White House Correspondent’s Dinner
I’m a big fan of journalists, TV journalism, and comedy. Put them all together, and you have the only event CSPAN broadcasted that didn’t put the average person to sleep.
Every year the White House puts on the Correspondent’s Dinner. Even though we see little humor in the articles or on the TV shows by the reporters, for whatever reason (sanity-preservation?), the tone of the evening is light-hearted and funny.
Below is the 17+ minute clip of the President. Say what you want about the Prez and his politics, the guy has a sense of humor. I have a feeling he filters A LOT. Even though I doubt he wrote even ten percent of his monologue here, and the dog-cuisine references are worn out (and gross), his timing is impeccable and his delivery earns high marks. If you watch nothing else, the 12 minute marker (dog commercial) is worth the viewing.
Saturday Night Live needs to steal those writers…
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Lost That Lovin’ Feeling? (Part Tres)
This week we’re talking about burnout. Of the writing variety.
I don’t usually weigh in with advice, but so far it’s going well enough I might try it again.
So join me next week when I discuss how to disarm a dirty bomb, make a perfect baked Alaska, and how to get out of a speeding ticket without resorting to tears and cleavage.
If you missed the quiz to see if you’ve got The Burnout, go HERE.
If you missed life-changing, world-saving restorative steps 1-5, go HERE.
Let us lift up our tea cups, raise our pinkies, take one Countess Grantham slurp of Earl Grey, and begin.
6. Tip number six is to consider getting an AlphaSmart. This practical tidbit was one I’ve heard for YEARS and YEARS. I ignored it. Until a few months ago when author Kristin Billerbeck said she wrote her Ashley Stockingdale series on it and was dusting it off once again. The AlphaSmart is basically a word processor. It’s incredibly light (2 lbs), operates for 700 HUNDRED hours on 3 AA batteries, and they’re cheap. (Order from manuf and it’s about 140 dollars. I got mine on ebay for 40 plus s/h.) When I finally broke down and ordered mine, I thought, “Here’s another tech toy for the junk collection.” So far…I’ve been wrong. I have a desktop and a laptop, so it was really hard to justify this gadget. But for the model I bought, there are two advantages that have me writing again:
a. Tiny screen that only shows you a few lines. Initially this was a huge drawback to me when I first heard of the AlphaSmart years ago. But now it’s the best thing that could’ve happened. For most of my books, I’ve written a clean first draft. (Anne Lamott would not approve…) But that’s because I can stew over a sentence for hours. I’ll read and reread my own chapter 20 times before moving on to the next. And while I like that it gives me a good finished product, it makes the writing journey about as much fun as running through quick sand. So for the project I’m working on now, I’m totally doing the Bird by Bird Sloppy Copy. It’s way too much trouble to scroll up to previous parts of my chapter (no mouse on this thing, just good old up and down arrows), so I don’t. I just keep going. Sometimes I’ll type in some notes to myself in all caps. Like INSERT SETTING DETAILS HERE. Or ADD CHARACTER DESCRIPTION BY THIS POINT!
Side story, I often get the pleasure of reading Christa Allan’s manuscripts before they go to her publisher. It always makes me laugh when I’ll be reading along and see:
BLAH BLAH BLAH
SOME CRAP GOES HERE
But that’s exactly what you do with this AlphaSmart. It feels really good to just get that chapter down, no matter what it looks like. And there’s something intimidating about an entire blank screen on that laptop. But a two inch box? I can fill that.
b. Final thing I love about the model of the Alpha that I have (it’s a NEO)–no internet. I think you can now get them where they wirelessly download your files to your computer, but mine is old school and requires a USB. And I love that. The internet is a big trap for me, and it breaks my concentration like the wafting scent of my neighbor’s chocolate chip cookies. There is no stopping your writing to see if Britney Spears wore her underpants on that day (she did not) or if Kim Kardashian made another million this week simply by breathing (she did).
For 40 bucks and change, you really can’t go wrong. But I recommend this machine for when you are coming out of the burnout. It won’t heal a thing in your writing-tired heart. (Though for what it’s worth, I got mine before I was done Being Tired. It made me feel pro-active that I had purchased something for writing. It was an act of faith. Or desperation. (Tomato, tomah-toh))
7. Listen to your body, mind, spirit. While on my hiatus, I had lovely, well-meaning friends, family, and readers occasionally email me to do what I call a Crazy Check. “You still not writing? You just need to get back to it.”
I wanted to be able to say, “I will! Tomorrow! You’re so right!” But I couldn’t. Because I knew better. I wanted to WANT to write, but I also knew that I wasn’t supposed to. Is there anything harder in life than to just wait? Nope. Waiting rarely makes sense until it’s over. I couldn’t make it through this career without the support of friends and family, and there’s no dollar amount I could put on the value of having folks care enough to check on me, but only you can know when you’re truly ready to get back on the horse. If you jump back in too early, I think the next round of burnout will just come even sooner. Have the guts to take care of yourself and stay out for as long as it takes. As someone who’s just now coming out the other side, you’ll know when you’re meant to get back out there.
8. Give it to God. If He’s the one orchestrating this, it’s really beneficial to keep him in the loop.
My constant verse to claim was Romans 4:17. I would say aloud or write on my bathroom mirror: I believe in the God who raises the dead, the God who brings things into existence that did not exist before. If that Writing (or insert your issue here) Loving Feeling is dead, God can resurrect it, just like he can resurrect your creativity, your ideas, and your passion for the work (or whatever). On His timeline. The trick is to believe in it and wait for it. And if He doesn’t bring it back, then He’ll provide something else to fill that void. Give you a new dream. I think it helped me to be open to whatever my finale was. Despite the many whiny days I wondered if I was a total, raving mostly calm, TV-watching idiot.
Obviously I could get more specific about my story, my two year process. But it’s not really important. I get sweet emails from readers asking when the next book is out. (A Charmed Life collection with it’s spanky new cover is out May 1.) I’m currently working on a project that isn’t really mine, and when I finish that, I might start working on this glimmer of an idea I have. But I don’t know when my next NEXT (all mine) book will be out. Right now it’s just a tiny Mike & Ike in my limited brain. And I’m okay with that.
So this is what I know today.
Tomorrow I might be pulling out that file of research I have titled “Return to Grad School.”
But today.
Today I’ve got that lovin’ feeling.
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Lost That Lovin’ Feeling? (Part Dos)
Monday I listed some clues to help you discern if you have Writer’s Burnout. Please refer to that post (or to your psychologist) if you have doubts.
Writing is a hard job. (Isn’t everything a hard job? Well, except for maybe ice cream tasting. Or fry maker. But then you’d get tired of fries and ice cream, and that’s a horrible burden to put on any individual.)
I digress.
Writing back-to-back-to-back-to-back books can wear on a person, no matter how much they love writing, how much they adore their readers, or how much Xanax they mixed in with their Fruity Pebbles. I have just recently started writing after a year-and-a-half off from composing any original material. It’s allowed me time to get some clarity, rest up a bit, and accumulate some tips on dealing with Writing Fatigue. I thought I would share a few of the things I’ve learned along the way. (This post works best when read aloud over the strains of the “Chariots of Fire” theme song.)
1. Take time off. I know some people can’t afford this, but let’s go with the premise you can. There are risks in a break: lose readers, lose momentum, possibly lose publisher confidence. For me, I decided I didn’t care. I really felt like God had been saying for quite a while “REST.” I ignored this until I finally couldn’t. It jacked with pretty much every area of my life. And yet. I believe the best is yet to come. I think it’s like running–for many of us; it’s hell while we’re doing it, but the payoff is larger than the loss. I believe God is going to make up for anything I gave up or missed out on. I haven’t regretted my hiatus for a second. Had I stayed in the game, I would’ve been grouchily writing crappy books I didn’t have the energy to care about.
Taking time off gets you out of your rut and routine. Writing is a rare blessing, don’t get me wrong. But once your writing becomes a business and not a past-time, things drastically change. For me, taking time off gave me moments with my family I wouldn’t have had, time to watch TV again (crazy, but this has been majorly therapeutic and creativity-jolting), time to read (did you know there’s this whole series about this boy wizard?), time to hang out with friends, travel, stay up late, not sit down for hours at a time, read magazines, learn something new, and be present in a moment. I’m not a good balancer. So when I get back to writing full-time, I will be energized because I took some time to live. And it will hopefully be fresh on my brain, so if I get too far away from it, I’ll know I’m out of sync and need to regroup.
2. Do/Read/See something that’s not “you.” This will not only work your brain, but maybe inspire new ideas. Somehow I got a subscription to the Smithsonian magazine. Justin Timberlake and Lindsey Lohan have yet to make an appearance, so not really my sort of thing. But I’ve yet to flip through it that I didn’t get sucked right in and find all sorts of ideas. (Ideas for other people, but still. Ideas.) Order something different off the menu. Put some color in your wardrobe. Buy some funky, frivolous shoes. Visit your local performing arts center. (When there’s a show. Not like when it’s 2 am and you’re there with a spotlight and a crowbar.) Attend a public school theater, choir, or band performance. Rent season one of that show everyone’s been talking about. Have a picnic. Watch some TLC. (The channel. Not these ladies…)
Do something to break the monotony and help yourself get out of your rut. Writing is about living by quite a few rules. Retrain your brain that the rules don’t apply to all of your life.
3. Join/Start a book club. My friends Rhonda and Mary started a book club in their town, so I decided to do the same. It’s been fun having to read books I normally wouldn’t, to discuss the good and bads with other people, and to have a reason to get out of the house. This group will never, and I mean never, read my books for the club. It’s a lot of fun to just sit there as a reader, but also inspiring and helpful to hear from the others as readers–what works for them, what doesn’t. Readers don’t deal with spreadsheets, sales figures, and publishing research. The women I talk books with don’t care what the author tweeted that day, what e-reader she pimped out last week, or what lip gloss she’ll be giving out at her signing next Saturday. What they care about is a good story. The things a reader likes or dislikes are fairly simple really. And simple does a heart good, doesn’t it? (Especially when combined with snacks.)
4. Reduce or eliminate your Twitter and Facebook reading. It’s one thing to be informed on the industry and writing info. But stay on social media for more than a few minutes, and you’re quickly neck deep in a tidal wave of negative. From humble-brags to contract announcements of the one who took your place or just pitched the very book you’re writing, to pulling up a blog post that’s nothing more than one photo and two lines of drivel that somehow gets 300 comments, Social Media has to be the easiest arrow in Satan’s arsenal right now. It’s cultivating a culture of comparison and envy. Middle school flashbacks will not heal that Writer’s Burnout. Plus, I happen to be the queen of seeing Tweets that shouldn’t see the light of day, but somehow do, before they’re deleted from the Twitterverse stream. Just last week I saw one that made me think, “Does Publisher X know this employee just put that information out there and now their whole list of authors are on fire talking about this?” I doubt it. Either way, it was a waste of my energy to go to that negative place to even worry about it. The solution? I needed to log off.
5. People watch. (Enough said.)
Well, that’s it for today. Stay tuned for the final in a series I didn’t know I was writing, cleverly titled with oh-so-much originality “Lose That Lovin’ Feeling? (Part Tres). We’ll talk techie gadgets, prayer, and shutting out “the voices.”
See you then.
Click HERE for Part Uno.
Click HERE for Part TRES.
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Lost That Lovin’ Feeling? (Part Uno)
And that’s the voice that’s the lead in Rock of Ages?
Anyway, let’s talk burnout. It hits everyone. Some of us you more than others. I’ll focus on writing, but my advice here today could be adapted for other areas of burnout.
Unless you’re Beyonce. Or Bieber.
(Then we just don’t care.)
First, how do you know you have Writer’s Burnout? Can you answer “yes” to any of the following?
1. While working your public school day job, you begin assigning yourself detention.
2. You begin to think Seattle would be a perky place to live.
3. The only reason you go to Barnes and Noble is to get a frappachino and to look at that fancy stationery nobody can actually afford to buy.
4. Every time someone announces a book contract on Twitter, you light a candle and pray for their wayward soul.
5. The only thing you want your laptop for is to check celebrity gossip sites and get updates on fantasy football. And you don’t even play fantasy football.
6. You teach a writing class at a conference, and as you look into the audience, you think, “There are just enough of us here to form a pretty impressive circus.”
7. You begin researching ways to get paid. For sleeping.
8. You get another cat.
9. People ask you about your next book, and you have to excuse yourself to binge on the bag of Oreos stuffed in your shirt hidden in your purse.
10. You watch repeated episodes of Murder She Wrote and wonder how Jessica Fletcher could do it all–write her novels, solve weekly crimes, and have a wild and torrid affair with Howard Cunningham.
Does this sound like any of you?
Join me for part TWO and THREE where I offer some tips on recapturing the magic, reigniting your pilot light, and restoring that loving feeling.
I’ll also give tips on writer’s burnout…
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I love this.
Saturday Dose of Happy right HERE.
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