This week I had to deliver a presentation for this project I was assigned to work on. The content was essentially the outline of how I’m going to conduct my analysis for this study I’m involved in. Throughout the development of my slides and script in the days leading up to the presentation. There were countless changes and edits; the occasional direction shift, and I was starting to feel very unsure of myself and what I was going to present. But through perseverance and an attitude adjustment, I was able to pull the presentation and my perturbed mind into sync.

Now that the dust has settled, I’ve reflected and found that there were 3 lessons that I could take from this experience; that could be related back to writing. Yeah I know, you were probably wondering when I was gonna get back to that, you know the title of the damn post and all.

And I get it, honestly I do… but if you want gems; which I definitely have. Then you have to listen and understand me for a bit.

Ok then here you go, fleece me for everything I’ve got… Just like everybody else… Typical.

1.Practice:

Damn, this one is so under appreciated… like so many women out there, am I right ladies? Wooooo. But it goes without saying, practice makes perfect, and this is too true. So my script, when I had the original drafted, it felt so stiff and lacking any kind of natural flow. Stuck, I decided to book one of the meeting rooms in our building and just read my script out alongside the slide pack. I wasn’t aiming for any certain time goal or anything, I just read it aloud. After the first run, I felt an existential dejection, as I heard my inner mind think “You’re not cut out for this”. I had to take action fast before that thought could rule my future, the solution was to read it again. After the second run, I managed to clean up a wordy sentence and filled in an awkward silence with some quip to bridge one point to the next. With this ‘no second guess just do’ mindset, I rinsed off all the defects in my script and my performance, in fact I got to the point where I didn’t even need my notes; the speech was in me. (I did probably 15 run-throughs of the script in the end)

Let’s just say, my presentation rocked. There was no judging panel but if there was, they would have all given me tens; except for that judge who always plays hard to get, and only will ever go as high as a nine out of ten. One day I’ll get that coveted ten from them.

But what does this have to do with writing, uh… whatever. Nah seriously, the point is, I thought I wasn’t good enough to do an excellent presentation. I had made a value judgement about who I was and what I could do. But the reality was, there was nothing wrong with me, it was just that I hadn’t repeated the action enough times. So, when it comes to improving your writing, guess what, you’re gonna need to write.

If you say to yourself, my dialogue is bad, or my characters are dull and cliche or just that your writing is bad. Know that all those issues will disappear when you trust the process of constant perseverance in writing.

2.Gratefulness:

Gratefulness… sweet this point is simple but not always easy to implant into your habits. So like, you need to reset your mind. A lot of the time we doubt our writing and our choices in general, pair this with dissatisfaction from what we don’t have in life; and you’re in trouble. The only method to stop this and take the steps forward which are going to benefit you, is to ask yourself this question “What in my life am I currently grateful for?”. The answer to that question itself isn’t important, everyone will have different response. But the feeling this question gives you… game changer.

Oh and I’m not relating that back to writing, you’re smart, you’ll figure out gratefulness’ application. But if you can’t then you’re 100% gonna have difficulties with this final point.

3.Excitement:

Get excited NOW stupid. You just asked why you are currently grateful, which should have left you feeling satisfied and content. This is the moment we go that extra step. It’s time to ask yourself “Why should I be excited right now?”. The answer varies but trust me you will have one, this question works best when dealing with stressful situations, or times where you have to perform.

The purpose is to energise yourself, this will deplete any residual feelings of anxiety which block you from doing your best.

And you’re ready to flow

Now, that you have these tools, you should be set. But here’s another tip, the order I suggest using these thoughts in when it comes to something like writing is: Gratefulness, Excitement and then Practice. Oh my god, see what I did, I totally shmixed up the order from how I presented the information earlier. That’s how you know I’m a good wroter. Try telling me otherwise.

But in all honestly, give it a go, it couldn’t kill you, right? No seriously, I need an answer to that question in the comments below. And if you’re struggling to come up with something to write. Try my writing challenge from my previous post, link below:

chur

All the best for another week. Oh by the way, new story coming out in a few days, more info leaking soon.