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How to Get Unstuck · The Daily Writer

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey my friend, thanks so much for joining me for today's episode.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Mark is an email subscriber who's in the middle of writing his first nonfiction book, and the other day he asked me a question.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what he wrote.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Hey Kent, as you know, I've written a few chapters of my book, but I'm feeling stuck.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I have an outline for the rest of the chapters, but I'm not feeling very inspired.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: I know this is a common experience for writers in the middle of a book, but how do you get through it?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to dread my writing.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, I want to feel excited about it.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: I also need some creative sparks.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Even though I know what I want to say in the rest of the book, I need some guidance on how to get new, fresh ideas.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Any suggestions?
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Mark, thanks so much for the question and congrats, by the way, on diving into your first book.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's a big step, and it's really something to be proud of.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: But keep in mind that a lot of people start books, but they don't actually finish writing them.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: The secret sauce here is in the finishing.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: So let's help you get there.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, let's talk about inspiration for a second.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now it sounds counterintuitive, but I think inspiration is completely overrated.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Inspiration is the spark to get something started.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's that germ of an idea that can grow into something bigger, but it takes perspiration and dedication to bring it into reality.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: When I've committed to doing something, the feelings don't really matter to me.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, it's really the commitment that counts.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: So when you're not feeling very inspired or motivated, lean on the commitment that you made to get the project to the finish line.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: That I believe is how professionals show up.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And this is why I refer to writing as a quote unquote blue-collar job.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's because writers show up and we get the work done if we approach it like someone who has a blue-collar job who shows up on time, they do the work, then they go home.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's get to the second part of your question regarding creative sparks.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever I feel stuck, and by the way, yes, I do feel stuck sometimes, these are the first five things that I try.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is I take a walk.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, walking has a lot of benefits, but when I'm trying to untangle a problem or come up with an idea, a short walk around the block almost always does the trick and helps me get unstuck and untangled.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: It gets me out from behind the screen and gives me mental inputs and fresh air.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: And by mental inputs, I mean the scenery around you because when you go for a walk, you're seeing trees, you're seeing sidewalks, you're seeing other people, you're seeing people with their dogs, you're seeing all kinds of things, which is by definition going to give you some creative inputs.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Number two is I look at the objects around me.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is going to sound a little strange, so let me explain.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: When I'm feeling stuck, I look at a few items that are on my desk or maybe in my computer bag or in my pocket or whatever the case might be.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: It could be a purse or a wallet or whatever the case is.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: So look at a few of those items and ask how they're related to what you're writing.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, what you're doing here is you're giving brain random inputs that shake up your normal thinking.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, this works for me a lot of the time because it's kind of a weird trick.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, and this is related to number two in some ways, is I like to listen to song lyrics.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, again, this is kind of a weird tip, but sometimes I'll go to one of my Spotify playlists.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Typically it's 80s music or classic rock or sometimes even yacht rock, don't judge me.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I get some inspiration from those lyrics.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, when I listen to Springsteen or Huey Lewis or Phil Collins or Toto or John Mayer or whatever I like to listen to, those lyrics sometimes just give me ideas for objects, for thoughts, for creative inspiration that will sometimes get me out of that little bit of a rut.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Number four is I dictate some material.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I will combine number one that I mentioned, which is taking a walk, with dictating content.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And this always helps.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: So the act of walking gets your blood flowing and your mind creating.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then plus, when you're talking through material, that's far different, that's a far different creative process than typing on a computer keyboard.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I really like dictation because it just gets you outside or you're walking around the living room or whatever, and it just gets your mind and your blood flowing, which I really like.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: And number five is many times I'll just skip the section that I'm stuck on and I will go to something else in the thing that I'm working on.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: So if I'm stuck on an email, I'll just write a different email.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm stuck on a section in a book chapter, I'll just go to a different section.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, this works for me a lot of times because particularly when it comes to writing chapters for my own books as well as client books.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: If I get stuck, I just write the section, I just write that chapter out of order.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of times what I do is I'll write the intro to a chapter, then I'll write the end of the chapter, and then I'll do something in the middle and I'll just skip around.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's how they shoot movies most of the time.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: They don't shoot movies in order.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And there's various reasons that they don't do that for production reasons.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: But I find that that often helps me when I'm working on book chapters of a few thousand words.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'll write this section, then I'll skip around and write something else.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: That really helps me a lot because if you're stuck on something, it doesn't usually do much good to beat your head against the wall and just try to muscle your way through it.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Skip to something else, then come back to the difficult section a little bit later on.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I hope that these tips are helpful.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: The point here is do things that are going to give you some creative spark.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I've given you five great ideas here.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And most of all, just keep pressing on when you feel stuck.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's always a way forward through feeling stuck.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes you just have to work a little bit harder to find it.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: All right, that's all I've got for today.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.