After a years of writing I’ve noticed that growth happens in spits and bursts. There can be long periods of stagnation and during these it becomes hard to keep going. This phenomenon is a challenge all writers come across I’ve come to call “The Wall”. These days, weeks, or even months of stagnation are the hurdle before massive growth. If you keep pushing onward you’ll break through that wall and skyrocket into success, or at least the next major leap forward toward your own perspective of success.
The pro-activeness of each writer plays a large role in the growth and potential of their author career. A writer who can settle into a brand and feel comfortable writing words every day might find their career boom earlier than one who chooses to write every other day or three times a week. If you can maintain the integrity of your schedule you’ll find your growth more stream-like and steady. But if you’re anything like me, consistency can be challenging.
Committing to a brand or niche or genre with which you remain passionate is a key element in maintaining the momentum and motivation to push through challenges and break through “The Wall”. Understanding your personal boundaries, potential, and resistances will help you know the best way to approach your writing goals.
I frequently wonder about my readers, Why Are You Here? I ask this of myself, and sometimes of my readers, because I like to try and ensure I’m remembering that as much as I love writing what I want to write, that I’m also serving my audience. As a publishing author, writing is not really something you do solo. The practice can be solitary, but the words have an intent in being read by others. I know myself well enough to know that if I didn’t have readers I wouldn’t write. Not all writers feel this way. Many would write regardless. But a big part of why I write is because I want to positively affect the lives of others. So that is a major driving factor. Nobody likes spending hours a week on a pursuit that has zero potential for growth, it’s the true loathing I have for housework that makes me so certain of this fact (and that is strongly influenced my ADHD which needs real meaning behind doing anything at all).
Reflecting on my times of personal turmoil and indecisiveness, I recognise, “The Wall”. It rears its ugly head and is familiar at this point since I’m facing it with my current work-in-progress (WIP). In fact, many of my fellow writers are perhaps intimate with “The Wall” right now. You might be hitting the last quarter of your WIP firmly face-planted into it or are rejoicing in the rush of energy having successfully broken through.
For writers and other creatives the solution is the same. The only way to get beyond “The Wall” is to move forward, push ahead, keep writing, keep creating, and put one foot firmly in front of the other. If your words feel stagnant, if you are struggling to maintain a consistent schedule, if you’re facing the blank page with horror and remorse, if you’re looking back over days or weeks when there have been zero creative progress, take comfort in the fact that there are others around the world facing the same thing each and every day.
Of course, in the end the only solution is to BIC (Butt-In-Chair). Sit yourself down, decide that you really want to accomplish this goal, and begin. If it helps, return to your Goal Setting Workshop notes to discover why this accomplishment is so important to you. If you haven’t created leverage do it now. Then get back to the grindstone, write onward, move forward. The rush of adrenaline and euphoria is just over that wall.
Break through the barrier with me!
