So I’ve been writing for a very looonnnnggg time (don’t even try to count or I will add you to my next book and not in a nice way) and I think I’ve discovered what is the biggest enemy to writing.

I can hear a bunch of sleep deprived writers screaming “Sleep!” and a bunch of time crunched full-time worker/writers yelling, “Time!” and both of those are valid answers to the question but they are not the one.  The one with a capital O will make you go OOOOOOO!

Wait for it!

The biggest enemy to a writer is their own brain.

 

Go ahead and sit with that for a second.  I’ll wait.

 

Okay, now that your offending enemy has stopped going, “I am not!” Let me explain.

 

Our brains are mystical little creatures.  They do weird things like convince us of things that are not true and fill in blank spaces. Don’t belive me you can read about it in Scientific American here, or GoodTherapy.org here, or Phys.org here.

 

 

Our brain trick us all the time.  One of the most devastating ways our brains trick us to make up stories to justify why we do or don’t do something.  I wont’ go into a lot of detail because that’s not what this post is about but you can read Dr. Brene Brown’s take on this in her post The Most Dangerous Stories We Make Up.

 

Dr Brown’s Book Rising Strong is what first started me thinking about the stories I’ve told myself about being a writer.  If you’re a writer or any kind of artist you should read both Daring Greatly and Rising Strong by Dr. Brown.  They are fantastic books for everyone but I think if you want to be an artist in a world or internet trolls and shamers you need to read this books to help steel yourself.

Anyway I digress from my endorsement of Dr. Brown!

As I said I’m think about all the stories I’ve told myself over the years and I started to laugh at the ridiculousness of what my brain has told me through the years.  Please allow me to share some with you in no particular order:

 

I will never be a writer because I don’t have a great signature for signing books. – I shit you not that was a thought I actually had! What the hell does my signature have to do with writing?  I even practiced trying to change my signature – that’s how crazy that thought made me!
I will never be a writer because I can’t spell very well. – In school I failed A LOT of spelling tests.  A LOT.  I am a terrible speller. Well I say BID SPILLERS UNTIE!  Only a handful of people will not understand that previous statement and you are not my demographic – I’m just saying. Spelling has nothing to do with telling a story. Obviously, if the wrong words are used you want to correct that in the polishing phase but spelling should never be the reason a writer doesn’t write and it’s my brain’s fault I can’t spell so it’s negative self talk on this matter can just suck it!
I will never be a writer because I’m not pretty enough. – Oh hello deep seeded insecurity! It’s been like a whole 10 minutes since you interfered will me last.  Well sorry brain I AM HOT!  Well okay so sometimes I’m a hot mess but hot is still hot and it has nothing to do with being able to tell a story. Nope, not one bit. Never has and never will.

 

There are more but you get the point of the ridiculousness of what the brain can manufacture.

 

Then there’s writers “block”.  For 99% of my adult life I’ve been able to sit down at will and write stories.  Then one day my brain went, “Sorry there’s nothing here to see anymore.” Um, why?  I don’t know.  No one knows! Go ahead and Google it. No one knows what causes writers block and there’s no real solution to getting rid of it.  There should be federal dollars going to research that one because it is an epidemic!

 

For me it pretty much boiled down to I think I can’t so I can’t. Too much pressure after my last book left me feeling like I can’t top that.  Guess what? That’s my brain’s fault again.  It was me saying to myself, “If you think you can’t then don’t bother trying.”

 

How did I get over it.  Sounded something like this in my head.  “That was crap.”  “I don’t care I’m putting it on the page.” “That was really stupid.” “I can fix it later.”  “Why are you doing this? You’re obviously done as a writer.” “Shut up, I’m writing.” “Are you hearing me you suck.” “No, not listening to you.” “I’m not going away.” “I can’t here you. La, la, la, la, la!”

 

That isn’t even a joke.  It’s really what was happening. Negative talk was so loud in the beginning and then there was the fighter in me head down an plowing through.  It was painful.  It was ugly.  It was not a fair fight. And I’m still fighting.  I think I always will be, but deep down, to me, it’s worth it.

 

What lie did your brain tell you today?

The post Our Biggest Writing Enemy – Prepare for Battle appeared first on Stacy Verdick Case.