What’s coming up this week on Writers’ HQ

OCTEMBER! In which we realise it’s nearly the end of the year and then we panic and try to get our heads down like super worky worky writey writerson and, much like New Year, we all set ourselves totally irrational and unachievable goals.

You know the kind of thing: “ermergerd Imma gonna write an entire novel in the next hour and aww yeah gonna win that squadsqillion pound publishing contract in my sleep and have the adoration of the world in the palm of my hands and fix climate change and unite the divided and have a statue of me with weird bronze hair in The People’s Peace Square outside the World Government building and have the first intergalactic passenger ship named after me. All by tomorrow”.

Look, that might happen. It really might. We believe in you and we’re here to support your goals. But — a gentle suggestion — clinging on white-knuckle style to your dreams and trying to force them into existence by sheer force of gritted teeth isn’t necessarily the best way forward.

As we’re taught by all great Zen masters, maybe what you really need is to chill the fuck out for five minutes.

That’s not to say you don’t have to work hard and commit to your writing, because you do. You have to get your bum on that chair even when you would rather replace your eyes with beans.

But what if you also accept that you’re going to get to the place you’re going whether you push yourself to the brink of insanity or not? What if you surrender to the grand machinations of the world, unclench the fingers that are clinging desperately to the cliff edge, and remember to use your lungs for that in-out air thing they do when you’re not in a constant state of must-overachieve-panic?

What if, right, WHAT IF! You just kind of… dissolve into your goals. Embrace them with joy and love. Ya know, rather than try to intimidate them into existence by alternately growling and yelling at them?

Idk, just a thought.

So salient points to remember:

1. Chill the fuck out
2. Don’t replace eyes for beans
3. Everything is okay
4. You’ll get there
5. Keep on going

Ok? Ok. Let’s do this thang…