Okay.

I’m reposting this and what I said in response because over the years I’ve become well-acquainted with the thing this writer has found himself facing off with as the frenzy of the quasi-end of Novnov hits.

THAT BEAST? THAT GUY?

….OH~ We became fast friends (long time ago)!

From my own battles tackling Grievechronic, the compendiums and all else, to helping calm down the writers starting out who ran into variations of this demoralizing shit, hightailed it for the hills…only to have slammed into me (spilling their guts) as I am ambling back down to civilization from the clouds.

I KNOW some of yall eyeballing in here fall into that camp or somewhere adjacent(whether some of you will admit that aloud or not {with all your hovering…instead of doing yourselves…#yaknowwhoyaAreBlanches…}…

….so my gut is muttering this may help you too.

“Okay… please stay with me for a moment … I don’t know a lot of stuff…but the chunk of the writer head map you’re describing I’ve had to conquer many times in the past, so I hope what I say next helps:

“Recognize that what you’re describing is Not technically the wall.”

You’re staying centered in feelings at this present moment that suck, but more importantly… is that what you’ve described “over the last few days” pales in comparison to the energy you’ve throttled through the Last frickin month motivated by.

It’s not even apples to oranges.

It’s a giant lush pineapple of novnov activity facing off with the equivalent of like… a seedless grape a day for every day you “haven’t” written…

and you’re letting those manmade grapes punk that big-arsed pineapple of work you HAVE already produced.

 

It’s pure false equivalencies. They’re incomparable in real time. Everywhere else except in your mind.

---

And the only reason that a “pause” of a few days ever feels greater than a full month of work to us creatives has to do with lies we’d told ourselves before ever Tackling the “great white buffalo” of the pineapple work we’ve just blown our minds doing.{ I know I’m beating the metaphor to death, but lol}

The point is…those seedless, manmade grapes are who you’ve allowed to rule your creative process leading Up TO the big push you’ve just ran through. They’ve been ousted…but they didn’t have to sneak back into the castle they got kicked out of.

You opened the door to them[ like we all are passively programmed to do by this society when it comes to breaking bad habits].

Define them as seedless because there’s no nourishment for your soul in the path they’re beckoning you to tumble back down.

But in the end..it’s your choice.

Which feels better?

• the “Sonafabeeech?!” shock & awe you feel over HAVING kicked butt all this month, even tho you have no idea where it’s gonna lead?
• Or the pain, and self-desecration that you’re committing over having not done things for a few days?

Which timeline are you choosing? Because the emotion you follow will manifest as just that.

• Shock and awe over entry to a new heavenly[possibly] realm that you have not mapped out before at all?
• Or the hell you flung yourself from to find the courage to write collectively this month at all?

---

You don’t even sound like you hit a wall and crumbled to a stop.

It sounds like you wrote your arSe off and then had to be present at your day job during the first holiday blitz of the season.

If THAt is a wall to you, you are indeed blessed and highly favored.

What you could do…is go

“fuQ yeah! I wrote[ fill in word count here: ] I AM GOING TO CELEBRATE…BY… F UREAKING….taking a NAP.

My chosen CELEBRATION IN THIS MOMENT IS TAKING MY exhausted writerhead arse- to bed or the couch…even for 15 minutes, and passing the heck out. for a bit. then maybe some more…”

& I am NOT going to prioritize Anything else…Including writing another bleeping word… Until I have given myself the celebratory GIFT…of A NAPPIE (lol, but seriously) for having already written {insert word count so far here: } .”

Make your so far word count the tryptophan you MAKE yourself honor now.

---

Let your characters- who’ve been going through this whirlwind with you… take a bleeping nap too.

All portions of your story are probably AS exhausted and needing to regroup as you in this moment. & that’s not a bad thing- That’s proof you’re really doing it…

…and it’s taking energy.

(Contrary to popular opinion of the writer head process.)

Ya gotta honor the energy expended and sleep before slipping back into hair shirts they give us all to suck the joy out of us just going and doing the things on our hearts.

---

{so~} Gambatte…[ geterdone… word hard]….and by that, I mean that maybe it really is time for you to….in the immortal words of Adam Mansbach, in the voice of Samuel L Jackson…celebrate your wins so far with a wee session of

“ Go the FUCK to sleep~”

& personally… just to show the negging beast on your back that his time is up…

I’d stop by my grocery store and grab some seedless grapes and a pineapple[ and some pineapple juice lol to drink]. I’d then[ because i’m happily ridiculous, yet effective when it comes to wrangling writer head] make a HUGE show of consciously counting out the exact number of seedless grapes that’d match the number of days you have been facing off with that wall… and then throw the rest of them out ceremonially. I’d stick them in a bowl in the fridge next to that chilling pineapple so every time I opened the fridge, I’d see those two fruits standing off……and then I’d chug pineapple juice like a victorious writer head entering Valhalla, slaking my thirst…in the grapes faces every time that neggy mess tried me…until I was done.

Is it dramatic?

eh… You’re literally being the Demi-urge birthing a literary universe… this kinda is the one zone we can campily lean into all the

“I AM A GOD HERE!YAAAAR!”

mess…so~ why not have fun with it?lol 

[said with love…and see you on the other side.]

…ya did ask~😇.

-AB