Awhile ago, I read this interesting advice from personal development and entrepreneurial coach Jonathan Fields:
Often the best way to solve a problem is to have a conversation with your future self. How do you do this without bending the space-time continuum? It’s simple, really. Have a seat in your favorite chair and close your eyes. Now imagine walking into a bare room, with plain white walls with a small table and two folding chairs facing across from each other. Sit down in the chair closest to you. Now, in walks your future self 10 years from now. S/he sits across from you and explains that s/he’s there to answer whatever questions you have about the problems you’re facing. Go ahead and begin firing. Ask him/her whatever you want and take advantage of a more experienced version of you.
A clever, handy technique that probably stems from Neuro-Linguistic Programming. I originally classified this as a personal development tool. Which it is, but it may also be a great writing tool in disguise…
How Would _____ Write This?
How would a more experienced version of yourself write this? (This being whatever ad or announcement or scene or headline you’re trying to craft.)
This may sound like a silly exercise, but if you approach it earnestly and give it time you’ll find that our minds are a lot more powerful than we think. As with freewriting, novel approaches to brainstorming can produce novel results. A large part of creativity may simply be getting out of our own way and letting our subconscious run wild. In this case, simply asking a “better” version of yourself to solve the problem may be enough.
Of course, our future self may not be the only resource at our disposal. Given enough familiarity, we may be able to ask other writers.
I’ve read a biography of John Steinbeck and a handful of his novels, letters and journals. I’m confident I could conjure up a young Steinbeck if I wanted to.
Same for Seth Godin. I’ve read his blog faithfully for years, read many of his books and listened to at least a dozen presentations he’s given (now available on the web). That’s not to say I’m as smart as Seth Godin. But that’s not the point, either. What matters is using my knowledge of him to produce work that’s better than what I could do “on my own”.
Of course, even if you use this technique, the work you produce is still your own. And if the work is better, that’s quite the confidence boost. “Look what you wrote. You did this once; you can do it again.” Sometimes a little time travel is all it takes.
Sometimes the hardest part about writing isn’t finishing. It’s starting. Computers, for all their value, exacerbate this problem. And the Internet…terrible, terrible, terrible when it comes to productivity.
We know the solutions. Single task, single touch, to do lists and so on. But sometimes it’s a challenge just getting to the point you can use these hacks. How can you skip from sitting down right to working without losing 5 to 10 to 20 minutes a pop checking in and clicking around? (That time really adds up.)
There’s willpower. But that’s a limited resource. (And pushing yourself through a productive day might mean an evening full of raids on the fridge. You don’t want to rob Peter to pay Paul.)
A more helpful approach, oddly enough, is to slow down. Put a list of focusing questions between you and your work. I’ve found this works best if I keep a stack of 3×5 cards on my desk, right in my way so I’ll be sure to see them every time I sit down.
How it works
1. When you sit down to work, take a card. Write your TASK at the top. Keep it simple. This might be “Ad” or “Brochure” or “Brainstorm”. Just a little note to point you in the right direction.
2. Next, write GOAL and add what you’d like to accomplish. Actually write “GOAL”, then whatever you goal is. For example: “GOAL: Outline site map for intranet.” or “GOAL: Brainstorm ad headlines.”
3. Next, note your DEADLINE. Include both the time you’ll stop working (e.g “3:15 pm”) and the length of time (2 hours). And be realistic. Your mind and body naturally flow in 90-120 minute rhythms. You can sandwich multiple work sessions around mini-breaks, but keeping your units of measurement under two hours helps keep your work manageable and your spirits up.
4. Next, write VALUE and clarify exactly how this work will benefit you. Putting this in writing is a powerful way to energize yourself, especially on difficult, mundane or lengthy projects. Maybe the work is its own reward. Maybe the work is dull but helps someone else. Maybe it’s good for your career. Maybe it’s a good way to build your skills. Tap into the why.
5. Next, decide how you’re going to PUSH yourself. Life is too short to coast. Find a way to improve your skills each time you sit down. That could mean digging deeper for more creative solutions to an ad. Or trying to humanize your copy. Or working to craft funnier dialogue. Or if the work is rote, at least try to work faster so you can finish earlier and focus on something you do enjoy.
6. Finally, decide what you’re going to do on your BREAK. Write it down. Pick something you’ll actually enjoy. It’s easier to focus and push yourself when you know you have a break coming at a set time and you’ll be doing something fun.
Now start working.
Try it
Altogether, this activity only takes a minute or two. And while it’s not necessary, that minute or two helps you start working faster, better and happier. And by tapping both your rational and emotional side, you can boost your productivity without sapping your willpower.
My wife proposed that we brainstorm and share a list of 101 goals we wanted to accomplish over the next 1,001 days. And we did. We pledged ourselves to 10 shared goals and an additional 45 individual goals. Ambitious, exciting and fun.
But while I’ve accomplished some big things, I recently noticed that I’ve only been able to cross off about a third of my 45 personal goals. Most of the goals, which would only take a day or two to complete, have slipped through the cracks.
Why is that? Why have so many fun, motivating and generally easy tasks remained undone?
Last year…
I was committed to crossing more items off my list. I drew up a strategic plan for all of the goals I wanted to accomplish in 2010. I started with 2-3 major areas I wanted to focus on (my writing chops, my writing career and my fitness). Then I found 5-6 metrics by which I would measure my success (outlines written, new clients signed, pounds lost, etc.). From there I came up with strategic and tactical objectives to reach those metrics.
And I did alright. I didn’t accomplish everything on the list and some plans morphed during the year, but 2010 was easily my most productive and professionally satisfying year yet. Still, a lot of goals, especially the smaller ones, slipped through the cracks.
Why is that?
A New Approach
My 101 Goals in 1,001 Days list is a motivational strategic plan, but strategy without action is fluff. Last year I boosted my gains by bringing the strategy down to the tactical level, but that didn’t optimize my results.
The solution?
This year, I’m bringing the strategy all the way down to the operational level. This isn’t as complicated as it sounds. For example, I want to create 12 spec ads for 12 major brands. Great. That’s one a month. What days will I work on those? I want to add 20 pounds of muscle. Great. That’s about 1.6 pounds per month. What days will I go to the gym? What day will I design a training regime for bulking up? I want to stay more in touch with some of my old friends. Great. I can do that with two phone calls a month. Whom will I call on which days? I want to boulder at Vedauwoo with my brother. Great. Pick a date and mark the calendar.
Big life goals can be overwhelming, but when you bring them down to the operational level, they feel almost easy. Adding 20 pounds of muscle sounds daunting. Adding 1.6 is no problem. Staying in touch sounds like a hassle. Making two phone calls a month is a pleasure.
Will I complete everything on my list? Probably not. Life has a way of throwing curve balls.
Will I complete more than if I just waited for the ideal time to act? Certainly.
Life is like writing.
You can’t wait for your muse to show up. You have to chase her down.
The best way to read an author is start to finish. Grab a good biography (or two), dig up his letters if you can, collect all of his works and even toss in a few critical essays. Then start at the beginning of his life and read through to the end.
Reading this way is a much different experience. It adds depth and value to works you may otherwise skip or not enjoy. In many ways, reading this way is less about the prose than the writer. Sure, this biographical and historical approach may skew your interpretations of the work — and the author may wish you hadn’t — but there’s much to be gained.
Last night, I finally finished Raymond Carver’s collected poems, All of Us. With 300+ poems over the final decade of his life, the book feels like this start-to-finish approach in microcosm. The period encompasses his recovery after near death from alcoholism to his actual death from lung cancer at 50 years old. During that time, he sobered up, fell in love with (and married) the poet Tess Gallagher and found peace with his past and himself via his writing.
The story is so sad. Still, Carver resists the urge to complain or blame. He is clearly scared and grieving, but he finds comfort in his work, in his writing. Many of his poems are about writing. Writing as a form of meditation, a method for experiencing and interpreting one’s life. And in that a way to fully engage with one’s life even when the picture isn’t pretty.
For example:
Sunday Night
Make use of the things around you.
This light rain
Outside the window, for one.
This cigarette between my fingers,
These feet on the couch.
The faint sound of rock-and-roll,
The red Ferrari in my head.
The woman bumping
Drunkenly around the kitchen…
Put it all in,
Make use
Finished with All of Us, I felt the urge to return to Coleman Barks’ translations of Jelaluddin Rumi’s poems. Rumi has always helped me deepen my own experience and interpretation of life. I opened The Essential Rumi at random and found this poem:
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
If you’re a creative who always seems to have too many ideas and too little time, read Scott Belsky’s Making Ideas Happen. (Actually, first read Seth Godin’s The Dip — don’t worry, it’s very short — then read Scott Belsky’s Making Ideas Happen.) I used to really struggle turning my inspiration into finished works, but I’m getting better at it. For me, making my projects public and structured provides both motivation and direction. I now look for ways to build these characteristics into all my creative endeavors.
I would have loved to have this book 10 years ago, but as it is, there’s still plenty of value here for me, a reformed procrastinator. After all, even us productive types are always looking for ways to get even more done.
To give you a taste, here’s the 17 ideas from the book that hit me the hardest:
Someone with average creativity and great organization will have a greater impact than a creative genius with no organization skills.
No action steps = no action = no results.
Throw out your reference material, if possible; translate as much as you can into Action Steps.
Energy is your most valuable commodity.
Compromise is a necessity; choose the five most important projects to you and focus on those.
Select several Action Steps to tackle each day; don’t go to bed until they’re done.
Through windows of non-stimulation, you will reclaim the power to focus on what projects are most important.
It is only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.
Constraints (deadlines, budgets, briefs) help us manage our energy and execute ideas.
Surrounding yourself with visual proof of progress (e.g. “Done walls”) can help you focus.
Perspiration is the best form of differentiation.
Other people always play a role in pushing your ideas forward.
Sharing ideas increases the odds of gaining momentum and making ideas happen.
When you make a mistake, continue down that path a little way. The alternative perspective can be hard to get.
Leaders of any creative endeavor should focus first on only the things that they can do — things that simply can’t be delegated to others.
Use happiness, games/fun and success to motivate creative teams.
A.A. Milne: “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience — well, that comes from bad judgment.”
As long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to write books. I grew up surrounded by books and always feel like I’m coming home when I enter a bookstore. I’m sad that I’ve come of age as the publishing industry is falling apart and reading as a past-time is plummeting.
This is part of the reason why I’ve chosen to focus on screenwriting. (The other part being that my brain is well-wired for the creative and structural challenges of screenwriting.) And yet, as I pursue that career, the film industry is struggling, too. Video games are booming, technology is leapfrogging and tastes are shifting. I imagine video games will eventually conquer the action/adventure, thriller/mystery, western and sci-fi/horror markets. What’s the point of watching AVATAR when you can experience it? Why watch a CSI team when you can join one?
People will still want stories filled with romance, comedy and drama. (My niche — family-friendly action comedies — should fare alright.) But these already play fine on the small screen. In some cases, maybe even better.
Of course, the TV and the computer and the Internet will soon merge. It will all become multimedia content, on demand, anywhere. Will this free content to take the form and length best suited for it, or will our entropic attention spans reduce everything to clips and soundbites?
Where does the lowly book fit into this?
Much of fine art has become decoration. Classical music, background music. But literature, being a time consuming and highly-involved experience, doesn’t have this type of fall back. Novels take time and attention and diligence, and these are disappearing commodities. Will the next generation, for whom email is too slow, take the time to enjoy the sublime magic realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or rich naturalism of Emile Zola?
Sure, reading (and thus writing) will always be a major part of the web. But this isn’t art. (One saving grace in this new media order is that talent will matter. Quality writing will even become more of a competitive advantage just as quality design, another tool for navigating this informational overload, is fast becoming essential.)
Perhaps a new type of literature will emerge. One loyal to the art of writing but attuned to the interconnected, interactive nature of the web. What would it look like? Will we see a resurgence in the serialized novel? Will flash fiction blossom? Some new form? I hope so. I have a lot of stories to tell, and it would be a shame if everyone was too distracted to listen.
And I hope that books live on, too. Niche products for aficionados with the necessary passion and devotion. Books can become the vinyl of the publishing industry. Just not the 8-tracks.
Do you ever feel like the whole world is conspiring to convince you to get an iPhone? I feel this way all the time, and it pisses me off. Mostly because part of me really wants one.
Let’s face it: smart phones are cool. And non-touchscreen phones are so 2008.
But they’re very expensive. Not only do the phones cost big money, but you have to pay extra each month for data service. That’s hundreds of dollars a year on top of the already high costs of cell phone service and a high-speed internet connection. And what do you get for this? Constant access to your email wherever you are. A portable to-do list and calender. A music player. The ability to surf the internet at stoplights. Thousands of little programs to keep you busy in those few unhurried moments you have in your day. Maybe it’s just me, but that doesn’t seem like much.
But cost is actually the least of my worries. Smart phones lower your quality of life. I’ll say it again: smart phones lower your quality of life.
Think of it this way: What are the most important things in your life? If you can only do a few things each day, what should you be sure to do?
Here are my answers:
Spend more uninterrupted, in-the-moment quality time with my daughter.
Spend more uninterrupted, in-the-moment quality time with my wife.
Spend more uninterrupted, in-the-moment quality time writing.
Spend more uninterrupted, in-the-moment quality time by myself.
Spend more uninterrupted, in-the-moment quality time outdoors, having adventures, experiencing new things.
Spend more time helping other people.
This is what a good life looks like to me. And a smart phone would detract from all of these.
What about the benefits I mentioned? Well, I don’t need more email in my life; I need less. And won’t a folded piece of paper in my pocket be just as convenient, if not more so, than a digital to-do app? We all know that headphones are bad for your eardrums. And do any of us really need more time to surf the web? To what end? Think of all the great achievements in history that occurred without the help of Google Reader.
Yes, I like blogs. I write for two at the moment and am starting a third soon. I’ve learned a lot from the Internet. But we need to be honest about the limits of real time and the differences between consuming information and getting things done. What’s keeping you from succeeding at the things that matter to you? Is it lack of information? Is it organization? Is it focus? The Internet should improve your life, not just fill up your down time.
The problems go deeper still. Studies have shown that filling your free moments with digital stimulation (like web surfing, texting and music) actually decreases your ability to learn, solve problems and create new memories. By whipping out the phone and checking in throughout the day, you’re actually decreasing your ability to find solutions to the big challenges in your work and personal life and making your days less memorable. Not just because surfing the web isn’t memorable. Constantly being plugged in doesn’t give your brain the downtime it needs to process and store memories. There’s just too much new paperwork coming in to do any filing, so to speak.
Talk about a vicious cycle: you get bored so you surf the web; surfing the web makes your life more boring. iPhones, cool as they are, just facilitate this downward spiral. All the while your days disappear in a haze.
Think about the implications of this. Your memory is your life! On the first page of his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned while Editing My Life, Donald Miller writes,
The saddest thing about life is you don’t remember half of it. You don’t even remember half of half of it. Not even a tiny percentage, if you want to know the truth. I have this friend Bob who writes down everything he remembers. If he remembers dropping an ice cream cone on his lap when he was seven, he’ll write it down. The last time I talked to Bob, he had written more than five hundred pages of memories. He’s the only guy I know who remembers his life. He said he captures memories, because if he forgets them, it’s as though they didn’t happen; it’s as though he hadn’t lived the parts he doesn’t remember.
The opportunity cost of being plugged in is gigantic and terrifying!
So you have two options: buy a smart phone and marshall all your self-control to only use it rarely (because even if you only use it strategically, if you use it regularly you’ll still suffer the consequences). Or you can just not buy one. Whatever is so important that you have to check it now, it can wait. I’ve found it’s a lot easier to not buy junk food than resist the candy dish on the kitchen counter. Saying no to an iPhone is not cool, but it does give me more quality time for the people and activities I love and helps me remember these precious, fleeting moments.
Who would? It’s a terrible title. Uninspiring and, I’ve come to believe, limiting.
Copywriter: A writer of copy. It just sounds mechanical and formulaic. How can you be original when you’re writing copy? Copywriter: “Just add words.” I’ve actually been told to do this by a client. Not only is it terrible marketing, it’s demoralizing, too.
Certainly there’s something better…
The Heights of Design
I’ve been studying graphic designers for a month now. At the top of their form, designers are a fascinating lot. Very creative, astute businesspeople. Driven iconoclasts. Independent, confident and social artists. At its best and fullest, design isn’t about filling space on a page, it’s about creating an experience, shaping culture and making life more interesting.
Design stretches from the graphic design in advertising into product design, architecture, interior design, interactive and experience design, brand identity and art. At these higher levels, designers are capable of great, meaningful and lasting work. And it’s interesting that the higher you climb up the design tree, the more important the idea. Put another way, the difference between a master designer and a novice designer is more about vision and taste than technical skill.
Which makes me wonder…
Do writers have equivalent aspirations?
I hadn’t thought about it in these terms before.
A copywriter can become a Creative Director and advance up the corporate ladder, even venturing into brand identity and product design. Talented copywriters are often great strategists; in fact, some of my best work as a “copywriter” has been in brand identity and marketing strategy.
Writers can also pursue art — writing plays or poems or novels. Writers can be entertainers, be it as screenwriters or satirists or storytellers in a variety of media. Another option is education: journalists, pundits, scholars or explainers. These are the obvious career paths.
Maybe there are others.
Designers manipulate our senses. Mostly sight, but also sound, smell, touch and taste. Writers manipulate story. Whether real or fictional, writers organize people and events to create compelling narratives. This could be Moby Dick or the copy in the mailer for a special weight loss shake. Moby Dick certainly requires greater skill, but the fundamental action is the same: Coming up with a story and writing it down. However, perhaps it’s time for writers to liberate themselves from the written word and apply their skills to real people and real events.
I’m a Story Designer.
I can write your story, but how I sequence the words is only one part of my talent. The other part, the greater part, is how I shape your story. How I take the random and overwhelming jumble that is real life and whittle it down into a taut narrative that not only makes sense but produces meaning and emotion, even change.
I do this in my fiction and screenwriting. But I also do it in my “copywriting”. I help clients shape their stories, but with marketing strategy and brand identity, even product design and experience design, the storytelling comes to life. Instead of writing with words, I’m writing with real people and real events. This can create meaning and emotion for both the employees and their customers as well as change in the bottom line.
Of course, we don’t have to stop at the corporate level. A writer’s story skills can benefit humanity, too. We can create meaning and emotion and change at the community level, even globally. This is what tribe-building is all about. Tribes are more than just groups of people with similar interests sharing links and chatting about select topics. Tribes are about narrative, movement, change, growth and meaning. It’s story design writ large.
Maybe our identity as writers is distracting us from telling greater stories?
I’m not sure, but I do know this: Don’t get too hung up on the words. The higher you go as a writer, the more important the story and the less important the words. After all, the greatest stories we tell — our marriages, our children, our careers — don’t really have words at all.
Every seven years, successful designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his studio and takes a year-long sabbatical. The renewed energy and creativity he brings to his work upon his return more than makes up for any missed opportunities and the break in cash flow. If you haven’t seen it, his presentation at the TED conference is worth watching:
I’m sold.
As a writer, the benefits of travel, exploring new cultures and pursuing other interests are obvious. As a marketer, I can see how the horizon-expanding effects of a sabbatical could more than compensate for the missed office hours. As I’ve said before, in many cases, we can do more and better work if we occasionally, even systematically, step away from our desks. Focus and drive are great, but too much can lead to myopia. It’s a short trip from there to mediocrity, boredom and burnout.
Why is the sabbatical such a crazy notion? The benefits are huge. And it’s not all sitting on the beach drinking daiquiris. In fact, for the driven creative, I’d argue that lounging on the beach for more than a day would be boring. Given more free time, I’d be racing to try new things. I can’t even sleep in on the weekends because there’s so much I want to write and read and do. I start drooling when I think about having six months free to write.
If you agree, then join me: make it a priority, plan accordingly and enjoy. I look forward to hearing about your adventures.
What type of sabbatical to take?
Of course, once you clear your schedule for a few days, weeks, months or more, you have to figure out how to best use that time. Travel is the obvious choice, but not the only one. The way I see it, there are actually four types of sabbaticals:
The Education Sabbatical – Most professionals reach a profitable skill level and stop growing. Why spend valuable time and energy on practice, the thinking goes, when you could be making good money? The bold answer is that practice — unpaid, mentally-draining, confidence-shaking practice — is the only way to get better and raise your game. Claude Monet took time to travel and practice his art when he was young, publicly-scorned and desperately-poor, and he still took time to practice when he was old, respected and free of his money woes. Throughout his life, his commitment to his art remained a priority.
As a writer, you could use a sabbatical for an intensive study of an author or style. You could expand your craft with daily lessons or work with a mentor or writing club to try new things.
The Production Sabbatical – Eliminate distractions and allow yourself to dive completely into your work. When I moved to LA in 2002, I had a month between vacations with nothing to do. It didn’t make sense to hit the job search before I left for a couple weeks, so I had ample time to write. In three weeks, I finished a 180 page rough draft of a screenplay. Each day I did nothing but write, eat, sleep and take walks when I needed a break. I had nothing to worry about save my story and produced a draft much faster and better than I could have done if I had to squeeze the work around other obligations. The whole time was a joy.
The production sabbatical, which need only be as long as your project calls for, is grossly underused by writers and businesses. Distracted by daily chores and admin, we’re constantly pulled out of our work. To get back into the flow takes time. Over and over, we lose a lot of time. Put it to better use by going away and surrendering yourself to the story.
The Rejuvenation Sabbatical – Burnout is a common problem for creatives. And workers’ compensation doesn’t cover damages to your muse. You need your own insurance policy — time off to pursue your passions and interests (all of them; not just the few on your job description) and remind yourself why you’re a creative in the first place. This is what Stefan did his first year and his results speak for themselves.
As a writer, this might mean finally writing that novel you’ve been threatening to write. It could also mean exploring the diverse influences that used to excite you but which you never seem to have time for anymore. From fishing to yoga to art history to gardening to raves, get back in touch with what makes you feel alive.
The Expansion Sabbatical – Travel is the easiest route to broaden your horizons and comes with a long literary history. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Stein and the rest of the Lost Generation traveled to Europe for a fresh perspective. John Steinbeck and Jack Kerouac both crisscrossed the United States multiple times to explore the land and people. Elizabeth Gilbert recently turned her travel sabbatical into the bestselling Eat, Pray, Love.
As a writer, exploring new cultures is a valuable way of learning to see the biases, assumptions and paradigms that go unquestioned in your local area. Often the farther you go from home, the more you can broaden your vision. Of course, there are still many things you can do locally that you’ve never done before. What subcultures you can experience? Whether you’re across the globe or across town, the goal is to gradually make your world a bigger and bigger place.
About pages, ads, apologies, blogs, brochures, bucket lists, checks (not my favorite), comic books, contracts, curricula, ebooks, editorial plans, emails, essays, explanations (alas, occasionally long-winded), flyers, “I quit” (in red crayon on the back of a kids menu on my last night at Red Lobster), jokes (mostly puns), landing pages, loglines, love letters, magazines, my name (in the snow), newsletters, novels (well, part of one), parodies, poems, press releases, rants, sales letters, screenplays (three dramas and two comedies), self-improvement guides, short stories, songs (for my daughter), taglines, textbooks, thank you notes, treatments, tweets, websites and wedding vows.
Things I haven't written yet:
Acceptance speeches, children’s books, exposés, fan fiction, graffiti, legislature, letters to the editor, obituaries, prescriptions, ransom notes and VCR instructions (might have missed my opportunity there).
