How Fight-or-Flight Mode Changed the Way I Write Everything
Why your ancient brain is messing with your content and what to do about it
I didn’t mean to shelve them forever. It’s not like I’m lazy. I write thousands of words every day, manage to exercise and meditate before working, and do my best to be a good dad and husband… but something wasn’t right.
I’d been writing consistently for more than twenty years, but most of that work was non-fiction. A few years ago I thought it was time to cross the barbed wire fence into novel-territory. I went neck-deep in research — totally immersing myself in the process and looking for the best writing path for my personality.
I balanced on the heads of giants.
I watched thousands of hours of lectures, from all the great writers. I bought as many practical writing books as I could read. When I wasn’t thinking about writing I was learning something about writing.
This wasn’t formal training. I didn’t want that. I had a chip on my clavicle after six years of formal college and I’d had enough of being told what I should learn, when I should learn, and how I should learn it — later to find out the formal process had little to do with reality.
I figured enough authors were able to learn this alone. Why not me?
