Have you ever felt like the things that used to be easy are suddenly hard? Maybe you’re starting to feel lost. Stuck. Overwhelmed.
Sometimes it comes in the form of writer’s block. You find yourself staring at your manuscript for hours without writing a single word – and the words that you do write, you delete. You don’t even know where the story is going anymore. Sometimes you even WANT to write, but everything you type seems like garbage. You’re bored by your own book.
Sometimes it happens on the business side. You’ve been running on raw energy and enthusiasm, but now you’re running on fumes. You find yourself stuck and not knowing what to do. Nobody is buying your book. Why? Is that normal? You know you’re supposed to keep marketing, but maybe you don’t know where to start. Maybe you feel like you’re doing everything right but nothing is working. Everything feels tedious.
You’ve hit a wall.
But you’re not alone.
This story is familiar to every artist and every entrepreneur. I first learned about it from my first business coach, and it’s actually a four part cycle that we all go through over and over:
The Inspiration Cycle
Inspiration
This is where the cycle begins. The inspiration phase is the best part, where we wish we could be all the time. In this stage you feel energized, creative, and unstoppable. You’re overflowing with ideas. Your friends and family might think you’re on drugs.
Education
The second stage is where we go to learn how to make our dreams come true. You start doing research on how to write, publish, or market your books. You buy craft or business books and watch YouTube videos. You search TikTok for publishing professionals. (You can find the top 3 TikTok accounts I recommend following here.)
It can be tempting to stay in the education stage indefinitely, especially if you’re a perfectionist. But if you want to make any progress, you’ll have to move on.
Action
Now that you’ve learned what you need to do, it’s time to start doing it. This is the stage where you should spend the most time, because this is the stage where your dreams become reality. Action is what will set you apart from the crowd – statistically speaking, fewer than 10% of your fellow writers are taking any action at all.
You might find yourself bouncing rapidly back and forth between education and action (I do this too). That’s completely okay – as long as you’re implementing what you learn on a regular basis.
The Fork in the Road
At this point, you’ve been in the action stage for a while, and you’re starting to get tired. That creative energy is starting to take a dip. From here, one of two things will happen:
- You realize the project you’ve taken on is much, much bigger than you ever imagined. You feel intimidated or anxious when you think about your book or your marketing. You don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing. You don’t even know what you don’t know. You feel like you’ll never be able to achieve what you want to achieve. You want to crawl under the covers and hide. You are overwhelmed.
OR
- Everything feels like a slog. Writing is a pain. Marketing is drudgery. “Is this really what I wanted?” You wonder. “Isn’t there anything better? Anything faster?” You start to get New Shiny Object Syndrome, your brain browsing for the next great thing to capture your attention. You want to abandon your manuscript and start a new one. You are bored.
The fourth stage is categorically the worst, and it can also be the place that people get stuck or give up. Maybe you’re there right now, wondering if you’re really cut out to be a professional author. But what if I told you…
The Fourth Stage is Optional
There’s a way to minimize the Boredom/Overwhelm stage, if not eliminate it entirely. I have two strategies for defeating the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad pit of stage four:
- Keep your inspiration tank full. I like to fend off stage four proactively by seeking out artistic and business inspiration every week. For fiction authors, make sure you’re reading plenty in your genre and branching out from time to time. I make sure I’m always learning something new about the writing craft and the publishing business. There are more books, podcasts, and YouTube videos out there about writing and publishing than anyone could ever absorb. It’s important not to get bogged down in memorizing everything you learn. The goal is to keep yourself motivated and energized. Next time you find yourself in the education stage, you can dig back through this content to dive deeper into the relevant topics.
AND/OR:
- Some people don’t work well with the continual IV drip of inspiration, and they have to wait until the tank runs dry. Sometimes no matter what you do, outside circumstances like family stressors and major life changes are draining your batteries. Either way, it’s time for a palate cleanser. Take time away from your current project if you can – plan for one to two weeks. Use this time to mentally rest and recharge. Read for fun without analyzing. Journal or free write with no objective. Revisit a favorite feel-good book, movie, or show. Use social media only as needed (no doomscrolling!), and spend time outdoors if you can. Walking outdoors is especially helpful.
Once you’ve allowed your mind to rest and take a break from your project, it’s time to seek out fresh inspiration and jump back in.
ACTION STEPS:
Assess where you are currently. Which stage of the cycle are you in? Are you stuck, or avoiding moving into the action stage? How can you get yourself back on track to achieving your dreams?