Unstuck

By: Suzie Carr
@girl_novelist

“I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday.”

This phrase hangs on my office wall and gets my attention several times a day. It keeps me on track and focused. It serves as a great reminder for me to stay the course, regardless of how slow-going, daunting, or challenging it may seem at times.

Whether you’re staring at a parcel of land and want to turn it into a lush garden, or you’re tasked with developing a new system for an organization, or you’re inspired to dress up a white wall with a life-size mural, you run the risk of derailing from the course if you view the process as one large looming runaway project.

What’s the solution? How do people deal with this? How does an architect turn a white piece of paper into a magnificent sketch? How does a movie director turn a bunch of words into a blockbuster film?

Well, if you break it down fact by fact, what you're really looking at is this --
A book containing 75,000 words can only start out one letter at a time. Connect enough of those letters and word counts will logically increase. It’s simple physics. String enough of those words into sentences and then into paragraphs, and before you know it, you will have created a scene, and ultimately a 75,000+ word book.

Logical, right? Of course, but, logic oftentimes takes a backseat when an overwhelming sea of white sprawls out in front of our eyes, challenging us to fill it up and transform it into a work of art that others will hopefully find worthwhile and inspiring. That’s a lot to shoulder. And, that’s where a lot of people get stuck.

How do you get unstuck?
Chop the process up into manageable chunks. Break it down letter by letter, flower by flower, brush stroke by brush stroke. You’ll get there eventually, as long as you show up and chop at the process a little each day.

Remember this as you start out on your next venture: Small chunks are far better than no chunks!
 
Wishing you ultimate success in all that's important to you,
Suzie

I feel it's critical to support the community, and so I've committed to donate a portion of my book sale proceeds to the NOH8 Campaign (www.noh8campaign.com).