Are you on a steam train or a sailboat?
a stab at explaining motivation
If you have writers’ block you can cure it this evening by stopping what you’re doing and writing something else. – Ray Bradbury
Hi Writer!
So, I’ve been working on an analogy for writing students that isn’t quite ready for the classroom yet. I thought I’d share it here and just see what people think….
Transportation on The Creative Journey
As writers, we often describe our creative projects with travel metaphors – the path to publication, the road to writing a novel, etc. But we don’t usually think about the method of transportation.
For me, I’ve noticed that there are basically two vehicles that move me along. There’s my sailboat: the little vessel that catches a gust of inspiration and go, go, goes! Then there’s my steam train: the consistent little engine that can show up every day and chugs along toward the finish.
Neither method is better than the other.
The sailboat is clean and fast. It makes writing, filming, editing, promoting … any kind of work a joy. But, it’s not reliable. For most of the winter, in fact, mine sits on my lawn under a tarp.
The steam train, on the other hand, is slow and steady. Mine is how I keep up with the newsletter, prep for classes, and show up to meetings even when I don’t feel like it. It can be a little boring, and requires shovels full of coal (mental energy, coffee, and often a candy bar).
The key, I think, is recognizing which method of transportation is available at the moment and making the best of it. When you’re on the sailboat, don’t take down your sail and look for rails – see where the wind takes you! And when you’re on the train you better not sit back and wait for the wind to push you – you’ll need to get to work keeping the fire burning.
What do you think?
How does this metaphor strike you? Are you more of a sailboat person or a train person? Or something else entirely? I’d love to know. (and if you have something super effective like a jet plane, please tell me how!)
Today’s Reason to Write is…
To enjoy riding your creativity, whether it’s chugging along or sailing. There’s pleasure in moving at all.
This Week I’m:
Reading: Thank You Mr. Nixon by Gish Jen. As I mentioned in my previous newsletter I haven’t had much luck latching on to a novel lately, but this collection of short stories is perfect for one or two sitting reads.
Watching: Another Simple Favor. I’m sorry to say that while I loved the original and have watched it approximately 15 times, I haven’t been able to get into the sequel. I’m hoping to give it another shot later this week with a big bowl of popcorn. (Have you watched it? What did you think?)
Playing: World of Goo 2. Apparently this came out in 2024 and I didn’t know???
Snacking on: sourdough toast with chunky teddy peanut butter. For some reason this tastes like spring to me.
Sign up for a free 20 minute coaching call:
If you need a little helping rigging your sails or getting the writing train back on track, sign up for a free 20-minute coaching call with me.
Visit https://www.kayleighshoen.com/coaching for more about what coaching is and can be. (also feel free to respond to this email if you have questions and don’t feel like filling out a form)
Until next week, Happy Writing!
Kayleigh