138: A Powerful Mantra for Writing

 

This one mantra has been the guiding principle of my writing, business, and life in general lately! These four words will shift how you view your creative projects. 

-----

- Click here for ways to work with me + a free character profile template: www.thekatiewolf.com/info

- The last Tuesday of the month is a Q&A episode! Submit your questions for me HERE.


- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@katiewolfwrites

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiewolfwrites

 

 

a powerful mantra for writing

Hello, welcome to your big creative life. I'm gonna just give you a little update on writing. But actually, I think I'm gonna say that until I really get into the meat of this episode, because that ties in to what we're talking about. So the other update, I'll just share with you really quick before we dive in is, this is what's been occupying my brain this week, we are flying with Audrey, our nine month old daughter for the first time this weekend, we are going to Minnesota. By the time this episodes come out, this episode comes out we will be back already and I can update you on how it went. But I'm just so nervous. I'm so nervous to take her on a flight. And honestly, it's not even that I'm scared for her unnecessarily.

 

I'm just worried that I'm worried about what other people on the plane are going to think if she's squirmy and disruptive and crying, which I don't anticipate a lot of that because she's nine months old, like I said, and really the only time that she cries is if she's really tired. And like before she goes to bed at night, because she's just tired. And that's why she's crying. So our flights during the day. And it's a direct flight to Minnesota. And I'm just like, we just got to do it, we've got to do it. We're going to see my family. We're not going to drive because it's a two day drive. I don't even know how many hours it would be to go from South Carolina to Minnesota. But we're not doing that.

 

And if we want to be seeing my family like we have to do this flight, we just have to do it. I've heard people say it's easier to fly with a baby than it is with a toddler because a toddler wants to be up. And it's hard for them to sit still. So, yeah, I'm really hoping it goes okay. Yeah, it's just and there's a lot to think about too, like packing for a week away. With a baby. There's a lot to think about, like all these little things, I'm like, Okay, we have to pack the sound machine. Because there has to be something to like muffle the noise in the room, because she's used to that. And then we've got okay, my mom's got the pack in place. So we'll put her there, we've got to make sure we bring like sleepsack we got to make sure you know I placed an Amazon order for diapers and wipes and formula to go to my to live be delivered to my parents house. Just all these little pieces and all these little things, I'm still not really sure if we're going to check the car seat, or if we what we do with the car seat to bring it with us. I don't know all these little things I'm like, but like I said, when this episode comes out, we will have survived, done the flight and come back.

 

So just just thinking, okay, like we just this is going to be the worst time probably the first time that we do it. And then after that, hopefully it'll be easier because we'll know what to expect. And, you know, we have to raise a good traveler because my family lives in a different state. So we're going to be traveling with her a lot. And we just got to get her used to it. Yeah, that's what's been on my mind this week. But what I wanted to tell you all in terms of a writing update is that I've started to get into this book that I'm writing this new psychological thriller, and it ties into the mantra that I want to talk about in this episode. My honest, like guiding philosophy over the last few years is these four words, that I don't even know where I heard this or how I came up with this. If I if someone told it to me, I honestly don't remember.

 

But for the last few years, like I said, this has really been my guiding philosophy and this this philosophy is Let it be easy. Writing, content creation, business, schedule stuff, life in general, just let it be easy. So with writing, what does this look like? I'm going to I'm going to tell you, I'm gonna give you an example of where I'm at with this book. And what I decided because I think this really illustrates it. I have been agonizing over this decision with this book of whether I want to have two or three point of view characters. Because initially when I had come up with a concept for this book, I decided it was going to be three point of view characters.

 

And I got about 10,000 words into the book and then put it aside and the 10,000 words had three point of view characters I'd written a little bit from each of those three characters. And it just, there was something about it, I kept encountering resistance, and I chalked it up to all kinds of other things like that I won't get into now, but about why I was having trouble writing and why I was having trouble moving forward with the story. And I was still, and I made a decision, I thought, like months ago about it, but I didn't, I guess I really didn't fully make the decision because there's still this, there was still this part of me that was going back and forth on. So I don't wanna share too much about it.

 

But basically, the concept for the book is, it takes place at over five days at this conference, this business conference that happens in Miami, and the main guy like the main speaker was going to be one of the point of view characters, the guy who organizes the conference. And then to people attending to young women attending were going to be the other two point of view characters. And they were coming at this conference with completely different perspectives and backgrounds and everything. And that's how I originally conceptualized it. And now I'm thinking I had been thinking like, well, maybe I just need to cut out his point of view entirely. And only have it be in the point of view of these two people who are attending the conference and just alternate between them.

 

And but why I kept thinking, No, it has to be three, it has to be three, it has to be three is I have been listening to a couple of thrillers on audiobook because I have for the last few months been taking Audrey to daycare, which is kind of a significant drive. It's not her daycares, not really close to us, but it's the one that we could get her into. And so I've listened to a lot of podcasts, I've been listening to audiobooks, and these thrillers that I had been listening to. I was listening to them because I haven't really been working on my own book. And I was like, Oh, let me just read and listen to some stuff for fun, like get back into some books that I really enjoy. And these books that I was listening to were all multi point of view, like at least four or five point of view characters, which i i enjoy, I enjoy listening to books that have that many point of view characters, as long as they're done.

 

Well, obviously, if there's too many, and it's not done skillfully, you can really disrupt the story. But so I guess, maybe I had internalized this belief of like, no more point of view characters is better, it's not enough to have to, I either need to have one point of view character who we stick with for the entire book, or we need to have three. I don't know why, like saying this out loud. It sounds kind of silly, right? There are no rules about how many point of view characters you should you should have. But I guess subconsciously, I was like, no more is better.

 

And I can think of some authors that I admire who do multi point of view, and they do it so well. And they really are able to step into the character, just and really access their voice in a way that I admire. And I guess I just wanted to do the same. And I've talked about this before, on the podcast, but there's always this part of me that I feel like I'm battling a bit. There's this part of me that wants to be a literary writer. And for some reason, three point of view characters. If I think about it, in the world of this story, that I'm writing three characters feels more challenging. And so therefore, it must be better. Like I have to push myself and do this because it's harder, because it's more literary. I guess, again, not always, the stuff is just so silly now that I say it out loud. But that's really what was going on, I have this belief that doing three was somehow better.

 

And that I should push push myself and challenge myself. But coming back to this mantra coming back to this philosophy. There is no reason for me to believe that this book needs to have this guy's point of view, I can see a version of the book that does have his point of view. And there are three point of view characters. And we get insight into what he's thinking and feeling and what is happening with him. But then I can also see a version of the book that only has two point of view characters. And it's just as captivating. Just as twisty. All the things that a thriller needs to be right. So there's no reason to think that this including his point of view, is just going to make the book automatically better.

 

And if I am having trouble accessing his character, if something about it feels off to me, why wouldn't I at least explore the possibility the option of writing the draft with two point of view characters, because it's easier for me to write those characters right now. It's just it's easier for me to access their point of view. They're very different people. They're coming to this conference with different motivations and expectations and all of that. But it's so much easier for me to get into the head of these two characters.

 

So why don't I just do that, I can decide halfway through the first draft, if I want to change it and add in his point of view, I can always adjust it if I need to, or the end of the first draft. I mean, yes, that would be a lot of work. But I can, I can do that. So it's like, why not just let it be easy. If that's how it's coming out, that's how I'm going to do it. And this is something that I tell coaching clients all the time when it comes to the tense, the verb tense that you are writing your story in, whether it's past or present tense, if the story is coming out in present tense. And that's really how it wants to be written.

 

And it feels like you are fighting yourself every single time you get out a sentence, to write it in past. Just let it be easy write in present tense. If you get to the end, and you have a strong conviction that it actually has to be in past tense, then great, you can just go through and switch the verbs in the manuscript. I mean, again, it's a lot of work to do that. But there's no reason why you can't do that. Let it be easy. If there's something that you can tweak, if there's something that you can do in the drafting process, to help you get the story out quicker, just do it. That's my philosophy, honestly. And this is, there's a similar thing for my schedule, and how I operate in the day when it comes to writing. And also when it comes to editing, like client editing projects, or working on editing, coaching clients, manuscripts, whatever it is.

 

I used to beat myself up a lot because I lose steam at like, two o'clock, my brain feels like it's operating at 40% capacity. I feel like I'm really not as good of an editor after 2pm. And so for a long time I fought myself because it was so ingrained in me Nope, it's got to be a nine to five schedule, it's got to be a nine to five schedule. Even though I don't work a nine to five schedule, I work for myself, I can set my hours. And but I've, I've learned to just accept that this is how my body operates how my energy levels operate. So I can easily start work. I mean, now with a baby, it's a little bit different. But pretty baby, I could start work at 645 or seven, and then be done by, I don't know, 1 or 2 o'clock.

 

And if I wanted to do more work, or I needed to do more work than I could do a little bit more work in the evenings, that's fine. But with writing, it's very difficult for me to write in the evening, it just, I can maybe edit a bit. Or occasionally I get a burst of motivation, where I'm really excited about something that I'm writing, and then I can write in the evenings. But otherwise, I just can't do it. I'm a morning writer. And so instead of trying to force myself into the schedule, that makes everything 10 times harder. I've just decided to go with my natural inclination and my natural energy level throughout the day so that I, so I write in the mornings, and I start work early. And that works well for me.

 

So again, there's an example just let it be easy. It doesn't have to be. I'm done kind of like molding myself and my habits into this idea of what things should look like. Because everyone's different. And it makes a huge difference. Like I am so much more productive. When I'm editing a client manuscript. If I work for two solid hours on a client manuscript in the mornings, like let's say, like eight to 10am, as opposed to four hours in the afternoon, like if I work one to 5pm. I'm nowhere near as productive as those two hours in the morning. So why wouldn't I take advantage of that? It's like a remnant from my corporate days where it's like, no, you have to be at your desk for eight hours.

 

Even if you finish your work in six. It's just stupid. Another example of this, that I want to share with you have let it be easy is content creation and social media. And I want to talk about this with you because like we talked about before on this podcast, if you want to be a published author, whether that's traditionally published, getting your book published through your small press, being an indie author, marketing and promoting your book is going to be part of that. So you are going to have to be online in some way, shape or form. To what extent you know, it varies of course and the type of content that you create create varies, but what I think is the best idea for people is to go with what feels easiest and most fun honestly, that is why I create my content in Tik Tok first because recording a Tik Tok putting up a video on Tik Tok is so easy for me at this point.

 

It's like not even easy. I mean, yes, easy, but it's also fun for me. I love doing it. And I have tried to force myself in the past when Twitter was still Twitter before threads for all that I tried to be on Twitter and I did not like it. I just, it was not for me and when threads came out, but it was a last year, I think it was maybe last summer. I tried briefly posting on threads. I'm like, Oh, let me see if this is something that I like. No, I don't like it doesn't mean I won't like it in the future, who knows, maybe things will change. But for right now, I don't enjoy it. I go on thread sometimes to look at things that people have posted. But I'm not posting on threads. I'm not creating any content there. Because it's not fun. I don't enjoy it. It feels really, really, really hard for me to do.

 

So why would I force myself to do that I'm not going to be at 100% capacity and output on every single social media platform. And that is the biggest way to burn out as a content creator or someone who just like create content for an author brand, let's say. So instead, I've decided to focus my time and energy on things that feel easy, which right now it's Tik Tok, and then repurposing those two Instagram, Instagram stories, and the podcast. That's it. That's what I have right now. And, for me, this also means when I create content, I do it in a way that feels fun. I do it in a way that feels easy. And sometimes that means I'm recording something. As the idea comes to me, and it's not like a heavily edited video, I don't have to like get ready and do my hair and put on makeup or anything. I just do it in a way where it's quick. It's quick, and it's easy.

 

And that's how I create content. So apply that to your own content creation process. If you are someone who has trouble with it, or it feels draining or it feels overwhelming. Look at where you can make it easy. Look at where you can make it fun, because I promise I promise that is like the secret sauce to getting yourself to do it. Honestly, that's how I started exercising. I had a couple of years in my 20s Was it like, early? Yeah, early 20s where I didn't work out at all, like ever. I never went to any workout classes. I wasn't walking. I mean, I guess if I was in college, I would like walk to class, like a five or 10 minute walk to class around campus. That was it, though. Nothing. And I try to go to the when I started going to the gym.

 

I tried to make myself run. I was like, No, you need to be a runner. This is so good for you. Everyone says it's you should be able to do this. It's easy to just get on the treadmill and run. And I hated it. And I would dread going it was just it was awful. I also did I tried like a Zumba class. That was not for me. I did not enjoy that my hips. I could not get my hips to move like everyone else's in the class. It was really awkward. Um, what else did I try? spin class, I went to some spin classes with a friend of mine. That was okay. That was better. But I think honestly, it was just better because I was going with a friend. I don't know. It wasn't until I found bar that it was like, oh, okay, this, this can become a regular part of my routine I loved bar when I found it. It was like the perfect thing for me because I hate cardio. I hate getting out of breath. Like, you know, I hate sweating a ton. I just at that point in my life bar was like the absolute perfect thing for me.

 

And I did it multiple times a week because I really enjoyed it. No other type of exercise was appealing to me. I only did bar because I loved it. And it was easy to do. So that's another example like it just life is so much better when we can incorporate this philosophy. And look, this isn't always applicable. I would love to just be like, let it be easy. And I don't know not do things that I have to do. Like of course we all have to do shit we don't want to do. So this can apply in every single situation. But as much as possible in these little decisions, these little things that you're doing. Try to implement this because it makes things so much easier.

 

So try embracing this as your new mantra in writing anything creative. Social media, work, whatever it is. Let it be easy. I promise it's going to it's going to be a game changer for how you feel, how much resistance you have how hard things are. It's just it's a game changer. So try it out. I hope this is helpful. And I'll see you next week. Thank you so much for listening.

Katie Wolf