The answer might surprise you.
It’s not just about improving your writing skills.
Some other things matter more:
Here’s what I think:
By the end of 2022 my writing felt laboured. I felt disconnected, demotivated and tired. However, after a week’s break I wanted to get back to writing and instructional design. I felt renewed … but what did I need to do to get back my mojo?
Could I recapture my mojo?
Early in my writing career, negative thoughts often prevented me from doing my best work. My inner critic would whisper in my ear that my writing wasn’t good enough, that I wasn’t creative enough, that my Modlettes would be under my expectations.
I used to get angry with my inner critic and frustrated with myself. It took ages to get a Modlette I was happy with because the narrative was stilted and boring.
I’ve now learned to be friends with my inner critic. I know inner critics are only trying to help me avoid disappointment and failure. So, I take care of mine and give reassurance, and my inner critic lets me get on with my work.
How to (re)discover your writing genius
Remember, even when you feel empty, you still have ideas, experiences, and stories to share. Your voice and ideas deserved to be heard. When you feel lost or struggle to write, answer the questions that follow to invite your muse back and do your best work . . .
To be productive as a writer for learning and do your best work, consider all steps of the writing process.
Plus, figure out how to care for your creative soul . . .
- Just like our muscles need to rest to recover from strenuous exercise, our brains need to relax, too. Even better, during “off-time” our brains continue to process ideas. So, breaks can give us extra insights, boost creativity, and make our writing better.
2. Stay creative. An empty creative well doesn’t exist. Look after yourself, keep your creative input flowing, and your muse will reward you. Remember: Creativity does not come from a mixture of brain cells and neutral circuits, but from conversations, books and adventures.
3. Grow as a writer When you stay in your creative comfort zone you risk going stale. There are 3 creative zones:
(a) Creative comfort zone (risk of getting stale and boring)
(b) Zone of creative happiness and growth
(c) Scary zone where your inner critic creates mayhem.
Challenge yourself to carefully move out of your comfort zone by:
- Try a new writing style/technique
- Take on a bigger project or a new client
- Dive into a new topic
4. My inner critic
Whenever I got out of my comfort zone, my inner critic would tell me that I wasn’t good enough. I would put up a fight but it was exhausting.
I’ve learned that my inner critic is a scared mini-me. She’s trying to protect me against disappointment and failure. I now try to reassure her so we can focus on the work in front of us … whether that’s writing a messy first draft or revising it.
5. The Writing Process
When approaching a narrative writing process we assemble a bunch of ideas in our mind, these may look orderly in our brain. However, when the 1st draft is finished, they may look like a rabble of unruly soldiers on a parade ground. After one or more revisions they will once again look orderly on paper but in different places.
Especially when you’re out of your comfort zone, your first draft may be messy. Don’t give up. The revision process will sharpen your thinking. What the writing process actually involves:
(a) Random input
(b) Focussed research
(c) Thinking
(d) Write crappy stuff
(e) Procrastinate
(f) Revise and edit.
6. Writing joy
When you worry about how your writing will turn out or the impact it will have, you get distracted. When you focus on the work in front of you, you get into a flow and find pleasure in creating something and find pleasure in creating something that didn’t exist before.
Writing joy boosts your productivity because you don’t let yourself be distracted by negative thoughts. This is how joy propels your writing practice forward and ultimately leads to mastery.
7. Originality
As Austin Kleon suggests: “All creative work builds on what came before.” We find our authentic voices by studying our heroes and “stealing” what speaks to our souls
8. Make your words sparkle
As designers of eLearning, we can’t always do our best work. Sometimes, content just has to be produced (e.g. checklists). But we’ll do our best work when we write from the heart about what interests us. Learners will sense our enthusiasm in our words.
Follow your curiosity to feed your creative soul. As poet Wislawa Szymborska suggests: “Whatever inspiration is, it’s born from a continuous ‘I don’t know’
How to do your best work in 2024:
- Move out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself to get better
- Follow your curiosity
- Keep your creative input flowing
- Learn to get through the difficult stages of writing
- Be kind to yourself and take good care of your inner critic