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Transcript

Writing Doesn’t Have to Be Hard · The Daily Writer

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey my friend, welcome to the Daily Writer, where we help writers become authors of their own lives.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Email subscriber Frank Ball sent in a really fantastic question.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: He asks, Why do we want writing to be easy when valuable things always come at great cost?
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much, Frank.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a really, really good question.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually have two responses.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: One of them is quite simple, and the other one, let me explain just a little bit.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: My first response is that I think we gravitate toward wanting things to be easy because that's simply our human nature.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: We always want things to be easy.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: We always move toward pleasure as humans, and we will do almost anything to avoid pain.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think writing is really no different.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Left to our own devices, we always choose the path of least resistance, which is why we avoid hard things.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: However, and this is the second thing that I want to share, I also want to challenge the notion that writing has to be hard.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, my son Ash reminded me of this just a few days ago.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: He works the night shift at a local organization.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: And in the mornings, we always chat for a few minutes before I leave for office because he gets home basically the same time that I leave to go to the office.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And we always chat for a few minutes.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was feeling particularly tired.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: And if I were to be honest, I was feeling a little grumpy that day.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: I was tired and I mentioned that I had a lot to do that day.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you have to understand that my son and I have a really funny relationship.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Funny meaning we joke around a lot.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so we give each other a hard time and we make jokes and we have a lot of fun in our house.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so I said that I had a lot to do that day, and he was ribbing me a little bit, and he said, Oh yeah, Dad, it must be so hard to go into an office and sit in front of the computer all day.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, he was kidding in a way, but there was also a lot of truth to what he said.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And in that moment when he said that, I knew that he was just having fun with me, but it also reminded me that I have the best job in the world as a writer, and that sometimes I perceive of what I do as quote unquote hard when it doesn't really have to be that way.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now that doesn't mean that what I do as a writer doesn't come at a cost, because it definitely does come with a cost.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Writing absolutely costs time, focus, and emotional energy.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say that writing is expensive emotionally and in terms of time.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't mean that it has to be painful or hard.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Something can cost us emotionally or energetically, but it doesn't mean that it has to be painful.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think oftentimes as writers, we pre-decide that writing is going to feel like work and that it's going to be hard or stressful.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: But what if we completely changed our mindset and decided that it's pleasurable, that it's easy, that it's fun, and that the writing we do is a privilege and a complete joy.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, writing does cost us, but paying the price can be a source of great pleasure, just like exercise.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Exercise costs something, but for me, going for a walk and doing a workout is actually a source of great pleasure.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: So is things like working on your marriage or re remodeling your home or anything else that is worthwhile.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Just because something takes a lot of energy doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be painful.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: I need that reminder, and perhaps all of us need that reminder at times as well.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want easy, but I do want it to be worth it.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks so much for listening.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Keep writing, keep showing up as always, and I'll see you tomorrow.