Writing Sumarian – Episode 5 – Trust the Process (+ a Free Desktop Wallpaper)

An experiment of writing a story longhand from start to finish. Read the rules of the challenge here: Writing Sumarian – Episode 1 – Rules & Introduction.

This Week’s Lesson(s) on Writing a Story Longhand:

Trust the Process

As Ryan Holiday points out in his recent interview with Ali Abdaal (above), “it’s hard to trust a process that you have not been through before.”

I was waiting to hear how you could get past the hump (keep it mature guys, I couldn’t think of a better word) of having to do something for the very first time.

You’re not sure if it’ll pan out. Every step you take is a new terrain, filled with new challenges you may not be well equipped for yet.

Aside from just putting your head down and plowing through, what else can be done to ensure you get to the Promised Land?

Some people say public accountability, some people say no keep your goals to yourself.

Some people say sheer discipline, others say that doesn’t last. Neither does motivation.

I haven’t finished watching the rest of the video, but so far I don’t think I got an answer on how to circumvent that conundrum. (To be honest, I may have missed the answer because I was listening while doing chores. Blah, you know, the things that must be done to keep my status as a human being and not a degenerate troll. Then again, trolls have more fun I hear.)

So I wondered what could work to help someone reach the finish line of a work in progress?

I think so far the things that have worked for me are:

To always keep starting. Always keep getting back on the bandwagon after you’ve fallen off. Doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you’ve done the thing you’re supposed to be doing, get back to doing it. It’s just putting in reps, no matter how few and far in between they are. Each rep gets you more accustomed to the thing.
Think of one easy bit that you would have no problem doing consistently. Meaning something so small that you could do even on your worst day. For example, when writing a book, use a format that you can fill out. Like Save the Cat beats. Ingermanson’s Snowflake method. The 27 chapter outline. Not to mention, my favorite, the 7-plot point method. Or break it down into tiny increments that you can come back to every day (or week) and knock off easily. (Like this series of blog posts—even though I missed a couple of weeks 😀 Hey, this is me getting back on the bandwagon. I practice what I preach. If I wanted to be really exasperating about it, I could say I did that on purpose just so I could use it as an example. But unfortunately I’m not omniscient. Wouldn’t it be nice? I could be even more ~~insufferable~~ fun.)
Write out why you’re doing what you’re doing & keep it front and center. Sometimes when things get hard, and you start to get discouraged, it’s good to have a reminder of why you’re trying to accomplish what you’re trying to accomplish. The above point handled the how. When things get complicated, you think of the how. The steps you need to take to get the job done. When things get boring or hard or it’s a long arduous task, having a solid why keeps you from giving up. For me, I feel like tying the why to what I want to develop in myself keeps me pushing forward. For example, writing a book/story is about developing multiple character traits, but first and foremost of which is patience . Also the strength to push past my insecurities of not being able to do a story justice, but still trying anyway. (Hey, who knows, maybe it might inspire an idea in someone else who can add something profound to the world.)

Those 3 rules are what got me to start this challenge. These weekly posts (I know I missed 2 weeks—we don’t talk about things like that, we pretend like it didn’t happen), have actually built that trust in me. Following the 27 chapter outline method gives me a clear idea of what the finish line is and I know once I reach it, I’ll be done stage 1 of the process. I already have the confidence (developed through this challenge) that I can think of something to get me through stage 2 (drafting), 3 (editing), and 4 (polishing).

If you use the 3 rules above to keep going, maybe you’ll start to developing a trust in the process. I did.