I just read Mindy Kaling’s book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)
I always like to hear how other writers deal with the writing process. Writing can be so solitary. At the end of the day, it’s you and the blank piece of paper or the blank screen. And you have to create something from NOTHING. You can certainly encourage good work habits in yourself. For example, you actually have to write. None of this “If I had the time I’d write a great novel/screenplay” malarkey. Oh, so the reason F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby is because … he had the TIME? (Do not ever say those words to me. You’ll thank me later.)
And what Kaling describes here is something I have heard from other writers, and something I have experienced myself. And I give myself a head-trip about it every time, even though I know that’s the process, and I know other writers experience this, too, and it’s normal, it’s normal, but still, I think: “GOD, Sheila, GET TO WORK.” The procrastination ritual becomes so elaborate when you are avoiding writing. Or, to put it more positively, when you are getting ready to start writing.
I have come up with ways that work for me that almost fake myself out. One, is going away for a weekend (or longer, if I can swing it). To a ratty motel, if possible. Example:
I get so much done in motels. And hotels, too. B&Bs, not so much. They’re too twee, too distracting. Give me an unadorned room, a bed, and instant coffee and I’m good. But you put me in a joint with a player piano in a parlor and crowded Victorian wallpaper and china knickknacks of busty shepherdesses and I get over-stimulated. If I were rich, I am sure I would also find a swanky hotel to be excellent in terms of getting down to work. But I would need something sleek and simply decorated – not too much going on. I am also best when I have one task: Edit this script this weekend. Re-write this scene. Write this book proposal. Edit these four essays. I am a Tasmanian devil when I have a stated goal. And put me with a stated goal into a ratty beach motel? Nothing can stop me. I used to put myself through head-trips about my need to “get away” in order to get work done. I would agonize: “Sheila, why can’t you just figure out a way to work better at home? You could save money, too!” But I turned a corner with that shit. This is the artistic process. Why should it make sense? The point is: you gotta get shit DONE. HOW it gets done is irrelevant. (Well, if I needed to take a hit off the crack pipe in order to get shit done, that might be a problem … but needing to be in unfamiliar surroundings in order to work? I can live with that. That’s harmless.) I also work well, strangely enough, in public. I get a lot of shit done in coffee houses where you are allowed to linger, and also dark Irish pubs on a Sunday afternoon. Those situations also stimulate productivity.
At home, I am certainly productive. Hell, I write here every single day. Without any sturm-und-drang. But it’s these larger hypothetical projects, the great unknowns: screenplays, my book – the things knocking around in my head that do not exist yet – that for some reason my apartment inhibits me in. It’s too familiar, it’s too comfortable. I LIVE here. So I find myself reorganizing my bookshelves, and pulling furniture out from the walls to scrub the baseboards behind, or carefully lining up all of my earrings on my dresser. That’s when I know: Okay, Sheila, this can only go on for so long. Eventually, you have to sit down and write. It’s wonderful that you are scrubbing your crisper bin, it needed to be done, but you know what you are avoiding.
But I love how Kaling puts it:
The Internet also makes it extraordinarily difficult for me to focus. One small break to look up exactly how almond milk is made, and four hours later I’m reading about the Donner Party and texting all my friends: DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE DONNER PARTY AND HOW MESSED UP THAT WAS? TEXT ME BACK SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT!
I’ve found my productive-writing-to-screwing-around ratio to be one to seven. So, for every eight-hour day of writing, there is only one good productive hour of work being done. The other seven hours are preparing for writing: pacing around the house, collapsing cardboard boxes for recycling, reading the DVD extras pamphlet from the BBC Pride & Prejudice, getting snacks lined up for writing, and YouTubing toddlers who learned the “Single Ladies” dance. I know. Isn’t that horrible? So, basically, writing this piece took me the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Enjoy it accordingly.
I just checked Kaling’s book out of the library the other day. I’ll probably bump it up in the rotation on the basis of your post; I think she’s all kinds of fantastic, too.
On the productivity issue: I’ve resorted to things like the setting of quotas, setting time limits on being online, and the like. But you know what I’ve found that somehow jumpstarts the creative juices surprisingly well? Writing standing up. I don’t know what it is, but putting the computer on an elevated surface and writing while standing just feels more ‘serious’ to me. Maybe that’s because the vast majority of my ‘day job’ history has involved mostly stand-up work (cooking, restaurant management, grocery store maintenance/handyman/carpentry) for twelve years versus a sit-down desk job (which I sucked at) for just 18 months. It’s as if my brain takes work more seriously when I’m standing up.
If/when we ever own a house, I’m going to build myself a stand-up desk.
You should totally get a standing desk!! I am a big believer (finally) in whatever works for you to get your shit done.
and yeah, her book is just WONDERFUL. I am totally in love with her.
I read the book yesterday. I’ve respected Kaling’s work for some years now (basically since she’s been on The Office, and since I noticed her name listed in the writing, directing, and producing credits as well as acting), but this book is terrific. And now I desperately want there to be a movie telling the Peter Pan story from the viewpoint of the Darling children’s alcoholic father!
Oh hilarious. I’ve been spending the spring fixing bookshelves, cleaning and lining up my earrings too, and all too aware of it. I also loved your other post on that motel you stayed at, what a fabulous place! I love those kind of motels too and I don’t even drive, haha!
Great insights into the mind of a writer.
// I’ve been spending the spring fixing bookshelves, cleaning and lining up my earrings too, and all too aware of it. //
hahahahahaha
Regina – it’s so hilarious: when I am in that state, I forget that it is so common and thing it is just my own failing. From what I gather from other writers, they all feel the same way. Like: WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME????
at least my baseboards are clean!!
Your book????? Book, you say??? You have piqued my insatiable curiosity and am mining for more information about your book, currently in the works. Anything you can share at this point?
Bethann – haha. Nope, nothing I can share yet. Too afraid of jinxing it or of someone STEALING MY IDEA.
I have already written two books – a novel and a book of essays – but bombed out in trying to find publishers for them. i am nothing if not persistent although the whole thing is also heartbreaking!!
But this one? THIS ONE WILL HAPPEN.
Well, I wait with baited breath for your upcoming publication!!!!! Already being a fan of your writing style, I can only imagine the upcoming quality and substance of your work. I haven’t been visiting your blog as often as in the past as I have beenn ensnared in the Shades of Grey hype and cannot seem to break away, and happily so. Therefore, I have given Elvis a much needed vacation. It will make my return to him and my constant and steady passion of him all that much sweeter. That being said, I am still curious and excited for your upcoming book. Your craft is exceptional and point of view unique.
Im not a writer, but I work in the arts and work from home. We have a detatched garage that Ive turned into my studio, nothing fancy, just an old cinderblock garage without heat or air . When I’m on a deadline and i’m just not getting anything done my husband locks me out of the house. He will give me my car key, sketchbook and pencils depending upon what I’m working on and I can only come in when finished. Its a great motivator for getting things done, but if your creativitly blocked your blocked. Luckily I have great neighbors and they let me use their bathroom. :)
Jenn – your husband sounds awesome. It is amazing what one can get done when one has NO CHOICE.
I am howling at that excerpt!!!
Here’s to MAD productivity for you, Sheila! Then again, if you need a break, my crisper bins are shameful and need attention.
“Youtubing toddlers ….” KILLS ME. The book is so great, Tracey.
and thank you! so much to tell you, so much going on! How are you??
And kind of great to hear that you do this too since you are so prolific, like, Oh God, she does that too?! Since a lot of people mostly talk about how much work they are doing and getting done these days while I’m lining up the old earrings…….
I want to shelve your books upon my bookshelf. I want to have a Sheila O’Malley section that I point to with great pride.
Next time I want to get stuff done, I’ll check into a motel here. They’ve got some that give a whole new meaning to austere.
I know !! So much going on for you! We MUST catch up! Sending you nothing but good thoughts and prayers these days.
(Gonna put that book on my Wish List. She’s hilarious.)
June 25th is the date for my script reading. It is finally coming together.
Miss you – hope you are well – let’s catch up soon.
I’m late to the game, but I think that one statement sums up everything the internet revolution has done to change my productivity and how I am still struggling to be as effective again in my creative work:
//”One small break to look up exactly how almond milk is made”//
THAT. That right there. I’ll have to go find this book.
Moving again, to a new apartment, and aspiring to create some motel-like uncluttered space. In at least one room. But I may also need an internet connection I can lock myself out of for days at a time.