If you’re splitting your writing energy, you’re defeating yourself before you even get started.
I’m not talking about your physical energy, necessarily, though that can be part of it. I’m talking about the mental and emotional energy that charges your writing dreams.
This energy propels you to work on your story every day, conduct your research on story structure, and tackle your next book launch. It is the reservoir of power that fuels all of your efforts in building a writing career.
You draw on this reservoir every time you sit down to write, but also every time you work on your author platform or even think about your next story idea.
When this energy goes dry, that’s when you feel depleted. It’s at those times that you have to “refill the creative well,” as they say, or find a way to get motivated about your writing life again.
I’ve talked about burnout and creative exhaustion before on this blog. But in this post, I’m talking about something different—when you “split” your writing energy in a way that slows your progress.
What Is Split Writing Energy?
When you split your energy, you focus on two sides of the coin on any particular subject. So you “split” or divide your attention between the positive and negative aspects.
If you’ve split your energy over losing weight, for example, you may have positive intentions to eat less and exercise more, while at the same time thinking a lot of negative thoughts about your body and your ability to stick with your plan.
You divide your focus and emotional state between what you want—to lose weight and feel healthier—and your doubts and fears related to that desire. In essence, you create mixed signals within yourself, making it difficult for you to put all of your energy behind achieving your goal.
Let’s apply this to your writing. Imagine you’re excited about starting a new chapter in your novel. You’re brimming with ideas and can’t wait to get them down on paper. But then a whisper of doubt goes through your mind:
“What if it’s no good?” That thought then spawns another similar thought: “What if I can’t write this book?”
Suddenly, you’ve plunged yourself into energy conflict—your desire to write this exciting new chapter is now battling with your self-doubts and fears about your ability to do it well.
You can imagine a stoplight switching from red to green, red to green, over and over again. You’re experiencing a fluctuation in power, which means you’ll have a harder time getting that chapter written.
Writing Energy Is About Positive Thoughts
What we’re talking about here are positive and negative thoughts. And if you don’t think your thoughts have a big impact on your writing progress, you need to pay more attention! In truth, they probably have everything to do with the progress you’re making (or not) toward your goals.
Positive thoughts are like a clear, flowing river, guiding your creative energy smoothly forward. You can sit down and enjoy writing your chapter, planning your book launch, or sending out requests for reviews.
Negative thoughts, on the other hand, act as obstacles, causing the river to fork and divert into less productive channels. You have energy going here, there, and there, with only a trickle left to fuel your writing efforts.
Ultimately, split writing energy leads to procrastination, self-doubt, and a lack of momentum.
Fortunately, you can turn things around. You just need to learn how to recognize the signs that you’re experiencing split energy.
Five Signs You’re Experiencing Split Writing Energy
1. Inconsistent Writing Routine
If you’re serious about your writing, you have a regular writing routine. Even if you don’t write every day, you’re writing regularly and frequently enough to amass a stack of pages over the days, weeks, and months.
Split writing energy will mess up this routine. If you notice changes in your writing schedule—that it becomes erratic, for instance—that’s a sign.
You may write for hours one day, for instance, fueled by passion and excitement. Then the next day, you avoid your writing desk altogether because you’re paralyzed by doubts and fears.
This sort of inconsistency is a telltale sign that you’re dividing your energy.
Solution: Write no matter how you feel. When negative thoughts creep up, say to yourself, “I don’t have time for you right now,” then return to the page.
The more you can focus on your story (or whatever task you are doing), the less you’ll be able to think those negative thoughts. Your brain can focus on only one thing at a time!
2. Perfectionism Paralysis
Perfectionism is a frequent pitfall for writers, but sometimes, it’s the result of split energy.
You likely have a vision for your work. At some point, perhaps you reviewed what you’ve completed so far and felt like it didn’t live up to your ideals. You may have started to question yourself or engage in endless revisions that aren’t going anywhere.
Solution: Embrace imperfection. It can be hard, but remind yourself that nothing you do has to be flawless, particularly not as you’re working on it.
If you’re near the end and ready to publish, review your checklist—has the work been professionally edited? Proofread? Are you ready to move on to the next project? If so, allow yourself to be human, get the work out there, and get on to the next one. The solution for perfectionism is always the next story!
3. Procrastination Patterns
Procrastination is a classic—and one of the most common—symptoms of split energy. If you’re procrastinating on something, most likely, you’re suffering from split energy around that project.
If you have plans for your writing projects, but when it comes time to execute them, you find yourself engaging in endless distractions, you’re probably indulging your underlying fears and self-doubt—even if you aren’t aware of it.
Solution: Make the project you’re working on a) less important and b) easier. First, remember that though this story may be immensely important to you right now, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that important. The more you can reduce it to something that you’re having fun with, the less your negative thoughts will be able to mess you up.
Next, break the project down into its smallest chunks. We often procrastinate because we believe something to be difficult or above our abilities. So make it easier. Write only 100 instead of 500 words today. Tackle a short story instead of a novel. Research three editors today for submissions rather than 10.
Keep breaking it down until you have something that you know you can accomplish today—which will motivate you tomorrow.
4. Negative Self-Talk
This one will be obvious to you now—if you hear yourself talking negatively to yourself, you’re splitting your writing energy. So stop it! (I know—easier said than done.)
Thoughts such as “I’m not good enough” or “This story is terrible” will derail your writing efforts—there is no doubt about it. They undermine your confidence and create a cycle of self-sabotage. They will ultimately tank your writing motivation.
Solution: Whenever you hear yourself carrying on with negative thoughts, say, “Stop it!” to yourself. Then distract yourself with something else. Go take a walk, call a friend, get involved in a household chore, or focus on creating a new graphic for your book.
This takes practice. But if you remain aware of how you’re talking to yourself and make adjustments every time the negative thoughts come up, you will gradually train your brain to stop the negative thoughts. Over time, it will get easier, and you can begin to feed yourself positive statements instead.
“Look how much I’ve grown as a writer,” is a good one. Other possibilities include, “I love how creative I can be,” or “This particular passage is great!”
5. Lack of Joy in Writing
Writing should be a fulfilling and fun activity, but if you’re suffering from split energy, it will drain the joy right out of it.
Watch for signs like apathy toward your work, feeling like writing is a chore, dreading your writing sessions, feeling disconnected from your work, or struggling with an overriding sense that you’ll “never make it.” These are all emotions linked with split energy.
Solution: Reconnect with your passion for writing. Take a break if you need to and engage in inspiring activities. Read books by authors you admire, attend writing workshops, or spend more time in nature. Pull up a new file and write something crazy, ridiculous, or bad. Find some way to break through the apathy and have fun writing again.
Overcoming Split Energy
Repairing your writing energy often requires an increase in self-awareness and the addition of some new habits. Try these additional strategies:
Mindfulness Practices
Incorporate mindfulness techniques like meditation or journaling into your daily routine. These can help you become more aware of your thoughts and emotions, allowing you to address negative patterns before they take hold.
Set Clear Intentions
Start each writing session by setting a clear intention. “I’m going to enjoy writing today,” is a good one, or maybe, “I can’t wait to see what Bob is going to do!” This can help direct your energy toward positive, productive outcomes.
Celebrate Small Wins
Acknowledge and celebrate your progress, no matter how small. This is super important to stoking your energy! Every step forward is a victory. Recognize these achievements with a pat on the back, or reward yourself in other ways you’ll enjoy.
Create a Supportive Environment
All your efforts to build yourself up can come crashing down with one negative comment from someone you care about. To help prevent that, try to create your own supportive environment. Join writing groups, attend workshops, and seek out mentors who can provide guidance and encouragement. Then do your best to stay away from the naysayers.
Release Control
As writers, we can control much about our writing careers, but we can’t control everything. How the market responds to a particular book, for example, is at least partially out of your control. Don’t let outside results get you down. Focus on what you can control about your writing life, and make “experiencing joy” one of your priorities.
Make Your Writing Energy Powerful Again
How can you tell if you’re improving?
You will feel more energy every time you turn your attention to writing. You’ll feel stronger, more confident, and more powerful.
It may take some time. If you’ve suffered from split energy for a while, don’t expect it will turn around overnight. Pay attention to your thoughts, redirect them when needed, and be your own best advocate. When you start feeling the full impact of your creative energy, you’ll know it. It feels great!
Featured image by israel palacio via Unsplash.