blocked, I give myself permission to write just one sentence, or a handful of sentences, “so long as it moves the plot”. So long as there’s a hook there that makes me want to write the next sentence and so forth. It doesn’t have to be something major. It could just be a character decision to do or say something. Or it could be something in the scenery that needs to be utilised in the next passage. Whatever it is, it gets me going and I’ve completed quite a few short stories that got published, using this method to get me out of inertia.
These days I’m using this principle to get me out of a massive musical block and music crisis. I tell myself, so long as I practice 15 minutes (and it could just be scales or exercises), that is good enough, for now*. I give myself that permission. Well, today I started composing again, so I guess it works for music as well! Now, if I could only do the same thing for my art, I’d be a very happy woman. And yes, I have a rough idea of how I can get started again. Not a huge project, maybe just some very simple watercolours. I’ve been doing life drawing exercises off and on, but what I’m craving is a watercolour project. Stay tuned!
Incidentally, if you’re having some sort of reading block or if you’re terrified of reading very thick books (but really want to do so), you can apply the same principle. Got an 800 page book? Don’t think about 800 pages. Think about 800 divided by 5 or 10 or 20. 80 pages per sitting is manageable, right? If not, 40. Heck, people read way more than that while doomscrolling social media!! So, 10 sessions of 80 pages, or 20 sessions of 40 pages. Ta da. You have concentrated sessions of reading joy and a completed reading of that book you wanted to read but were too intimidated to do so.
If you’re stuck at something, I really hope this helps you the way it’s helped me and kept me going for so many years. And yes, I’m in the midst of a wonderful spurt of writing both academic and fiction-wise (and slowly getting back to my feet re music). Ergo, tried and true!
Till the next blog post,
xx
Anita
*No, I have not taken my Classical Guitar exams yet, this is not the source of the crisis. I’m nice, so I won’t say more than this. Hopefully taking it later this year when I’m back on my feet, musically speaking.
PS: Yes, I did remove the link towards purchasing Watermyth on the main page of the website. The links do still exist and can be accessed on my bibliography, but it’s been two years from publication and it just seemed sad/dated to have it on the main page. So, for now I work on other projects (inc. finalising Rosemirror). Trust that when Rosemirror is published I’m going to be shrieking about it from the mountaintops and promoting all the things! 💓