One more last time. The December edition of the IWSG. I know. None of us can believe it's the final post for 2020, even if this year feels like it was packed with enough bad to last a decade. Let's pray (really hard!) the close of 2020 marks the end of the trouble.
As I wrote that final sentence, for a moment, I imagined nothing getting better and everything getting worse. I know, that's just so...negative! Normally, I avoid negativity, but as my grandma used to say, small stresses add up...much like being pecked to death by a duck. Nibble, nibble, nibble. Pretty soon there's nothing left! You're void of energy and fast becoming completely unproductive and insecure.
No writer wants to be insecure and unproductive! Non-creating writers are like zombies. They wear the same ratty fashions and empty stares. The biggest difference is they're meaner, crankier, and instead of eating brains they suck the soul out of other writers by trolling them with one star reviews.
So, how can we avoid that?
We maintain our positivity. Bad things happen, sure, we know that. But good things happen too. Often the good outweighs the bad, if we look for it. As writers, we have the most natural, perfect solution: we can literally count our blessings by keeping a journal. Take some time each day and write down the day's positives. If nothing else, look for inspirational quotes and uplifting stories and jot them down. Make a short list of worries each day and over time, see how those often fade away. If there is a recurrent worry, attack it. Research how to get rid of it and add those notes in your journal. One of my recurrent "worries" is lack of writing time. After months and months of adding the same worry again and again, I made some changes. I turned off the 24 hour bad news cycle and used that time to write.
Multiple problems solved.
December 2 question - Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why? September is usually my most productive month. I think it's because you can buy new pens and notebooks on the cheap and there's nothing more exciting than that, right?
The awesome co-hosts for the December 2 posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, Sylvia Ney, Liesbet @ Roaming About Cathrina Constantine, and Natalie Aguirre!
8:00 am - 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time
Turning off the news will certainly make you feel better! Lots of crap this year, but new crap coming next year. Doesn't matter - God is in control.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteGood for you. I limited my news time to once a day in the evenings and silenced my twitter and Facebook for 12 hours and that has made a huge difference for me.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a safe passage into 2021.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
Hi Elizabeth, I too have adopted the positive approach big time. Wallowing in negativity was a huge time and energy drain, that made me lose precious writing hours and sapped my energy and creativity. Practicing gratitude helped me big time.
ReplyDeleteI got rid of FB and that got rid of a lot of crap and negativity! Not watching the news another favorite! participating in NANO another gift to myself! Moving forward and trying to ignore the Covid news and stay safe. Life moves on and I'm doing my best to keep up.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a lovely holiday and a blessed New Year!
I've been hit with negativity lately n my life, as well as my writing. I am doing my best to find positive outlooks. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Holodays!
Oops. I hit "add comment" too fast. *Holidays
DeleteThere has been so much negativity this year and I know it wore on me. I need to reread my own positive thinking book. LOL
ReplyDeleteYes on limiting or turning off the news! I plan to continue doing that into 2021.
ReplyDeleteLove the quotes! I read somewhere the phrase "realistic optimist" (or maybe it was "optimistic realist"??) and thought it was just perfect. Being positive isn't about wearing rose-colored glasses!
Good idea to increase writing time by avoiding the news!
ReplyDeleteJournaling is great in so many ways. I have a weekly date with mine.
Love your positive quotes. They are so true. That's cool that September is a good month for you to write because of the cheaper office supplies. When my daughter was younger, she loved getting school supplies.
ReplyDeleteI love your positive statements and the journaling idea. I do that, most of the time, but I did write a negative journal list one day and it was good to vent, then try to flip it and see the good stuff in the bad. That was tough, but it helped.
ReplyDeleteI love getting school supplies, too! :)
Merry Christmas! Wishing you joy-thankful-sweet-enduring-peace-filled thoughts for the rest of the year and into the new year!
I hadn't thought about the back to school sales as motivation for writing more, but now that you mention it, it is a motivator!
ReplyDeleteOh my. Has someone been trolling you with one-star reviews??
ReplyDeleteI try to remain focused on the positive. It doesn't always work and I end up spiraling, but sometimes I can drag myself out of the muddy bad feelings. I'm glad you're making time to write, and I love back to school time. My kids always have to rush me past the pencils, pens, and papers because I'm more prone to buy supplies for myself that the kids don't need.
I can so relate to this. I still have my father's copy of How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie. Positive thinking isn't something one "does", it's how one lives. And the gratitude journal is an excellent practice to help keep things in perspective when times get tough. And boy, have times been tough.
ReplyDeleteHa, getting those cheap pens and notebooks is definitely a motivation boost!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping things will start to get better soon. Or at least not worse!
Yeah. Have to unplug to a lot of the crap and not respond to the trolls. A lot better than way. Even when the crap keeps on a piling up.
ReplyDeleteI have faith that things will get better. The FDA will soon grant emergency approval for a vaccine. People will be overjoyed to get the shots and will wait patiently for their turn. As we wait, folks will wear their masks as they should--wait, maybe that's overly optimistic. I'm also watching much less news.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
This is why I love December: I've stopped listening to the news completely, and am now listening to Christmas Music!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should at least try to keep in the loop with current events. But this year, I really think I need the break. It's working, too. I'm writing more now than I was when I was bogged down by all that's going on.
"being pecked to death by a duck" -- I'm writing that one done. :-) It is hard to stay positive at times. But this is a positive season. Pretty lights are going up everywhere which just brightens the mood!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Managing your expectations is often more than half the battle. Hope you have a merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI love this post. I shared the quotes with my kids. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHello Elizabeth. Great post. I agree, being negative and actively looking for it is the worst thing one can do. Especially since there's an abundance of it everywhere. But one can choose what and who we avoid, or as best one can.
ReplyDeleteWishing you and your family a wonderful festive season.
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