A writer named Yvonne Kohano reached out to me recently and told me this was her biggest challenge:
“I’m feeling scattered. Too many ideas for novels and nonfiction writing, all screaming for attention. I get distracted by marketing and outreach to develop an audience. Focus, which has never been a problem for me before, is suddenly a huge issue.”
Does that sound familiar? So many writers I speak to feel an overwhelming drive to create, but feel stuck in the mud. They have a difficult time choosing a project, finding time to create, and developing anything that could resemble an audience for their creative work.
Last week, Jennie Nash told the story of a writer who told her this, “I finally received Dan’s book, “Be The Gateway,” as you recommended. I was so excited to read it. Instead, I threw it across my family room, in tears, because there is no way I can do what Dan suggests.”
At first, I bristled at the story. I poured so much love into the book, it’s difficult not just to consider that it was thrown across the room in disgust, but that it made someone cry.
Then again, I’d rather have tears than apathy. Tears we can work with. Tears express a deep caring and a clear problem. We can use that to better understand the problem and work towards possible solutions.