Live sales events are anxiety-producing, risky, and draining on time and energy. I like doing them a lot.
That may seem like a strange thing given how much they cost me in time and energy. But live events give me a chance to meet readers and chat with them in person. Some readers tell me they want to write, or are writing. I want to encourage that, especially with young writers.
This post is inspired by conversations with some aspiring writers at Scanfair, my last sales event of 2024, in case one of you finds it useful.
One thing lots of people agree on: Writing is hard.
It’s hard when you have notifications, texts, emails, and other things as constant distractions poking at your brain. You can leave your attention open to be prodded, or you can focus. Writing requires focus. The world demands a lack of focus.
For some people, that means “Writing is hard” is the end of the story. For me, that means “writing is based on choices.”
Those distractive elements competing for attention make writing difficult even for me. But I keep on writing, so it is possible. As long as I use the right tactics to get ahead of the distractions.
Telling us we could approach writing in many different ways, Stephen King wrote one prohibition: “Do not come to the page lightly.” I think he meant take your storytelling seriously. But I suggest another meaning, and that is not to come to the page expecting your brain to be able to focus with zero preparation.
How are you going to deal with all those distractions? How do you prevent that sensation of being scatterbrained?
Here are a few things I do to keep on task. If I come to the page lightly (i.e., if I don’t do these things), my writing session will not go well:
- Sit down and write first thing in the morning. Before other things compete for attention.
- When writing, always be writing rather than thinking about what to write or staring at a blank page.
- Tune out the world and don’t let it in until my writing session is done.*
*Stephen King wrote about tuning out the world with loud music like Metallica. I can’t do that because the music is distracting. I use white noise or something like this instead. For me, that’s effective.
Attention and focus can be fragile things. Smart phones, social media, and the idea that we should all be within instant contact are all attention killers. And in a world full of things breaking our focus, it’s no surprise that writing is hard.
Hard but not impossible. Keep on keepin’ on.