This morning I wrote a post on the 360 Feedback Blog titled, “Google’s Real Hiring Secret.” That’s not the post I set out to write.
I did my research and created my mind map for the post the day before. When I opened my laptop this morning I was ready to write a post about hiring criteria. But the post fought me.
I tried and tried, for almost an hour, but I couldn’t get the post to work. It’s happened to me before so I knew what was going on.
When your post or article or any other piece of writing fights you, it’s usually because your less than conscious mind has a better idea. The trick is to find out what it is. Here’s what I did.
I quit trying to force it and took a little break. I gave myself something mindless to do. I have a home office so this morning it was cleaning up the kitchen. Mindless is the key.
When you’re writing your brain is in work mode. Not much creativity happens. But when you’re body’s doing something that doesn’t require much thought, your brain is free to do its magic thing.
About halfway through unloading the dishwasher, the new post came to me. I went back to the office and wrote it in ten minutes. I did some quick research and then wrote the second draft adding some detail and links. After reading the piece aloud and some minor edits, it was ready to publish. I put my notes and draft for the post that didn’t work in my “compost” file.
Your brain is an amazing organ and it will do great things for you, but only if you let it have its way. When a piece of writing fights you, let it win.