Life is crazy. We all know that.
Because life these days isn’t actually life: it’s just one big rat race.
Everyone is running from point A to point B as fast as they can; doing everything they can to stay focused on the prize; pushing themselves to run harder—faster. Never satisfied with where they’re at. Always wanting to be more, better, greater.
The end goal is what’s important—and anything that get’s in the way of achieving that goal is to be avoided.
Distractions? They destroy work ethic. Avoid them.
Breaks? They make you lazy. Avoid them.
Taking time to relax? When you could be working? You can relax when you’ve made it.
Living in the moment? And take your eyes off the goal? Never.
What a horrible way to live. What a soul sucking way to work. Who in their right mind would want to run in a race like that?
It sounds horrible and exhausting and… And it sounds… Oh…
… it sounds like the exact same way so many of us think about writing.
Great.
Photo courtesy of: flicker
I understand that the rat race mentality has its place: on a college campus, perhaps or in the every-day grind of Corporate America.
And I know that at times this mentality can be useful. I’m not sure how anyone could earn a bachelor’s degree in four years, or grow their business, or earn that big promotion, without giving themselves heart and soul to this routine.
I’ll even admit that this mentality is occasionally useful for getting certain writing projects done.
So my problem with the rat race isn’t the mentality itself, but the way that this mentality seeps into everything we do.
It corrupts everything that it touches. Straining relationships, turning relaxing vacations into stressful nightmares, destroying your overall ability to actually live your life, and sucking almost all of the pleasure out of your storytelling.
There are certain things in life that should never be a part of the rat race—and your stories are one of them.
You should be writing your stories for fun.
You should enjoy doing it.
It’s okay. Allow yourself to relax.
It’s not life or death here. Your advancement in this world, most likely, doesn’t depend on how fast or how well you write this thing—so here’s a crazy thought: have fun!
Just tell a story.
Don’t ruin this time by treating it like more work that you have to do—treat it like something that you get to experience.
Think of it this way: you wouldn’t go to Disneyland thinking that the trip would be worthless if you didn’t visit every single attraction in the park.
No. You go to Disneyland to enjoy the experience of letting go of the real world and immersing yourself in the worlds of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.
You go to feel the magic and have an incredible experience, not to stress about hitting every ride, show, character meet-and-greet, walkthrough, and specialty shop before the park closes.
You should treat your writing the same way.
Use it as a moment to breathe. Treat it like an escape from the stress of the day. Don’t make a goal out of something that will stress you out ( you don’t need to finish the story, or hit a certain word count, or spend a certain amount of time writing ) but simply make it your goal to experience the story.
Your stories will be sooo much better if you do away with the rat race mentality.
You don’t need to worry about distractions—your story is the distraction.
You can take as many breaks as you want—because telling your story is a break.
Should you take time to relax? Absolutely! You write better stories when you’re relaxed.
Can you live in the moment? Yes.
Actually, you can live in two moments at once!
In the first moment you can sip on a cup of tea, listen to the rain coming down outside of your window, breathe in the cool clean air, and feel like a boss as you work on your masterpiece—a very relaxed, very peaceful, very stress free, boss.
While at the same time you’re immersed in the story, watching as it unfolds before you, and writing away the baggage of your day.