Ask the Author: Tim Birchard
Answered Questions (3)
Tim Birchard
Writer's block is a luxury for those who are waiting for inspiration to come to them.
When I don't feel like writing... when I don't feel "inspired", it's my responsibility to GET inspired. I am the only one who can light my fuse.
Therefore, I deal with writer's block by writing. By suspending judgment of my writing. By creating, as Anne Lamott puts it, a "sh*tty first draft".
That which creates the 'block' is the ego, making its demands about outcome. When I drop into the heart and simply write for the love of writing, for the sake of writing, releasing any and all attachment to outcome, then I chase down inspiration. Grab it by the tail. Hoist it up onto my shoulders and take it for a ride.
Unless all ten of my fingers are broken, I have no excuse not to write. And even then, there's dictation software. So until my body dies, I have no excuse not to write. Only the responsibility to make an active, conscious choice: to write, or not to write.
When I don't feel like writing... when I don't feel "inspired", it's my responsibility to GET inspired. I am the only one who can light my fuse.
Therefore, I deal with writer's block by writing. By suspending judgment of my writing. By creating, as Anne Lamott puts it, a "sh*tty first draft".
That which creates the 'block' is the ego, making its demands about outcome. When I drop into the heart and simply write for the love of writing, for the sake of writing, releasing any and all attachment to outcome, then I chase down inspiration. Grab it by the tail. Hoist it up onto my shoulders and take it for a ride.
Unless all ten of my fingers are broken, I have no excuse not to write. And even then, there's dictation software. So until my body dies, I have no excuse not to write. Only the responsibility to make an active, conscious choice: to write, or not to write.
Tim Birchard
Just write. Do not worry about ideas of 'success'... or of being 'good enough'. Start writing something. Anything at all. Something you're passionate about. Let it come from your heart. Play to your strengths. Write what you know about. What you care about.
The ideas of success and failure... they're all simply ideas. They can influence emotional states... making you feel happy, sad, angry, or scared... but at the end of the day, they're simply thoughts.
Write every day. Write when you feel like it. Write when you do not feel like it. Write when you feel unstoppable. And write when you feel don't.
Make lots and lots of mistakes. Set a goal for a certain amount of pages written, and expect to make lots of mistakes. Let yourself realize and understand that making mistakes is PART of the process, not separate from it. Make mistakes your friend. The more mistakes you're willing to make, the more you will write... the deeper you can dig... the better your chances of learning something about yourself and others.
Let yourself be vulnerable. Let your brokenness shine through. Let yourself be seen for the human being that you are. Let your humanity be revealed.
Write as though you are the King or Queen of the world and you have everything going for you. Write as if you are upon death's threshold and only have a minute left to live. Be the most selfish person in the world and write for yourself. Be the most generous person in the world and share your gold with the world... give it away freely through the words on the page.
Just write. Start writing today. And give what you have to give today. When you've got tons to give, offer it up. And when you barely have anything at all left to give, offer that up, as well. Leave it all on the battlefield of the empty page. If you're not bleeding (metaphorically speaking), cursing, spitting, howling at the moon and questioning your own sanity, then you're not digging deeply enough.
And when tomorrow comes, do it all over again.
Most importantly, when it is finished, offer your writing to the world. Step away from it, release it, surrender it and know that you have written. For better or worse, whether anyone considers it a 'success' or not, know that you have succeeded in writing. You will find mistakes. Live with them. It will be imperfect. Embrace it. Your writing will be flawed to perfection, just like you.
Surrender your need to be seen as perfect. It's the ego's way of keeping you from doing anything at all of value in this world.
Just write.
The ideas of success and failure... they're all simply ideas. They can influence emotional states... making you feel happy, sad, angry, or scared... but at the end of the day, they're simply thoughts.
Write every day. Write when you feel like it. Write when you do not feel like it. Write when you feel unstoppable. And write when you feel don't.
Make lots and lots of mistakes. Set a goal for a certain amount of pages written, and expect to make lots of mistakes. Let yourself realize and understand that making mistakes is PART of the process, not separate from it. Make mistakes your friend. The more mistakes you're willing to make, the more you will write... the deeper you can dig... the better your chances of learning something about yourself and others.
Let yourself be vulnerable. Let your brokenness shine through. Let yourself be seen for the human being that you are. Let your humanity be revealed.
Write as though you are the King or Queen of the world and you have everything going for you. Write as if you are upon death's threshold and only have a minute left to live. Be the most selfish person in the world and write for yourself. Be the most generous person in the world and share your gold with the world... give it away freely through the words on the page.
Just write. Start writing today. And give what you have to give today. When you've got tons to give, offer it up. And when you barely have anything at all left to give, offer that up, as well. Leave it all on the battlefield of the empty page. If you're not bleeding (metaphorically speaking), cursing, spitting, howling at the moon and questioning your own sanity, then you're not digging deeply enough.
And when tomorrow comes, do it all over again.
Most importantly, when it is finished, offer your writing to the world. Step away from it, release it, surrender it and know that you have written. For better or worse, whether anyone considers it a 'success' or not, know that you have succeeded in writing. You will find mistakes. Live with them. It will be imperfect. Embrace it. Your writing will be flawed to perfection, just like you.
Surrender your need to be seen as perfect. It's the ego's way of keeping you from doing anything at all of value in this world.
Just write.
Tim Birchard
For years... decades, actually, I've been walking around asking other people, "So when are you going to write a book?!" Instead of taking responsibility for my own need, desire, drive, and talent, I kept projecting it outward, onto those around me.
Then one Monday evening in December of 2014, while sitting in circle with my men's group (mankindproject.org), someone asked all of us, "What's the one 'crazy' thing you've been meaning to do in your life but have not yet done-- that you will do in 2015?"
Without even thinking, I blurted out, "write a book!" And then I made a plan, right then and there, to write two pages of SOMETHING every day, for 180 days. According to that plan, by May 31, 2015 at midnight, I would theoretically have 300 pages of grist for the mill. And at that point, I would begin the curating process to determine any recurring themes that could be developed.
The first 100 pages were simply me complaining about the past, the present... the weather. But around page 100, something else began to come through. I would close my eyes and let my fingers fly across the keyboard, simply typing the phrases and sentences that appeared before my mind's eye. As if I were taking dictation.
I reached 300 pages two months early and started the editing process, slashing and burning anything that was simply my ego-based rantings. I left a lot on the cutting room floor. Still, somehow, the book was released on May 1, 2015, self-published by Booklocker.com, Inc. I never would have guessed that it could happen so quickly!
The key for me was to write even when my eyes were closing and I was yawning... even when I was staring blankly at the screen before me... even when it came down to writing sentences like, "I have no clue what to write about right now!", just to get the hands moving and the thoughts flowing. Consistency was the key. And two pages a day, rain or shine. I was not perfect in meeting this goal, but I crossed the finish line nonetheless. And I'm very proud of that.
Then one Monday evening in December of 2014, while sitting in circle with my men's group (mankindproject.org), someone asked all of us, "What's the one 'crazy' thing you've been meaning to do in your life but have not yet done-- that you will do in 2015?"
Without even thinking, I blurted out, "write a book!" And then I made a plan, right then and there, to write two pages of SOMETHING every day, for 180 days. According to that plan, by May 31, 2015 at midnight, I would theoretically have 300 pages of grist for the mill. And at that point, I would begin the curating process to determine any recurring themes that could be developed.
The first 100 pages were simply me complaining about the past, the present... the weather. But around page 100, something else began to come through. I would close my eyes and let my fingers fly across the keyboard, simply typing the phrases and sentences that appeared before my mind's eye. As if I were taking dictation.
I reached 300 pages two months early and started the editing process, slashing and burning anything that was simply my ego-based rantings. I left a lot on the cutting room floor. Still, somehow, the book was released on May 1, 2015, self-published by Booklocker.com, Inc. I never would have guessed that it could happen so quickly!
The key for me was to write even when my eyes were closing and I was yawning... even when I was staring blankly at the screen before me... even when it came down to writing sentences like, "I have no clue what to write about right now!", just to get the hands moving and the thoughts flowing. Consistency was the key. And two pages a day, rain or shine. I was not perfect in meeting this goal, but I crossed the finish line nonetheless. And I'm very proud of that.
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