Two keys to productivity: perception & permission
At the Willamette Writers conference this weekend, I spoke with a lovely group of poets about productivity. As we were discussing some of their questions and concerns, it struck me that there are two, key underlying concepts to everything I believe is critical to sustaining a productive writing life.
The first is perception. Productivity is possible when we notice with fresh (and friendly) eyes who we are and how we operate. Where do we stall and when do we take flight? What are we doing when we have our best ideas? How do we waste time? What writing do we admire? What do we want so badly what we haven't even articulated it yet? That old adage advises, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But so many of us are so entrenched in our unconscious ways of doing and being that we have no idea what's broken, and therefore are not in a position to intelligently decide what needs fixing. How can you meet or celebrate achieving goals you haven't defined or measured?
Once you're working with a clear picture of how you write (and how you don't), it's time to do something radical: give yourself permission to be you. That's right. Just because you read once that writers are supposed to write first thing in the morning doesn't mean that this is your flow time. Maybe most poets write only poetry, but you span multiple genres: no problem. Perhaps you think you should write faster, be less stiff in front of an audience, sharpen your pencil more often. Whatever the story is about what you should be doing, let it go if it's not in alignment with what you now know about yourself.
(A quick aside: While driving the other day, I caught myself in an inner-chastising monologue about this odd thought–Other people must be better at being happy than I am. I was being very clear with myself that I was a big disappointment on the happiness-maintenance scale. Then some part of me–I like to think it's the Productive Writer part I've been cultivating all these years–interrupted this negative self talk with the challenge: Well, so what? Let's say that other people are actually better at being happy. What difference does that make? This is who you are. What do you intend to make of it?)
What unfriendly things do you say to yourself that make you feel unwelcome? I hereby grant you poetic license to release the oppression of who you believe you are supposed to be as a writer. No need to force yourself into some idea of a "right way" if it's not your right way. Your job is to honor your process, your rhythms, your voice by finding ways to put them in service to your writing life. Give yourself permission to be exactly who you are. The welcomed writing self feels far more receptive to fine-tuning systems, habits, and craft.
If you'd like some support with bringing these concepts into play, you can download my free Productivity Power Tools workbook from this blog's center column, under the books. This workbook companion to The Productive Writer is designed to help you perceive how you operate, decide what you want from your writing and publishing, and give yourself permission to be exactly who you are. The paradox is this: when you welcome the writer you are today, you clear a space in which the writer you always wanted to be can come forward.
