A Silly Trick That Will Get You Into The Writing Mood.

Becoming A Writer

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A Silly Trick That Will Get You Into The Writing Mood.

Episode 26 of Becoming A Writer podcast.

Aug 30, 2024

Transcript

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Hello, my writer friends! Rubina here. For our twenty-sixth conversation, we are going to talk about a silly trick that will get you into the writing mood.

Who are we? Writers! What do we want? We want to write! So why don't we do that? Uh... good question.

We humans love to think we are rational and logical beings. But if that were the case, we'd never procrastinate on our writing.

Now, sometimes there's a genuine reason behind our such behaviour—we might be nervous, we might not know what to write next, or we might know what to write next but we also know that it will be physically, mentally, or emotionally draining, so we avoid it.

But then there's a silly reason that will result in this procrastination. The silly reason is, "I am not in the writing mood right now." Again, sometimes that's genuinely a valid reason—you may be physically, mentally, or emotionally too tired to get any writing done—but other times, our procrastination is simple laziness.

Our brains would rather keep themselves numb with endless scrolling on Instagram than work on our current writing project. Swiping the thumb is easier for it than clickity-clacking all our fingers on the keyboard.

No matter how serious or silly your reason for writing procrastination is, the fact remains that you didn't get any writing done. And that's not fun.

So, what's the solution to this procrastination? How do we show up for our writing, and more importantly, how do we stick to our writing routine?

Well, the usual solutions provided for this conundrum didn't work for me, but then I found a silly trick to help me out. Guess where I found it? In the gym! Now guess what's my silly trick? Celebrity crushes! Let me explain.

It was one ordinary morning about six years ago. I was lying on the floor, ready in position, and a dozen others were doing the same. Our trainer whistled, and we started doing sit-ups — the most basic exercise ever known to humanity. We all were giving our best; the huffing and puffing was proof of that. But what I realised at that moment was that with every sit-up I did, I was losing power for the next one. Sure enough, I had ten reps to go and was feeling like giving up. Just then, a voice inside me spoke up.

“Do it for Tom Hiddleston!”

That snapped me out of my despair, and I said to the voice, “Yes! Let’s do it for him!”

Lo and behold, I gave my 100% (of whatever level of energy I had left in me) into those last ten reps. All thanks to Tom Hiddleston!

Six years later, I was again in the clutches of a home workout, wondering if I could call it a day. Again, the voice spoke, "You know, Loki gave up his life so that you in this timeline could live yours." To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. "Wow!" I said, "That's how you are going to put it on me?" And I completed my workout.

I know it's a silly thing, but it gets me exercising regularly, and that is all that matters.

So, how does this silly trick help with my writing? Well, I apply the same silliness to my writing. Here's how.

Agatha to the rescue!

Writing is indeed a lonely job. Well, at least the act of it is.

There are times when I would stare blankly at the screen, wondering what the next sentence is. When nothing comes to mind, I would often find myself saying out loud, "Agatha! I don't know what to write here. Tell me what happened next."

Of course, I am talking about Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime Fiction and my favourite author, who ignited my reading and writing spark.

Once I ask for her help, I sit quietly for a moment. Soon enough, I find the beginning thoughts for the following sentence.

I also like to think that my favourite authors, who are not among us anymore, left with some untold stories still inside them and are now using me as a medium to bring them to life. Of course, the style and calibre will be different, but at least they'll be getting their ideas out into the world.

Celebrity crushes to the rescue!

Now, while Agatha Christie and others come to help me during my writing sessions, my celebrity crushes come in handy when I daydream about the successful future of my writing.

I start by casting them for different parts of my story. This step is fun—since they are your crush, you spend a lot of time watching them walk, talk, and behave in certain ways. With a little bit more imagination, you can figure out how they would react in the scene you are writing. They might even give you ideas about where the scene leads to next.

Then, to take it a notch higher, I'll imagine my celebrity crushes telling me through social media or in person how much they love my books. Imagining the people you are a fan of are a fan of your work definitely gets me excited.

Next, I take it even further. For the third round, I combine the two - I dream about working with my celebrity crushes on the adaptation of my books. Recently, a story idea is doing laps around my head and I can't help but see actor Lee Pace being the main character. I took it a step further and imagined us sitting together and discussing his character. I also imagine being on set, watching my books come to life through such a talented and dedicated team of cast and crew. This always gets me excited about writing my books in the first place.

Silly me!

I know this is silly, but I have tried serious, logical approaches like "knowing your why," "having a routine," and others. They have seldom worked for me, at least not in the encouraging way that thinking about my favourite authors and celebrity crushes has worked for me.

Doing this simple, silly trick makes me giggle, which puts me in a light, fun mood to get back to my writing.

And as long as I am writing my books, and not procrastinating or giving up on them, I am good.

Tell me, do you have any silly tricks that help you with your writing? The more tricks we have up our writer sleeves, the better. Let's share them and make our writing lives more manageable. If you are listening to me on Substack, share your tricks in the comments below. Same applies for YouTube. And if you are listening to me through Spotify, it turns out you can now leave a comment on the episode page. You can share your tricks there as well.

Well, that's it for today.

But before we wrap up our conversation, I need to inform you that I am making some changes to my podcast and newsletter. What you need to know at the moment is that the next episode of Becoming A Writer podcast will come out on 14th September. That is, next to next Saturday. I will explain then, in detail, about these changes. We will talk about embracing change in our writing journey and making a pivot.

Until then, keep writing, my friend.