Month: May 2016

Why Do You Pursue The Creative Life?

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Uncategorized3 Comments

If I told you I was going to pursue a job that offered virtually no money, could occasionally feel like mental torture, and have the ability to ruin me emotionally for days on end, but I’d be happy, what would you think?

Writing is more than that but it feels like a grey-sky filled plod from time to time. Then after struggling in the dark you see a ray a sunshine, for a minute, and its enough to keep going.

Recently I’ve has two big wins in the writing realm. I’ll share more on them in later posts but I cannot help the fact that writing looks more like the pie chart below (borrowed from Austin Kleon’s book Show Your Work)

So, why do I keep writing?

Artist WayThat is an excellent question. For me, I guess I enjoy it. Yes, even the torture.

I’m not a Navy Seal or professional athlete but I think I get them now more than I did before writing got difficult. It’s not about the trials its about what comes after. And for me that pay off is worth the effort in the end.

How about you? Why do you write or pursue your dream?

Goal Setting For the Time-Starved Writer

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Personal Development, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Early on in my marriage, my wife would laugh at me when I listed my goals for the evening.

Read 40 pages of a book, watch a movie, go for a run, do all of our laundry, wash the dishes, and maybe rearrange a bedroom or two. Then have some friends over for dinner once we are done.

Seriously. I could get a out of hand.

Courtesy Unsplash

 

Nearly eleven years later I am better at adjusting my expectations, but still have difficulty setting daily goals. I now have four kids and an ever-growing mound of responsibilities.

What I struggled with, and what I am guess you do from time to time, is wanting immediate results. And when they don’t happen on my schedule, having a good attitude and trying again tomorrow.

If you are a writer, or a creative of any sort, this desire for immediate results can mean frustration and angst and a mercurial mood that can ruin or severly strain your relationships.

I’ve found one of the best ways to avoid feeling like a failure and actually accomplishing my daily goals is to make them realistic and remind myself that I am working for the long haul, neither of which is easy.

So my encouragement to you is to do what you can today. Don’t worry if you cannot finish all of your goals. Stay in the game, even if the movement is subtle.

Above all remember you are writing not for today, but for a year from now, when you will finish your book.

 

Why Small Moments Are The Most Important Ones

On By Robert EvenhouseIn The Writing ProcessLeave a comment

Last year I signed up for a 10K run. Immediately thereafter, I was hit with a flood of panic. The run was less than two months away and I had not even jogged in six months.

In my mind I knew I would fail. But I decided to try anyway.

After I crossed the finish line, I slowed down to a walking pace and smiled. I could not believe I finished. I beat my target time and never walked. It was a feeling I won’t soon forget.

After the moment passed, I wondered, how did I do it? How did I go from not running for months to completing my longest distance in years?A man against the setting sun

The truth is, I didn’t get up and believe I was going to run a 10K on my first day of training. I mapped out a one mile run and began. After time, I throttled things up a bit and soon, I covered four to five miles in a single exercise.

This principle of starting where you can, right now, and battling back the fear is applicable to running and the writing of books. For my novels, I focus on a the current chapter, not the entire length of a book.

These small moments – days with mile runs and weeks with two thousand words – are the moments that matter in the end. Any grand, front stage moments start here in a state of quiet progress, day after day, with a target date in mind.

As I headed out for training runs this weekend in preparation for my 10K in a two weeks I was reminded of the power of a single writing session compounded one hundred times. The yield is a book.

Don’t forget about the every day. Don’t forget about the small moments of writing time. Put them together. You’ll be glad to did in a few months.