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Creating Capacity

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Photo by Horia Varlan
Photo by Horia Varlan
What is your capacity to create?

Many people I know tend to express some aspect of their lives as being OVERWHELMED, and that they wrestle with ANXIETY on a daily basis. In developing your craft as a writer, in publishing a body of work over time, in connecting with your audience in meaningful ways: how do you create greater capacity for these things to happen?

How can you create more expressions of accomplishment (“I am working on my fourth novel!”) than you provide excuses for procrastination (“Oh, I haven’t written for weeks, the kids started soccer.”)

Creating capacities is an obsession of mine: how to develop skills, processes, and strategies that address the overwhelm and anxiety that spreads through our lives like a virus. Capacities can have exponential potential: they can be honed (as a craft); can be reused again and again in different ways as your writing career grows and evolves.

This is a mindset I default to when considering authors: you are not just publishing a book, not just creating a product and putting it into the marketplace; you are developing capacities as a creative professional. Because for many authors I know, the book is one of many that is inside them.

Creating Habits That Build Capacity

I am writing my first book. After years of planning, outlining, and failing to do so, I am now just doing it (hat tip to Nike.) I have been working with a friend who is a book coach to help frame what it is about, and then she had me start writing it.

Then something unexpected happened, something she didn’t ask for: I started writing 1,000+ words a day for the past 20 days. When I sent her the last batch of pages, she responded with this:

“87 pages???? Do you SEE that? 87 pages?? Weren’t you the guy struggling to write a 3-page article about 3 months ago?? I’m sort of baffled by what’s happened — and awestruck and thrilled for you!! But I also sort of don’t get it. This never happens….”

My friend is book coach Jennie Nash, who was recently featured in a Writer Unboxed interview here, and who has published seven books of her own, plus working with goo-gobs authors. So that feedback from her, admittedly, feels good.

My response:

“Honestly, I don’t see it – the 87 pages. I see 1,000 words every morning. The habit has made it easy to see this – work through it – and move on. I just wrote my 1,100 words for the morning, which I needed to get through before I could read and respond to email. That is all I see. ”

And I wrote 1,000 words towards the book before I was allowed to work on this very blog post.

If you would have asked me a couple of months ago about writing a book, I would have told you that there is no room in my life to write a book. It’s not even about time, it’s about creative energy, which all goes into working with writers and developing these blog posts, and other material. Realistically: there is no room to write a book.

Yet… there clearly is room for 1,000 words per day.

What is astounding to me is that after just a couple weeks, I already I feel that I have created a CAPACITY to write. No, the writing isn’t amazing. No, this book may not do well. But… I have already proven I can sustain 1,000 words per day; that I can partner with a book coach; that I can learn how to write better by creating a process of writing, editing, and publishing.

Through this, I now know I have the CAPACITY to write book after book. And that – the body of work will matter more than an individual book. And yes, hopefully one of them will do okay! :)

What capacity is providing to me is knowing that I will be a BETTER writer in 3 years than I am today. And that I will be even BETTER than that in 6 years.

The Second Act is More Magical to Me Than the First

As I get older, I am finding myself more drawn to stories of the second act in someone’s life. How a person creates something incredible in mid-life, or later in life, after they have already been defined by other roles: in their family, in their personal life, in their career.

This is the reason I tend to obsess over Steve Jobs, a man who achieved so much when he was very young, but dramatically more in the years just before his death. Or Frank Lloyd Wright who, after an incredible body of work, created iconic masterpieces at an age where most would consider retirement. He was 67 years old when he began work on Fallingwater. The same age as when he began working on the Johnson Wax building. In popular culture, by this age, he had fallen out of fashion. These buildings proved them wrong.

Wright was 76 when he was first contacted about designing the Guggenheim museum in New York. My dad is 75 years old. I love the idea his best work is still ahead of him. (no pressure, dad.)

Youth is fine and all, but it’s bizarre how much it has taken over our culture. I much prefer the discussion of “the second act.” Of recognizing and encouraging the wisdom that accompanies experience, and that age is something to be celebrated, not covered up.

I wrote a post last week about a writer I know who passed away with work left undone. I received an overwhelming response from this, and some expressed a sense of sadness that his work was cut short. What I try to remember is this: Look at HOW MUCH he was trying to accomplish when most people retire and “wind down” their body of work. He was creating new capacities, pushing himself to new places, accomplishing milestones that many only consider when they are 40 years younger than he was.

I love that.

Creating capacity in your life as a creative professional is a topic I have been exploring for awhile:

Clearly, for writers, the capacity that matters more than all others is the craft of writing: to communicate your vision in an elegant and effective manner. This is why I get less involved in all the politics of publishing that seems to be a distraction. And it’s why I obsess over how one’s work connects with readers, and has a true effect on their lives.

How are you creating new capacities in your life?

-Dan

About Dan Blank

Dan Blank is the founder of WeGrowMedia, where he helps writers share their stories and connect with readers. He has helped hundreds of authors via online courses, events, consulting, and workshops, and worked with amazing publishing houses and organizations who support writers such as Random House, Workman Publishing, Abrams Books, Writers House, The Kenyon Review, Writer’s Digest, Library Journal, and many others.

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Comments

  1. Very interesting (and inspiring) article! I’ll just have to go back to the scheduled daily time for writing (it was two hours per day, which was very productive).
    Apropos mid-life (or late-life) transitions, I was a scientist for three decades and now have turned to writing, both nonfiction and fiction. It’s been fun, frustrating, and personally (not financially) rewarding. I’m amazed to hear that someone like you has had trouble getting down to writing a book!

    • Thank you JoAnne! There is something so cool about hearing someone say “I was a scientist for three decades!” Glad you are finding the writing life to be rewarding (and challenging.) As for me finding the time/energy to write, I think it has been easy to justify putting 100% of my creative energy into developing courses and presentations and blog posts and daily work with writers. I’m not sure if now is just “a better time,” because I have created a stronger foundation, or if I am just better at understanding how to balance all of my obligations and my creative energy. Regardless: it feels like it has been a long road to get here, and I am INCREDIBLY THRILLED to be doing this. Thank you so much!
      -Dan

  2. Congratulations on beginning your first book, Dan! Isn’t Jennie amazing? I started with her Author Accelerator program soon after Lisa featured her here and it’s a decision I am proud of. Let’s cheer each other on these next several months.

    I love your statement near the end of the post, that craft comes first. Isn’t that the truth. We need to create the energy to grow that process. We need to create a mindset that allows us to discover that within us lies endless energy that hasn’t yet been focused. Amazing references with Steve Jobs and Frank Lloyd Wright. Proof to all of us that creativity is a wellspring that lives in us every day, every moment. There are no excuses except those we create for ourselves.

    Onward.

  3. It only makes sense that a writer in the second half of their life is going to have a lot more to say. And it certainly encourages me. ;o)

    These words of yours, Dan, are my goal: “(that) one’s work connects with readers, and has a true effect on their lives.”

    All the best on your own writings.

    • Thank you so much! And while it does “only make sense,” I see a very different picture when I look at the day-to-day expectations of people at all ages. It extends further too… this strange idea that a 20 year old is supposed to have 100% chosen the work they want to do the rest of their lives, when most 40 year olds I know are just STARTING to figure that out!
      :)
      -Dan

      • Yes, it seems too much to expect an 18-year-old going off to college to know what they really want to do in the long run. And yet parents expect that of them, and put out tons of money in the investment.

        And I agree that once we reach our 60s, we somehow think that the younger generations are going to be much better writers or whatever than we are. So it was nice to be reminded today that we have some good stuff in us to share.

  4. Congrats on the unfolding of your new manuscript. Such a wonderful feeling as the work comes to life before you! It’s heady stuff.

    I like the concept of creating capacities, Dan. And I think the concept pairs well with The Second Act. I find that so much of this gig takes place between the ears – particularly after the initial drafting work is done. And creating capacity for that takes determination and discipline. Although I still struggle, I can’t imagine a younger version of myself getting much of value done at the revision stage. Whatever maturity I can muster now is greatly needed in the creation of capacity for analysis and actual revision (as opposed to tinkering, rearranging, and polishing and calling it revision).

    Thanks for laying out the concepts so well. Best wishes to you on your new project!

  5. Dan-

    I sometimes think my problem is not creating capacity but that I have built over-capacity. Three careers? Plus a family? Not to mention hobbies, interests and hanging around this WU community clubhouse?

    For me it’s not about getting stuff done, it’s about juggling.

    But then again, isn’t that another way of creating capacity? Isn’t it less a matter of, “Yikes, I have too much to do” and more a matter of “Look at how much I’m doing with my time”?

    As a young man I resolved to live a life that is full. I decided to do what mattered to me, do it well, keep learning and feel alive. No regrets. So perhaps I am cheating myself a little. Instead of dog-paddling to keep my head above the surface maybe I should enjoy the water.

    Hmm. Making me think here, Dan. Not what I want on a busy morning. Or maybe it’s what I need: a sense of greater capacity.

    Good post.

    • Don,
      THANK YOU! And yes, I think there is a big discussion in that “in-between” place you reference, between obligations and accomplishments. And that is why the terms “overwhelmed” and “anxiety” are things I hear often, and obsess about when considering my own work, or the work of writers I partner with. That they can feel eaten alive by all there is to do. I suppose the capacities I am considering are those that do have bold accomplishments, but where you feel a bit less like you are drowning every moment. Love your doggie paddle metaphor. Thanks!
      -Dan

  6. Hi Dan,

    I love this post! Here’s the part that really jumped out at me:

    As I get older, I am finding myself more drawn to stories of the second act in someone’s life. How a person creates something incredible in mid-life, or later in life, after they have already been defined by other roles: in their family, in their personal life, in their career.

    That’s EXACTLY where I am right now, and I have to say it’s moderately frightening but thrilling at the same time. Frightening is really too strong a word — but it’s the hesitation that comes with grasping reality. Some of us are entering that second chapter lacking skills or experience to do the things we want to do, or dealing with barriers that exist in our youth-oriented culture.

    But I personally believe the “pros” of pursuing something new in this second act far outweigh the “cons”. If you’ve handled the first act reasonably well, you can step into the second act with a sense of accomplishment, which is great fuel for launching something new. And the wisdom and experience that come from not only living with others for an extended period of time, but living with yourself through that first act of life.

    As I work to craft the second act, it’s true there are some things I can’t or won’t do simply because of my age. But there’s no way I would go back. At this point, the wisdom and experience gained in the first act are priceless, and way more valuable to me than youth.

    I can’t wait to read the book!

  7. Good article, Dan, as usual! I’m about to publish my memoir – first book – and beginning to think about what’s next. I’m keeping a list of ideas as they occur to me. I’m blogging regularly and will keep doing that as I build the platform for my book and whatever comes next. And I’m working on not letting email distract me from work I want to do.

  8. Creative capacity is a valuable concept, Dan. Thanks for sharing it. While reading your piece, I thought about capacitors, which are devices used to store electrical energy. Perhaps those of us in a later life stage have been storing our creativity through all the busyness of the younger years. I’m not surprised to know that Frank Loyd Wright’s greatest works sprang from his older mind–he would have been learning, refining all along. Youth might have more energy, but with age comes (one hopes!) wisdom and patience.

  9. Thank you for this, Dan. And keep up your good work of producing 1,000 words of your book each day. After all your years of using YOUR capacities to help other writers, I’m glad you are taking the time to write your own book.

    I was 68 and seven days into January 2010 when I felt a clear mandate to begin transcribing the diary entries I had written nightly 50 years earlier, starting with my January 1, 1960 post, in my blog, A 1961-65 Park College Diary, which can be found at http://parkcollege1961-1965.blogspot.com/. My early diary entries were my observations as a high school junior in Iowa. Now I’m posting, still on a nightly basis, the entries I wrote 50 years ago as a senior at Park College (now Park University) in Parkville (suburban Kansas City), Missouri.

    Last weekend I attended the university’s alumni weekend. When I introduced myself to and became reacquainted with members of the class of 1964 who were at a table at breakfast, a woman said, “Oh, you’re the one with the blog.” I was privileged to hear that remark or one similar to it throughout the weekend. I’m looking forward to having A 1961-65 Park College Diary be a part of alumni weekend a year from now when our class of 1965 has our 50th year reunion. I will be 72.

    I used to sit at my husband’s typewriter in our basement erasing typos on a manuscript (and its carbon copy) and thinking, “There has to be a better way.”

    The better way came, and I am thoroughly enjoying being a part of the Age of the Internet, reading and leaving comments on other people’s blogs, on Facebook, on LinkedIn and on Twitter. And of course, when someone leaves a response for me, that is special, too.

  11. Dan, I’m happy you are deep into your first book. Enjoy the process. I avoided a novel for ages because well, they’re long, and I was quite happy to be writing shorts. But some stories don’t fit … they need greater exploration.

    I agree that creative energy can get zapped by being overly busy, but I find that my family and other interests, though they take time away from the writing, also provide the richness in my life I need to write. So it’s all good. I wouldn’t trade my writing life for anything.

    Way back when, as a young graduate student, I wanted to take a dance class. There was no extra money. Well, I threw away the TV. Suddenly I had $25/mo that I paid for TV shows I had no time to watch. It’s been the same with writing. I turned into a night owl. I’d put my husband and children to bed and then write for 2 hours. Even now, when I put on my pjs I get the itch to write …

  12. I’m not surprised at increasing creativity and finest work in people’s last decades. Or people turning from science, law or medicine to the arts (especially writing) as they reach their 60s. Too many of us have found jobs that pay the bills and that we’re good at, but that don’t use our creative potential. At 60, life begins to open up, financially and time-wise. Now we can play—in the best sense of the word!

    Dan, you mentioned the value of a writing coach. I’d add that it’s been sooooo much easier for me to find that writing time/energy (i.e., increased capacity!) since attending the recent Breakout Novel Intensive (BONI) with Don Maass. So many light-bulbs went off regarding things that had kept me mired in plot/character problems, frustrations that were causing me to avoid writing. I now can’t wait to sit down at my computer screen to use the insights and tools we were given at BONI. It’s a huge change for me.

    Perhaps it’s the act of taking a big step—attending a conference, hiring a writing coach, connecting daily with other novelists, reading a book on writing AND implementing its suggestions—that helps us create capacity for writing (1,000+words a day? Woohoo!). It sends a message to the psyche: “I’m serious about this!”

  13. I really enjoyed your article, Dan. I think you make a very good point. If we increased our capacity to create, we could be writing more, procrastinating less, and making time in our busy days.

    I tend to get down on myself way too much about writing or not writing every day. The result is that I produce a lot of junk, write really slowly on my novels, and just feel generally miserable every once in a while.

    Instead, I would like to start increasing my capacity to create! Your article is so encouraging.

    Congratulations on the 1000K a day! I think that is awesome! I love how you just did it, just kept doing it, and now it feels like a natural flow.

  14. In your first book I advise not using expressions such as “address the overwhelm” and “goo-gobs authors.”

  15. Thanks for sharing this with us. My daily goal is 1000 words as well, but I tend to let other things get in the way of reaching that goal far too often. Still, I’m over 75,000 words into my fourth novel (well behind the schedule I’ve set for myself) and do put some time into it almost every day.

    Since I was a child, I have always tended to get lost in what I’m reading, watching or doing, to the point that I lose track of time. I suspect it’s partly intense curiosity, partly an overdeveloped ability to empathize with others and partly a lack of self-control. I’m a lot like my dog: she’ll sniff at something, start following the scent, and before you know it, she’s so far from where she started she can’t even hear me whistle for her. Consequently, I have to avoid social media like Twitter or Facebook because they lead me off onto long and usually unproductive tangents.

    So I was just reading this post on WU and …

    Back to work!

  17. Congratulations on writing your first book! This post is so encouraging to me. I am working on my first book too, and I am 55. I’ve been working on it for two years now, planning and studying. I questioned if I could really do it. Most authors that I see from their biographies, have a degree, and sometimes an MFA. I wondered if I had what it takes. I never finished my degree, which I regret. I am further limited from being disabled and have good and bad days. But, I am determined to do it! It has been my lifelong dream to be a novelist. I had doubts that I was too old, then I read that Leonard Bernstein (I hope I got the name correct), was in his 90’s when he did his best work and didn’t begin until he was in his 70’s or 80’s. That inspired me as well. I still have doubts about the scholastic issue, so I read and study a lot of how-to books. I would love to be able to work with a book coach, but unfortunately, that is financially above my means. So, I try to teach myself and learn by hands-on style. Thanks again for the inspiring post! :)

  18. It is indeed very important to set those goals and make the writing happen. Writing is, in many ways, like physical fitness. The more you do, the more you become capable of doing. No one walks into the gym the first time and bench presses 400 lbs. Instead you walk in and work out with 50 lbs until you can add 10 more. Then you work with 60 lbs until you can add 20 more, and so on and so on, until you reach your goal.

    Personally I don’t set a daily writing quota because with a super busy day to day schedule it is too much to require myself to knock out 1000 words every day, but I can guarantee to knock out 4-5000 words a week no problem. With that incremental plan, putting out a book or two a year every year suddenly is not as hard as it seemed when I was standing on the other side, staring up the long, tall hill.

    • Basil – thank you! I really like the fitness example. And your advice on word count is REALLY good. It reminds me of advice I had heard about nutrition and toddlers: “Don’t aim for healthy days, aim for healthy weeks.”

      -Dan

  19. Dan, timely and excellent post. I think we are all overwhelmed so much of the time we hardly have time to think about what to do about capacity some days. However, prioritizing and setting goals would probably bring the discipline I need to my time and capacity. I admire your 1000 words/day AND before doing this post. Perhaps I’ll have to print out this post and hang it on the wall over my computer. Thanks for all you bring to us. You are a great educator and guide.

  20. Hi Dan, and thanks for your post.
    WOW ! a thousand words per day- that is a lot of capacity let alone any other capacity jam in the goings-on of ones life.
    I’ve always filled my life to capacity like many others- sole parent and 3 young teenagers,work, blah blah. Finding time to expand on my creative capacity- writing is like playing Hop Scotch, entertaining to say the least! however you have given me hope. Whoo!