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Craft Chat Chronicles
Craft Chat Chronicles
A Writer’s Journey: Overcoming Writer’s Block, Self-Doubt, and Imposter Syndrome
Every writer knows the paralyzing feeling of staring at a blank page, unable to move forward. But what if writer's block isn't actually about your skills or talent? In this candid conversation, we unpack the surprising truth: most writing blocks stem from anxiety, self-doubt, and the notorious imposter syndrome rather than any lack of ability.
Our panel of writers shares their personal battles with creative blockages—from the early-career paralysis of thinking "I'm not good enough" to the mid-project stall when a story breaks down. We explore how different writers experience blocks uniquely, whether triggered by external pressures like editorial deadlines or simply the daily chaos of life interfering with creative flow. The conversation reveals how even experienced writers sometimes struggle to transition between projects they're passionate about and work they're contractually obligated to complete.
Practical strategies emerge throughout our discussion, offering listeners actionable techniques to overcome creative barriers. From the power of meditation before writing sessions to the unexpected benefits of "bad TV" as background noise, we cover environmental adjustments that facilitate creativity. We examine how setting modest daily writing goals (just two pages!) can accumulate into impressive monthly progress, and why acknowledging your natural creative rhythm—whether you're a morning person or night owl—might transform your productivity. Perhaps most importantly, we emphasize the liberating concept of the "shitty first draft," giving writers permission to create imperfectly while remembering that editing comes later. After all, as one guest reminds us, "You can't improve nothing." Connect with our writing community at jdmyall.com for more resources, workshops, and support on your creative journey.
Link: A Writer's Journey with Scrivener!
#1 Novel & Book Writing Software For Writers
Welcome to Craft Chat Chronicles, the go-to podcast for tips on crafting best-selling fiction. Here at Craft Chat Chronicles, we bring you expert interviews, insights and tips on writing, publishing and marketing. Join the conversation and embark on a new chapter in your writing journey. For workshops, show notes and more information, visit jdmyallcom. That's jdmyallcom.
Speaker 2:In today's episode of Craft Chat Chronicles, we'll be going on another writer's journey with some dear friends. Enjoy Chronicles will be going on another writer's journey with some dear friends.
Speaker 3:Enjoy. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of A Writer's Journey. Today we are going to be talking about writer's block and some tips to help you bust through that. So just to give you a little idea of what writer's block is, maybe you've been experiencing it and not realizing it. So writer's block is basically feeling stuck while you're writing and not knowing how to move forward, and it's not necessarily based on your skill set or even the limited time that you might have to write. A lot of times it has to do with people who have self-doubt or anxiety. They feel they're not good enough Hello, imposter syndrome, those sorts of things. But there are some ways to work around it. And so today myself, jaymarie and my co-host will talk about our experiences with Spider's Block and then later on, we'll give you some tips that work for us and might work for you. So, um, let's start with you, jd. What are your experiences in your early writing career with writer's block? And now? So sometime later?
Speaker 2:I don't really experience writer's block as much now. Early in my career I experienced it a lot more. A lot of times for me it happened when a story wasn't working and like I'd be like writing and then I get to this point where I just can't get the story to come out. And then a lot of times like if I took time from it, if I went for a walk or did something and just thought about it, processed it mentally a lot of times I could figure out okay, I'm stuck because the story's broken. You know what I mean. I'm stuck because I made a wrong turn somewhere.
Speaker 2:When I first started working on the book Heart's Gambit that's going to be coming out, I had a different type of writer's block. I had anxiety and imposter syndrome based writer's block, because it was like writing is something I love, it's something I've been doing for years and it's a goal that I've had forever. But when I was writing with the knowledge that a real editor was going to see it, all of a sudden it was like, oh shit, the panic set in. Is it going to see it? All of a sudden it was like, oh shit, the panic set in. Is it going to be good enough, am I good enough? And then all that self-doubt kind of like stalled me for a little bit and I just had to write through it.
Speaker 2:And today I don't run into writer's block as much as I run into having trouble tearing myself away from something. Because when you have something you're working on because it's just a passion project and you're just feeling it and loving it, and then you have something else that you contractually are obligated to do, sometimes you want to chase the shiny ball and it's hard to force your focus back over here because you're loving this and I know me. Once I do the thing I'm supposed to be doing, I'll lock in and I'll start to like that story and those characters, and then that'll get fun for me. But in the moment where I'm enjoying something else, it's just so hard to make that shift. So I don't know if that's more of a block or just my ADD and my distraction, but that's how it works for me. Now, how about?
Speaker 3:you, j Marie? Where are you at with writer's block? So for me early on, when I decided, you know, let's try this writer's thing, yeah, I just thought I just wasn't a good writer because you know, to be in the middle of something you have you think is a good idea, and then I just didn't know how to move forward with it, and in retrospect I understand that I just didn't have the tools, like I didn't know craft and all that stuff at the time. Now, if it shows up for me it's less about my skill set and more about my brain just being like my skill set and more about my brain just being like.
Speaker 3:It's been a while. I need a break. So I might need to have a snack, have a meal, go take a walk, maybe just watch something for half an hour, do something else and then, even coming back to it, whether it's that same day or the next day or whatever I'm refreshed and like ready to move forward. And usually once I take that break, ideas start coming. And so if I'm, you know, doing something in my life, I'll write those down so that when I get back to my seat, I, you know, I'm staring at my wall playing the movie in my head and like I run through all those scenarios or things that I came up with in the meantime, and if it doesn't work, or a lot of times, what happens is questions come up. So I'm like, okay, let me write down that question, cause that's probably a pothole, a pothole, a plot hole or something you know character wise, that I hadn't thought about previously, that maybe I need to work on. So now, like I understand that anxiety and stuff that I had before that kept me from writing, thinking, oh, I'm not good at this, let me just procrastinate and do other things and I'm not a good writer is more. Just, I need to lean back into my training, lean back into the craft, and then so those things.
Speaker 3:I don't really consider it writer's block anymore either. It's just for me. It shows up as, like I was saying I need a break. My brain is like I'm tired. Take a break, and then I can move forward when I come back. How about you, mo? How has writer's block manifested for you?
Speaker 4:So to piggyback off of what you were saying a lot of times, like writer's block is this really generic, general term? And then it's up to you to kind of figure out, like what exactly is the blockage right? So for me it would show up when I was rushed, like I am a very structured person so it's like all right, it's time to write. So you know, if I'm getting close to my writing time, but I'm, you know, I'm working on the task before and it's not getting out, you know, I'm like I have to finish this and not get into this mode of starting to rush through the room. Or if I get off schedule, then that used to kind of throw me off some, but then by the time that I would get sit down the right, I'm exhausted, I'm tired. You know, now I have to reprogram and reset my brain to, you know, get into the task. That now at hand, though I just finished the task before, you know, five minutes ago, and so like just not, um, not not being prepared to write, um, that's how Writers Block will show up for me, like not being in a settled space, being in a, in a subtle, you know, mind or spirit, you know still kind of being frazzled, and then, like, just the calm down period, and once I calmed down my years, 10-15 minutes later, and I did some breathing exercises, and then now I, you know, my mind definitely is totally clear and I'm like, so what was I going to write? Well, where do I start?
Speaker 4:Like you know, now I was trying to, you know, regroup those ideas. You know, um, you know, and then even looking at my notes, I find that I can, you know, like all as we get inspired by something, we jot it down when I'm not prepared, I don't recall very well, right, so it was just like okay, so like, why did that inspire me? What was that like at the time? Like it's hard for me to get back in that space. So for me, I literally have to 15 minutes before, take some time to meditate, take some time to, you know, just relax, take some time, a few minutes, to look over what I'm going to work on, so that I can, you know, I can go back to what's going on from a calm space. So Writers Block for me came up just rushing. You know when I was rushing, when I was trying to get everything done, when I, you know when I was you know, just you know, frazzled.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's an interesting point, how just life is lifing and that can kind of get in the way of the writing process, especially, um, if you're someone like me. Like, I work full-time, so I have to have those set times where I'm writing and a lot of times, especially during the week, it's not really my best time of day to write. Um, I'm usually at work during that time, which is really annoying. But one of these days, one of these days, um, so, but one of these days, one of these days. So I'm actually going to steal that from you. The meditation thing is actually good to like take some time at the beginning of that of my writing time and just like relax, chill, get in, get into the, maybe turn on some music, get into the mood a little bit more, instead of just trying to like OK, it's time now, like, what are my notes? Yeah, that's, that's a good one.
Speaker 2:I think, like setting achievable goals could help too, cause you can't whether or not you feel blocked.
Speaker 2:You don't want to let the imposter syndrome, the anxiety or just whatever it is that's causing your block, to stop you. So, after you take the break that you need and you do your meditating, you listen to music or whatever you got to do to get your head back in the game, I think if you set a goal, like, let's say, I'll stop at 500 words or 200 words or whatever your goal is for that day, and just write something, because even if it's not your best, if you're a good writer, whatever you have you can edit and you can improve later. You know what I'm saying. So it doesn't have to be flawless on the first draft. It's okay to embrace mediocrity and accept that this today's work is not my best work, but tomorrow, when I'm feeling better and I'm past whatever this mental block is, I can go back and I can fix it and I can make it better and I can improve it. But I can't improve nothing. So you can't like let it stop you from moving forward improve nothing.
Speaker 4:So you can't like, let it stop you from moving forward. And like you, jeanette, I work full time and I'm a teacher and I always say, oh well, I'm throwing my lunch break, you know I'll get some writing in, but you know, no, during my lunch break I want to meditate, right. So you know it realistically again, like it's really kind of difficult when you're working for a time. You don't want to let that time that you set aside go, Right.
Speaker 4:So for me, what I've learned to do is, you know, I prioritize what's important, like what do I actually have to get done today? And I try to keep that to no more than three things. So then it gives me a great deal of space in between, so that instead of trying to get everything done, and even if I've accomplished everything on my list, I'm not going to be like, okay, well, because what I do is I'm like Monday, I'll do these three things, tuesday, I'll do this thing here. Like you know, I kind because what I do is I'm like Monday, I'll do these three things, tuesday, I'll do this thing here. Like you know, I kind of know what I have to do for the week If I finish for Monday and I still got a lot of time remaining, you know, between the time.
Speaker 4:You know I have a lot for writing. I'm not going to start on Tuesday's work, you know, and that was hard for me because it's like, well, I want to get this done, knock it out and then I have more time on the tailwind. Nope, I'd rather like still keep the schedule, still be able to go into it with a space, but I don't overschedule and I don't do more than what I schedule out to do. If it's only three things and I do those, I'm done my to-do for that day. I'm done my to-do for that day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's something I had to learn too is setting some type of goal for that writing session, because I used to just like sit down and write and be at you know an hour, four hours later, I'm just writing, writing, writing, because the goal is to do this project, finish this project. But then I would like tire myself out and maybe a couple of days ago, by a week would go by that I didn't write because I'm tired of whatever, and so it would keep me from moving forward. And you know, in addition to the anxiety and all that, that learning to just set the smaller goals take little pieces at a time, you're still moving forward and I'm not over like making you know myself, doubt and anxiety increase because I'm trying to do too much. So, yes, so setting achievable goals is a great tip as well. So I'm seeing, so let me run this down for our listeners. So, right now we've got setting achievable goals, self-care, so meditation make sure you're eating, taking care of yourself.
Speaker 3:Taking care of yourself, it's really important because as the conduit of the story, you need to kind of be in a great place to be able to write. Structure is really important. That's a good one. Notes, making notes for yourself. That's something I do a lot, especially if I like life is happening and, okay, I set this time for myself. But oh, I gotta go run and do this right now, making I know. Okay, here's where I am, this is what I'm working on. This is what I want to look towards in the next session, so that, when I come back to it, I know exactly where I'm at and what I'm working on, as opposed to I've had those same moments where I'm just like what was I? Why did I write this? Like what was going on, you know, so you want to keep yourself on track as well.
Speaker 4:And speaking of goals, I was doing the Artist's Way with a few people and there's two versions. Well, there's two, there's an eight-week one and then there's a six-week one. I think it's called Write for Life. So it's all the same concept. And Julia Cameron and she said that if you write two pages a day and if you start there with, like this, the goal is this to write two pages a day, you could achieve so much, which is so true, and it also helps prevent that burnout, like even if you're willing to go ready to go more and you got more. But if you just do those two pages and you know, build up the writing stamina, and so you know and you think two pages a month, you know two pages a day and 30, 30, 31, you know days. In a month, you got 66, you know pages 30 or 60 to 62 pages a month. That's a lot, you know when you think about it and all you have to do is two pages every single day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's actually good. I like that thought too.
Speaker 4:It's very doable. It's less pressure, because a lot of times writers, black also comes from the pressure we put on ourselves.
Speaker 3:Exactly, yeah, I love you mentioned the writers, the artist's way. I did that years ago. Well, one thing that really stuck with me that I actually started doing again was morning pages where you're just kind of like just writing, just kind of like, yeah, just writing. And that type of journaling has really helped me, too to get all the junk out of my head, to then be creative, because otherwise, when I'm sitting in my creative mind and then like other stuff is popping up, like stuff that happened at work and I'm over here and I'm just like whoa, whoa, whoa, we're focused on the characters. So that's actually helped me too. I started doing that again this well, the last month, um, and yeah, that's great. Just it helps you get all that mess out of your head and you can focus more on being creative and so I do it.
Speaker 4:You know, of course, um, she should, she's just to do it in the morning, which is good. But I also found that it's good even if you just do a page before you start actually writing, because I like doing it in the morning because it actually clears your mind for the day. Yeah, you know what I mean. But when you're sitting down, by the time you sit down to write, you know you done got a day's worth of other stuff, you know, rambling through your mind. So I like to do a page, just one, prior to writing, as part of my meditation ritual, kind of thing going on. Yeah, that's a good idea.
Speaker 3:Especially after work, it's like, oh, this person's getting on my nerves, oh, that's out, put it out.
Speaker 2:Put it out. I like that. I like what Mo was saying about getting in the routine of writing pages every day. I like what you were saying about how we need to do self-care and I think part of that self-care is, like I said, for me. I like to walk because I can think while I'm walking and the physical activity feels like it stimulates my brain. Maybe it doesn't, maybe it's in my head, but to me I can daydream while I'm walking and I can process the characters in my mind and then I can sit down fresh and so that works for me.
Speaker 2:The physical activity, sometimes changing the dialogue in your head. If my head is like, oh, I'm overwhelmed, oh, people are going to see this, oh, I'm not going to be good enough to change that, to change, change that tape, change it to. I'm about to wow them, you know, kind of put my foot in this. They're going to look at this and they're going to be so impressed, and you know what I mean. Just try to change the dialogue.
Speaker 2:You say to yourself, give yourself a little pep talk and then, like I don't know, sometimes when I'm in a really bad place with my writing, I'll like, do free writing, like I'll. I know because I'm an outliner. I'm a little bit of a plotter painter, so I know what I want to do, even though a lot of times the characters will deviate. But I know basically what I want to do. So if I'm really really stuck sometimes I'll just start writing and I won't stop to focus on the grammar or the spelling or this, that and third, and I'll just try to get it out and then I can go back and fix it. But I feel like if I don't get it out then it's hard to get past. Whatever's stopping me.
Speaker 3:You know I don't yeah, um, because, like you're judging whatever it is that you're thinking of and like as a creative person in general, you kind of you have to shut that away and just do the thing and then, especially as writers, you come back as the editor later and then you can look at it and be like, okay, so let's um, tune this up a bit and you know, yeah, I had a writing teacher was always like, especially when you're doing a first draft, so let's tune this up a bit, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I had a writing teacher who was always like, especially when you're doing a first draft, he'd be like lock the editor in the closet and just write, and that's something I also heard of. Just how to get through a writer's block is just write. You know it's not good, it's not good whatever, just keep going. And, just like you were saying, you can always go back to fix it If you're a newer writer and don't know how to fix it.
Speaker 3:This is why we have your beta readers or your teacher or whoever in your community, other writers to give you some notes and tips and how you could potentially move forward, even just in yourself. If you feel like something isn't good, you're not liking it, come up with a list of some ideas that could work. That's something I learned to do, which is come up with another list of ideas and go through them, see what works, what doesn't, for the story, for the characters, and that way you're still writing. That's still part of the process and not allowing that judgment to keep you stuck in that place. You're still moving forward, trying different things, and something will stick.
Speaker 4:So one of my favorite books it's not a technically a craft book, but I guess it could be but one of my favorite books. It's not technically a craft book, but I guess it could be but one of my favorite books on writing is Anne Lamott. I want to say Bird by Bird. I don't know why I think that, but I think that is it, bird by Bird.
Speaker 4:And she talks about the shitty first draft and I think you know, when you're sitting down to write, you know the expectation should be we should go with the expectation that this is going to not be the greatest it's going to. It's going to be bad, right. And so I think, again, it comes about taking that kind of pressure off and not worrying about it, because, first of all, that is bad. It's not bad in the sense like, oh my god, this is like we don't know the craft. It's just like, yo, you're going to find holes and they're going to be gaps and they're going to be you know plots that you know.
Speaker 4:Once, when we finish, you know we're like, wow, that's not really working. You know there's going to be so much that we see. But the expectation is I'm just getting this out of my head out of my spirit and onto this, onto the paper. So I found that just kind of like the it's going to be what it is, it's my shitty first draft and keep it moving. So I think you know, just don't have high, don't set the expectations so high that it stops you from actually writing, because I think that's part of the problem is that our expectations be too high on the first draft.
Speaker 3:Yeah, your first draft is not going to be a New York Times bestseller. Not at all, it's true. Nobody it's not even. New York Times bestseller.
Speaker 4:It's pretty bad for a New York Times bestseller.
Speaker 1:This is true Nobody.
Speaker 2:It's not even New York Times bestseller Exactly. But yeah, talk and talking to people, communicate with your friends, let them reassure you and help refocus you. I like focus music, sometimes too, when I'm in a bad place, because it seems like limiting distraction and having the music in the background can help me claw my way out of it. Usually I'm the type of writer that can write with TV on. I can write with all kind of noise because I have children, so I'm used to writing in noisy situations. But when I'm stuck I need to focus. I just need the soft sounds of the focus music you find on YouTube.
Speaker 4:Lo-fi is what it's called, and Lo-Fi is really great because it comes to, if you like and I use it for the kids so whatever the beats, the most current beats of the music that's out now, they'll have that like, say, in a much more softer. You know way Um, you find the jazz, you can find Afro beats, you can find this, you know the lo-fi, you know music purely instrumental, like in any genre of music you like and is absolutely great. I was. I'm the opposite of you. I grew up the only child. I have only child sensibilities.
Speaker 4:A whole bunch of noise and all that like I can't watch the tv, and you know, and and listen to music, like it's one thing at a time, or because my I'm nosy, right, I'm, I'm curious, so let me, I can the TV's on and I'm writing and let them be like, well, what happened, how did it? Like it could be nothing. But all of a sudden it's like, oh my God, what happened? I'm over there, I can't, I can't tune anything out. All of it's coming in. But I did, you know for when? Because my students need that, that noise.
Speaker 4:You know, it was so hard for me and I do English, so I'm like oh my God, how do you write? So I had to learn to write. I'm like, oh, it's really not that bad because it's instrumental and it's. You know, it's definitely made to help you to focus and concentrate. And so next thing, I know I'm flowing and I hear it, but it doesn't bother me and I actually found that I do pretty good with it. I do really really good with the lo-fi focus music going in the background and I like that. Again, any genre of music you like, there's music for it.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:JD.
Speaker 3:I was going to say I'm very impressed that you can write with the tv that's what I was actually about to talk about because, like, when I'm not blocked and I'm writing with the tv on.
Speaker 2:I have a a list of bad shows. I have to watch bad television because if it's something good I'll get distracted and I'll be like, oh, what's the reek doing?
Speaker 4:but if it's something bad, it's the noise.
Speaker 2:That's how do you? I have ADD. So the focus. You know I need that stimulation in the background most of the time, unless I'm blocked, and then I can't have it. But, like I said, it's bad TV. Good TV will suck me in and I'll get no writing done. But if it's something that's boring I'll keep it on. And then my kids will be like because I like they'll come downstairs and I was like, oh, this shit was terrible. They'll be like, well, why are you on season 12? And then I'll be like because I can write to it. It's terrible, but you can write to this oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would be like oh, this is so terrible, this is terrible writing. Why are they they? Why? Are they like, oh, still in it, like hate watching. But the one thing about the music I wanted to say another good thing to do is listening to music that fits your genre. So, like I've been writing something, fantasy and fantasy music, like are things that I would think of that way, like it would be a soundtrack to whatever I'm writing helps a lot too. That's true, yeah.
Speaker 2:Or things that fit your characters.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:If your character is like a punky girl, then that type of music.
Speaker 4:Right, yeah, right. It sort of kind of puts you in a. It makes you kind of imagine how they would respond, how they act, how they, you know, yeah.
Speaker 3:It helps put you in that like frame.
Speaker 2:You become a character yeah. And celebrate your victories when you get your two pages done, when you reach your goal. Find a way to reward yourself to help you get into the good routine of constantly doing it and pushing through it, even if it's just something little. I don't want to recommend junk food to people because I eat entirely too much of it, but you know I like that rewarding yourself.
Speaker 3:Have the cookie, or just a gold star, you get a gold star.
Speaker 2:You know, reward yourself and that helps your mind want to stay in that routine I put it on your board so you could see it In that routine. I would do that for myself, and that helps you stay committed to the routine because you get the little reward at the end. I did my thing and now I got my prize and then that helps you.
Speaker 4:I like the sticker thing yeah.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 3:So one last thing. I hear this a lot from all the professional writers you cannot edit a blank page, basically. So with writer's block, the best thing to do is show up. So the next thing I wanted to talk about is how. What is I don't like the word perfect, but like what's the best schedule for you all? What have you found works best for you throughout the week in terms of getting that writing time in?
Speaker 2:For me. I find that I write best when I first wake up, when I'm fresh, in the morning. I find that I write best when I first wake up, when I'm fresh, in the morning. I tend to create in the morning and edit in the evening, because in the evening, when I'm tired, the creative part of my mind I don't need it as much. You know what I mean. Well, I won't say I don't need it as much. It seems like I'm much better at generating ideas when I first wake up and when I'm fresh, but in the evening, that's when I'll do more of the editing, or even editing videos or something. You know what I mean. Find some other skill that doesn't require me to just come up with stuff.
Speaker 3:Where were you Mo?
Speaker 4:I don't think I found it yet, because the reason is because, even with the schedule, I'm getting better. I, like I said, I had the first, never my to-do down to three things, because there's always something that needs to be done, some kind of responsibility. All of a sudden someone's like, oh, I need you to do this, or we need to do this, or um, so I never looked down to three things, but I actually thought, I always thought that I was a morning person because I got up early. But I got up early because that was just the way I was raised, right. So I had, I was on a schedule, you know, to go to bed at a certain time.
Speaker 4:When I was young, I actually didn't like to hang out a lot, you know, as a young adult. So I was, you know, I never was the type like, oh, every Friday we're at the party, friday, saturday at the club, um. So I pretty much always had a routine that I would sleep between 10 and 11 o'clock, like all of my life, and so because I go to sleep 10, 11, I'm up, you know five, because I got a thing for, you know, you know not having a rush and and being on time. But then when I went the, you know, when I was in the program at Drexel and I had to write more, you know, and I had to write more, you know, and I had to write after work and at that time I was a paralegal and so I always was bringing work home with me I found myself plenty of times having to start to write at, you know, 11, 12. The crazy part about it like about 11-ish, 10 or 11, especially if I was up to, you know, like, this paper is due, my pay and exchange is due. But I was energized, Like once I started and got into it, like I'm like, oh my God, this works.
Speaker 4:And it's three, four, five o'clock and I'm like, oh my God, I've been up all night and I'm not even tired. But then I got to get up an hour and I take a little, you know, sleep and I actually found that that's the space I like to write in. But I can't, my life doesn't allow that. So my ideal space of writing, my life, doesn't allow and I try to do this seven to nine thing, but that that's actually not.
Speaker 4:By that time I'm winding down from the footer from the day and it's it's a little tiresome for me. So I'm doing it because that's the time, but it's not my best time. So I'm figuring out how to, you know, maybe recalibrate my clock some so that I can maybe do 10 to one and still be able to function good during the day, because I also need like I literally need at least seven hours of sleep. So my schedule is not the best, it's not the ideal one, and because I know how I'm functioning when it's ideal for me, I kind of feel like, well, it's not the best, but I'm getting something done, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I'm similar. So my best natural time to write would be between like 8 and noon, and I can do that on the weekends for the most part, but because of work. Similarly, and especially like when I was in the Drexel's MFA program too, I had to force myself to write after work. So I got into this like seven, seven to 10. And if I was on a roll sometime I'd even go to midnight, Um and I, I. After a while I was like energized and I could do it and like everything was functioning. But I had to kind of force myself and learn to work during that frame because that's the time I had during the week. I don't like it. I definitely can't go to midnight anymore, but I'm trying to do the 7 to 9, maybe 10 thing again.
Speaker 3:But I've been on this. I've been trying to be healthier and all that and working out. I have a trainer and all that and trying to do all of that and fit in time with writing and life. I'm like there's not enough time in the day and then they're like you got to get between seven and nine hours of sleep. I'm like, how am I doing all this? So I'm figuring it out too. But yeah, those are my times, like on the within, like an hour, hour and a half of waking up, and then, during the week, I've learned to just try and have to do it in the evenings. Yeah, so it's not bad, it's not my favorite thing. One day, one day, it'll be my full-time job and I can write when I want to, right I also recognize too, like during the day, because I tried to do it in the morning.
Speaker 4:I would get up early, I could do this, but I realized I'm actually not up until about 10. I'm physically up at five but like when I feel like I'm ready and I my brain is alert and working, moving at its peak, it's best it's about 10 o'clock, but of course I'm third period at that time.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I've done that before. I used to get up like five in the morning to write for work. I don't get up quite that early now, I do try to do some writing before work. Work I don't get up quite that early now, I do try to do some writing before work. When I was at Drexel, though, I was an assistant manager at a hotel and I was writing at work, I would take my laptop with me and especially like if I had to do the evenings or the overnights the guests are all asleep, so when they were asleep and the work was done, I would be on my laptop going and getting all kind of stuff done. It was night, all kind of weird hours of the night and stuff like that. I got a whole manuscript at that shop.
Speaker 3:Nice. If you can do it.
Speaker 4:hey, that's nice, yep yep, yep, maybe I need to go look for a night shift driver in the hotel. You said middle of the night that used to be yeah, yeah hey, that's my and then at one point.
Speaker 2:After like two years of that, they did finally say something to me about it, like why are you always on the laptop at night? And they didn't tell me to stop, but they questioned it. So then I was like, okay, well, maybe this is becoming a problem. So then I would go into an empty room that hadn't been rented and put my laptop in there, and then I would grab like a sponge, sponge and a spray bottle and I'd walk and sit there tight.
Speaker 2:I'd have the phone with me and the little sign up saying call for service because the guests are asleep. We're talking three, four in the morning, nobody's there. You know what I mean everybody's asleep and then I put the little sign up saying call for service, and then I like periodically walk back and forth and check the desk and I'd be chilling in the room with the TV on doing my writing and just back and forth back and forth.
Speaker 4:Look if you ever get in a position like that again. Legal pads work there you go your hand writing it out.
Speaker 2:I love that I mean the work was done, so they shouldn't have had complaints. The work was done. The work was done, so they shouldn't have had complaints.
Speaker 4:The work was done. People are asleep. There's nothing going on. You know it's not. You could have been asleep. You could have been up and down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and a lot of employees did that, a lot of the overnight staff would be knocked out.
Speaker 4:Half the time the stuff don't even be all the way done, and you know this is interesting, that you know that I thought, just occurred to me while we were talking Sometimes. You know some writers are young and single and you know their life is theirs and you know that may be. You may be able to find a job. If you learn, you know your natural flows and your natural times, you may be able to find a job that can accommodate that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely Now. You've got me rethinking my whole life right now.
Speaker 4:Me too, jermaine.
Speaker 2:Look I'm like oh man, man, I can't tell you how many of them Drexel Zoom classes we had, where I would log on and I'm in the hotel uniform Listen.
Speaker 4:People in my class who graduated with me would be like, oh, you're at work again, hey we give children, um, you know assessments and you know career assessments and they're pretty much similar to those personality tests to try to naturally gear, to give them a chance to start thinking about you know what they want to do post-secondary um, but it's, it's interesting how, um, we don't think about what's our natural, anything right, we just kind of get, as it does, get forced into a space like what is your natural, you know, um, what is it called? It's a I forget the term, but the natural rhythm.
Speaker 3:Circadian rhythm.
Speaker 4:Exactly Like. What is that? What is? Because that's important. It would help you decide to determine better career choices, right, you know you might want to love IT. You may want to be, you know. You know, create the games, you know. However, your body may function better at nighttime and you may need a career that you know lets you work at night versus being forced into a space. You know that you're not that most productive, but if you can, you know, be nice if you could play your life around what you really want to do. You know how your body works.
Speaker 3:Well, maybe one day society will get better.
Speaker 4:One way or another. Listen, right now, that's how people, at this moment, this is the best time to put your head down and write, and write, and write, and write, and write, and write, and write, so that you know when the dust settles, we figure it all out. At least we have forgotten the manuscript. But, like, what were you doing during, you know, the 2020, after the 2024 election, when the world was all in shambles and everything was going to hell, and and uh, and you know, the world's going to hell with gasoline drawers on? Like I was right, I wrote this book.
Speaker 3:that's right I mean a lot of people did that during covid like, yeah same, I worked all through covid.
Speaker 2:I was at the hotel masked up. In writing I.
Speaker 4:I found the space, I found what you, you know. I felt my cause, I be, you know whatever it is, but you can say, yeah, I wrote this book too.
Speaker 2:We had a guy die in the hotel. Oh my God, it was crazy during COVID. I came into work and it was police cars all over the outside of the building and I go walking in and my boss is all upset and his family was all there. They were in the normal room where people eat breakfast so we had to close that room for like months and he had come. I believe he came to quarantine. They claim he came to be away from somebody else that had COVID, but I believe he came there to quarantine because of COVID because he was only there for like three days when his niece was calling us panic because he was supposed to check in every day and didn't. And he was only there for like three days when his niece was calling us panic because he was supposed to check in every day and didn't. And he was gone. And I'm sitting there, asthmatic, as I am working every day, terrified. But you know you got kids with you. Double mask, my lysol bottle in one hand, my laptop under my arm.
Speaker 3:Wow, crazy time, crazy time well, what another note, but I feel like we had a really great discussion about writer's block, about, you know, trying to figure out schedules in terms of when to write, and I feel like, hopefully, this gives our listeners some great tips and ideas on how to work things out for themselves. Do you have any? Any of you have any last comments before we wrap this up?
Speaker 2:Keep writing right, Yep.
Speaker 3:Exactly Keep writing everybody. Thank you for joining us and we'll see you again on our next episode of A Writer's Journey. Take care, bye, bye.
Speaker 1:That wraps up today's Craft Chat Chronicles with JD Mayer. Thanks for joining us. If you liked the episode, please comment, subscribe and share. For show notes, writing workshops and tips head to JDMayorcom. That's JDMayorcom.