The Thursday! Newsletter 1-47: Small Goals and Small Spaces
Volume 1, Issue 47
I'd like to talk about writing in small spaces.
In this case, I don't mean small physical spaces, though being creative when you feel actual walls or crowds pressing in on you can be an issue, I'm not sure it's an issue most of us face regularly, though. On the other hand, I'm sure we all feel how our worlds have gotten smaller and louder in recent years. Our schedules have grown full of things we feel we must do, of obligations we've taken on, of concerns and missions pushed onto us by other people (many of whom do not care one but about us or our lives but care very much about getting our participation in their own personal outrages).
It is hard, if not impossible, to be creative in the middle of a maelstrom. We need a place where we can focus on our tasks, to gather our imaginations, and to let the quiet creative voices inside us gain enough confidence to speak up. I think we do well enough to make a small space around us for that to happen, except that space doesn't seem large enough to contain the grand plans we have. We want to sculpt Michaelangelo's David inside a telephone booth. We want to write an epic trilogy when we only really have time to write a thousands words as a time, at best. Then we get frustrated to the point of horrible self-criticism when we see the vast gulf between where we are and where we want to be.
I wonder if we wouldn't help ourselves greatly if we learned to shorten our goals. That is, if we live in a whirlwind of necessary obligations and incessant exterior noise, we'd help ourselves a lot if we could get a greater satisfaction about smaller accomplishments. Now, that's going to sound a lot like "lower your standards, people", but that's not quite what I mean. It's not like we're reaching those lofty goals each day or even each year, are we? You didn't get Book One of The Mighty Epic Trilogy written in 2020, did you? You're not almost finished Book Two this year, are you? No. Probably not. And, chances are, you're discouraged by that. You're feeling less like a creative wonder and more like an awful failure who ought to give up the whole writer thing and just give in to the storm around you. You saw early on that you couldn't get where you wanted to go, so you let your resolve slip and the dream kind of whirled away in the noise and clamor and chaos.
I get it. I spent most of my adult life wanting to write the Most Awesome Fantasy Adventure Ever Written. I also spent most of my adult life failing to write even most of it, hating myself for the failures, and giving up on the whole thing over and over and over again. You are most definitely not alone with your frustration and you're not the only one fighting to get a big dream done in a loud world that cares nothing of you nor your dream.
What, though, if you had set your goals to write a chapter of that book every week? Or every two weeks? What if you got a couple thousand words down in 14 days and felt great about it because that's just what you set out to do? I know you can do that. I know you can get a chapter done every week or so. Maybe ten days? Yeah, let's say ten days. That gives you three chapters a month. If your book has 30 chapters in it (and why not, since if you cut your story up in the traditional Three Act Structure, you can give each act 10 chapters, which is a nice, orderly number), you can have the whole thing written in 10 months.
ONE BOOK IN LESS THAN A YEAR!
Think that's crazy? Let's just do a little math and see, okay?
If you write 30 chapters, with each chapter consisting of 3,000 words, you'll have a 90,000 word book. That's a nice length for just about any genre you want, and it's even long for a couple of the most popular (like romance and cozy mysteries). If you want 3,000 words in two weeks, you'll need to write a bit under 215 words a day.
Two hundred and fifteen words. Each day.
That's it. That's all.
You can do that. You can make that much space in your day for that. You can. YOU CAN!
Don't want to write a big story trilogy? fine. Write a poem. One poem. I bet you it won't be that many words, though the writing might take you the same amount of time. Poems are different, I've found. But one poem a day puts a solid collection in your hands in six weeks. Do the math from there over the course of a year.
See what you can do? See what is possible?
Think small space. Think small goals. Pile them up and see what you have when you're done. Don't climb the whole mountain; climb part of it. Don't run a marathon, run a mile then another mile then another mile. Don't forget to rejoice after you've run the mile or climbed the mini-mountain. Celebrate then get the next one. Celebrate that one then get the next one.
I've written 27 poems this month. That's more poetry than I've intentionally written in my whole life. When I started, I thought 30 poems in 30 days was a stupid, crazy goal and I'd never get that far. Instead, though, I set out to write a poem. Just one. Just that day. Write it and publish it and enjoy what I'd done. I'll have another goal tomorrow, but that's tomorrow.
You can do that too, with whatever it is you want. Work in a small space, because that's the only space you're going to get. The world won't give you more. You'll fight and grow tired and discouraged and you'll quit. I don't want that for you. I want you to win. I want you to create what you've always thought you could. One day at a time. One chapter at a time. One song at a time. One carving at a time. One illustration at a time.
You can do it. Today. I believe in you.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
What I Wrote this Week
"I Look for Dreams", a poem about a hole in the sky.
"September 20 at Ten Minutes Past Midnight", a poem inspired by real life and a delicious snack.
"Guess What", a poem for fun that might make you laugh. At least I can hope it will.
"A Buzzardcratic Snafu?", a poem I like but a title I'm not so sure about.
"The Adams Family, I Presume", a poem about historical figures and a few I made up. Probably.
"The Heavens Declare", a poem to ponder as you go about your day.
"The Laughing Wind", a poem about the wind and a lovely autumn day.
"A Memory of Coffee Among the Asteroids", a story (YAY!) that is more a monologue, I think. You decide.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
One Last Thing
This is where I ask you to help me out. I can't share Thursday! nearly as well as you can so if you know someone who might like what we have here, forward this along or show them the archives.
You can also buy or share my cool book, give it a solid review, or get an autographed copy (ask and I'll tell you how!).
If you're seeing Thursday! for the first time, HI! I'm glad to meet you. If you want more, subscribe right here.
As always, you can always talk back to me by hitting the reply button! I can't promise I'll always answer back, because I'm quite forgetful, but I'll read everything you send.