They Lied About Hemmingway

You know that phrase, “Write drunk, edit sober.”

Hemingway never said that.

And a good thing too, because that doesn’t make good art. There’s a destructive stereotype about writers being, shall we say, a little off balance. Not true!

This year, both in our community, The Writer’s Block and in our Meaning Method programs, we’ll be doing a lot more to balance mind, body and spirit, in order to become more creative.

Creating balance involves finding more time to do what you want, getting ahead on what that really matters, and doing the thing that will lead to lasting change.

If you don’t know what I’m referring to here: it’s writing!

So in honor of Hemingway, I did that for myself. I gave up one small habit, drinking alcohol, and replaced it with something I was ready to embrace: writing the next book.

Giving something up, made space for something new. And the fact is, I only needed to do it for a period of time, in order to make the space for new growth.

Why was this a powerful and practical change? Because we all love distraction.

If there’s something we want in life and it’s not happening, usually we create some habit that numbs us both to the desire of accomplishing it, and the pain of not accomplishing it. Cutting that habit out of our life can be a simple way to bring about change.

In the case of writers who aren’t writing, this could be any number of things: watching too much TV, the 5 o’clock cocktail, and the worst one of all…. reading.

Yeah, I said it. Reading.

Sometimes we hide behind the vicarious experience of everybody else’s book, rather than the far more fulfilling adventure of working on our own. Then we read our way into a creative slump!

Let me ask you, what do you think would happen if you gave up reading books for just one week?

Therefore, I’m keeping it short and sweet. We’re only getting started here, so take a look around your life. How are you numbing out to creativity?

You might find it a little uncomfortable at first, agitation can rise up initially., but then the creative juices will rise up right underneath. Grab a notebook and be ready!