The Law of Reversed Effort

[The Judge]

By chance I've today read a short article that resonated with something I've been saying -- or, rather, trying to say -- in a few threads recently, namely that it's necessary to step back sometimes and just relax into our writing, rather than keep pushing and trying too hard, or continually over-thinking issues.

Since I've been a work-to-the-deadline procrastinator since I was a child, when homework for Monday morning only got done late Sunday evening, I know only too well the stress of having to Get Something Done, which is only worsened when a problem arises in Doing It. Frequently when I was writing the Kraxon serials I'd find myself with a plot conumdrum, even giant plot holes, with only days to sort them out, and the stress-o-meter went into overdrive -- but inevitably the problems got solved after I stepped away and stopped trying consciously to force the writing, and instead let my sub-conscious/instinct/imagination do the necessary. (OK, sometimes I had to let my writing buddies do it for me...)

That's not to say we shouldn't work to improve our skills, and I'm not advocating an arty-farty "I only ever write when the muse strikes me, darlings" approach -- writing needs practice and practice needs discipline of some kind. But in my view the best writing comes when we're in the flow, and we can't access the flow in a state of tension which arises when we're forcing ourselves. Some of the pop-psychology articles on the issue use the analogy of trying to sleep, which won't happen if you keep telling yourself you have to sleep, but for me it's reminiscent of a dream I repeatedly had a good many years ago -- I was flying, and it was effortless and lovely, but as soon as I tried to work out how I was flying, and what I needed to do to keep flying, it all went pear-shaped and I plummeted towards the dream-ground. (Always waking up before I hit, fortunately!)

I don't know if this will make sense to anyone else, but I thought I'd put it out here just in case it helps those of us who might be struggling or getting worked up.

If you do a search there are a number of articles on the issue, most of which quote Aldous Huxley, but the following seems to be one of the better ones: The Law of Reversed Effort: How to Get Better by Doing Less

 

[THX1138]

By chance I've today read a short article that resonated with something I've been saying -- or, rather, trying to say -- in a few threads recently, namely that it's necessary to step back sometimes and just relax into our writing, rather than keep pushing and trying too hard, or continually over-thinking issues.

Since I've been a work-to-the-deadline procrastinator since I was a child, when homework for Monday morning only got done late Sunday evening, I know only too well the stress of having to Get Something Done, which is only worsened when a problem arises in Doing It. Frequently when I was writing the Kraxon serials I'd find myself with a plot conumdrum, even giant plot holes, with only days to sort them out, and the stress-o-meter went into overdrive -- but inevitably the problems got solved after I stepped away and stopped trying consciously to force the writing, and instead let my sub-conscious/instinct/imagination do the necessary. (OK, sometimes I had to let my writing buddies do it for me...)

That's not to say we shouldn't work to improve our skills, and I'm not advocating an arty-farty "I only ever write when the muse strikes me, darlings" approach -- writing needs practice and practice needs discipline of some kind. But in my view the best writing comes when we're in the flow, and we can't access the flow in a state of tension which arises when we're forcing ourselves. Some of the pop-psychology articles on the issue use the analogy of trying to sleep, which won't happen if you keep telling yourself you have to sleep, but for me it's reminiscent of a dream I repeatedly had a good many years ago -- I was flying, and it was effortless and lovely, but as soon as I tried to work out how I was flying, and what I needed to do to keep flying, it all went pear-shaped and I plummeted towards the dream-ground. (Always waking up before I hit, fortunately!)

I don't know if this will make sense to anyone else, but I thought I'd put it out here just in case it helps those of us who might be struggling or getting worked up.

If you do a search there are a number of articles on the issue, most of which quote Aldous Huxley, but the following seems to be one of the better ones: The Law of Reversed Effort: How to Get Better by Doing Less

I tend to overthink to the point that I severely under write. Then I go on to some writing exercise instead, sometimes to a fault!
I'm now working on my daily time management to help as most of my writing is done late at night, when I should be asleep. Brain fog all day long!

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

Thanks for that. It's been my experience more or less lately -and getting frustrated by having nothing written. I've come to writing relatively late in life so sorta want to play catch up and progress, and reckoned setting time, reading and word goals might help. But they've had the opposite effect. Something always gets in the way and writing goes on the long finger, which gets frustrating. Then I try harder to squeeze something in, which is always pure muck (at least more so than usual). Taking a step back has helped a bit and am very slowly getting a story together. There's a class athletics coach in town and I often hear him roaring to his gang 'push yourself, but don't force yourself' -works for them, anyhow your post was good timing for me

 

[The Big Peat]

A wonderful article and thank you for sharing.

That said... while I 100% agree with how it approaches best performance, best performance also comes from having something down so well you don't really have to think about doing it and can just relax, and having skills and knowledge that engrained usually involves a lot of concentrated grinding away in most disciplines. I am not sure how much that necessarily applies to writing though.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

It totally applies. Experience of writing over years, decades, is invaluable. An author never stops learning. If that author is brave enough to never stop progressing, so much the better, for them and their fans.

 

[The Big Peat]

It's the nature of the learning I was getting at, not the need for it.

A lot of that article uses sports as its prism for viewing performance. I was never anywhere near the elite end in any sport but the amount of time I'd spend doing the same physical motion and really focusing on how I did it was non-negligible, particularly when it came to tackling. And you read biographies of the elite, or get a glimpse at their training sessions and you'll see even more of it. I watched a video a month or so ago of a hockey goaltending coach getting a player to do the same motion over and over, once very slow and considered, then going as fast as possible - so fast the movement was breaking down - to try and get the smoothest motion on game night. Etc.etc. And the author's point about being relaxed still applies to this sort of learning, but the mind won't be a blank. You will sometimes be encouraged to push and push to see where the limit is. You still sometimes be encouraged to ensure you make the same movement over and over, focusing on the movement, until its muscle memory.

However, that's sports and not writing. The methods are different. I've never written thirty one sentence character descriptions in a row. I don't start each writing session with a quick action paragraph. I don't think anyone does. Our improvement sessions and our performance sessions are by and large the same thing.

So my point about the article maybe not being entirely correct may not carry over to writing. That's what I was getting at.

 

[sknox]

I do think writing is unique, not only among activites but even among the arts.

Painting, sculpture, dance, music, all these art forms involve a physical activity that is integral to the art itself. Writing is different. Sure we type, or we write with pen and ink; some of us even dictate. But we also talk about writing scenes in our head. The physical act of writing is very nearly beside the point. Real writing is this iterative, recursive (and cursed) activity that ranges from making notes to writing scenes to revising to editing to proofing. At every step, the art lies not in how we put finger to keyboard or pen to paper, but in the choices we make in the moment (perhapse programming comes closest). Maybe that's why so few advice articles resonate for me.

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

I do think writing is unique, not only among activites but even among the arts.

Painting, sculpture, dance, music, all these art forms involve a physical activity that is integral to the art itself. Writing is different. Sure we type, or we write with pen and ink; some of us even dictate. But we also talk about writing scenes in our head. The physical act of writing is very nearly beside the point. Real writing is this iterative, recursive (and cursed) activity that ranges from making notes to writing scenes to revising to editing to proofing. At every step, the art lies not in how we put finger to keyboard or pen to paper, but in the choices we make in the moment (perhapse programming comes closest). Maybe that's why so few advice articles resonate for me.

Purely anecdotal but I came to writing from programming. Ended up tinkering about with a bit of code a few years ago, loved it, and took a pile of evening classes before trying writing by chance. Writing seemed to have all the fun parts of coding (creating a structure/ figuring ways around problems/ getting stuff to work out) without the restrictions of platforms etc., which to me is a good thing and is why I'm on this forum. I reckon programming is the trendy Uncle of writing, and can see from the challenges that more than a few chrons have that background so ya could be on to something there

 

[Steve Harrison]

I used to overthink terribly, but I came to point after a few years where I decided. f%#k it, I'll just relax and write and things will work themselves out. And they did. And do. I grew to realise that less is more, in the sense that the less you worry about, the more you improve.

I don't know if this came about due to any particular insight into the craft or from laziness. Probably the latter, as my favorite blog piece is, How to become a better writer by not writing.

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

How to become a better writer by not writing

Do you have a link for that? -I'll take all the easy routes out there I think in general more is always more, and someone who puts in the time will be 'better' than someone who doesn't (whatever 'better' in writing is).

 

[Steve Harrison]

Do you have a link for that? -I'll take all the easy routes out there I think in general more is always more, and someone who puts in the time will be 'better' than someone who doesn't (whatever 'better' in writing is).

Here it is: How to become a better writer… by not writing

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

Here it is: How to become a better writer… by not writing

'Never write anything, especially words' ...some upmostly flonktillious typerations if ever there once has been -great post

 

[DLCroix]

I fully agree and believe that everyone should follow this advices. I would just like to add that giving the brain goals also helps us to be more creative, especially to avoid these blocks that trigger that anxiety when you reach a point where you either don't know how to continue (and that usually happens even with a master plot of the line of events), or have no idea how to fix certain plot holes. So I think that, as you say, relaxing instead of pushing yourself what it does is give the brain more time to work on some solution, which, at least for now (because it may not be the best or later we will another will happen), it can give us some clue to move forward and not be left scratching our heads.
However, I think that setting certain goals before embarking on writing a story is also helpful in avoiding blocks. These objectives, of course, can be of different types.
For example, format objectives: certain number of words. Yes, although it sounds somewhat superfluous, what did the teacher do when in class she told us to write a composition on a certain topic? She specified the field for us, and so our minds already knew that they had to work within a certain word limit and the topic, right? Therefore, once this information was known, it became easier for us: we did not write blindly as many do, led by inspiration or the spark of an idea and then stop just like the flame of a match goes out.
However, by word count I don't mean a daily goal either, but the TOTAL story. Aha, just as our teacher asked us. Basically, it's like the writing contests, right? Or, without going any further, the same writing challenges on the forum.

But there are also content goals that we can set before we start writing. These can be thematic as in the previous example, but also creative, dramatic, effect, etc. Even so, these last three already require a certain maturation of concepts, which is also directly related to everything we read. For this, we must think of the brain as a blender: if we do not give it elements to mix, it is very difficult for the result to be what we expect. It is also known that the brain learns by associating ideas. Therefore, the more we read, the more material our minds have to compare, evaluate and decide. Likewise, it is also important to ask ourselves how we want to write, what is the breaking point that can make us more creative. Because reading helps to have more elements of comparison, and that basically defines our style, but we can also do that consciously if we stop to think about how we are writing, and by this I mean that the ideal is that we must do it carefully. This, I believe, is essential to avoid that our stories ultimately only reflect an unconscious imitation (precisely because we do not reflect on it) of our favorite authors.

And as a final point, my last thought on the matter is that this for us should be the same as a contract. In other words, hopefully we leave in writing the reflections and objectives resulting from this self-assessment. What is the reason for doing this? Neuroprogramming: our brain needs to READ what we have set out to do from now on in order to process it. This is actually the great power of the written word, and it is so much so that we do not need to ask ourselves how it works, because something that our brain READS usually lodges it in the cerebral cortex and generates actions in response of which we are not even aware. In addition, it is assumed that we are acquiring a commitment with ourselves, therefore it is even possible that our brain turns it into a directive. That is to say, from now on we will have a north that will guide us and whatever the topics we write about, little by little we will begin to define a unique writing style and according to our abilities. Then it is up to us if we want to be the captain of a boat or a ocean liner.
Anyway, I want to end by apologizing to those who already more or less know how this music works; but I also do it thinking of the new members who join the forum in order to avoid these annoying blocks. Hope that helps.

 

[comradeogilvy]

I learned a similar lesson when I did repair work on Indian sitars. The sitar is a stringed instrument that still possesses some ancient and rather crude characteristics. The instrument is impossible to intonate (play perfectly in tune on all notes) and with its wooden tuning pegs it can slip out of tune when played hard.

So anyway, the traditional Indian players accepted the instrument's shortcomings and adjusted intonation with finger pressure as they played; if the sitar slipped out of tune during a performance they simply tuned it back up, right in the middle of a song. The American players that I worked for were generally more insistent that the instrument be intonated. This of course was impossible given it's design.

From there I learned about the Japanese concept of "wabi sabi" which basically means there is perfection in the imperfect. The concept was in many ways a life saver for me.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Out of curiosity, did you ever work on left handed sitars?

 

[Stomalomalus]

I completely agree with this concept. I'm also a terrible procrastinator, and I'm also a terrible planner, so finding a way to negate these was very important to me. Something I'm still not great at.

But, and I know this is far from a new concept, putting in the effort to plan means that if it becomes too difficult to move forward, I can simply write a different part of the story with that creative freedom. Later, I can come back to the tough part once my brain figures it out on its own.

 

[comradeogilvy]

Out of curiosity, did you ever work on left handed sitars?

I don't think so. I did setups and reworked the "jawari" to make the buzz more or less depending upon the customer's preference. I retied frets that had come loose, but the vast majority of what I did was repair cracked "toombas" (gourds).