Motivation Hack: Keep Your Plans Secret
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Back when the Peizheng Writers Guild was meeting weekly to read each other what we’d written (more about that story later), one of our rules was:
Rule #1: You can never talk about what you’re going to write. You can only read what you’ve ACTUALLY written.
On the surface, this rule may seem draconian stifling of collaboration and brainstorming. It may also appear to be foolish because it deprived us of advance feedback to find out if we were “on the right track.”
Those points may be true.
The rule was also a turbo-charger for motivation.
Understand Your Own Payoffs
One of the reasons this rule was so effective is we all understood our own “payoff” systems. A huge part of why we were writing was to see the reaction from the other friends in the group.
When we’d read a new short story, poem, or chapter of a novel we relished the laughs, “ah ha” moments, and even bewilderment from the listeners.
Now, if we had told each other what we were planning to write, even in the vaguest terms, we would have immediately gotten some of the payoff… but without doing any of the actual work.
Imagine this:
Albert: “I’ve got an idea about a story where everyone is always on social media all the time through high-tech hologlasses.”
Friend: “That sounds great! Can’t wait to hear the first chapter!”
Albert: (thinks to himself) It DOES sound great doesn’t it?! What a great idea.
And just like that, I’ve lost some of the will to write the story.
Now, that didn’t happen. Ever. Because we were very strict with this rule. We protected our motivation by actually doing the work before getting the payoff.
(By the way, that story became my novel faceless)
Reporting vs. Promising
I’ve found this rule and the idea of getting a “payoff” without doing the work applies to any creative project or thing that requires hard work sustained over time.
Imagine telling someone “I’m going to quit smoking.” What do they usually say, “Oh, that’s great! Good for you! Go for it!” But then what happened to your motivation to actually do the hard work over time? It probably went down.
What I’m suggesting is not quite as simple as “Keep everything you ever do a secret until it’s done,” because there are times when you actually do need feedback and input.
But I suggest you report rather than promise.
It’s better to say, “I’ve recorded the first episode of my new podcast, and I’d like some input on it,” than to say, “I’m going to start a podcast.”
It’s better to say, “I’ve written chapter one of a novel,” than “I’m going to write a novel.”
It’s better to say, “I’m on day 4 of my new diet,” than “I’m going to lose weight.”
While it may seem counterintuitive, I’m suggesting you keep your next big thing a secret until you’ve actually made SOME progress on it. Otherwise, you might find you got too much payoff without actually doing the tough stuff.
See what you think. Oh, and be sure not to leave a comment about your next big thing!
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