I am continuously learning the craft of writing. One of my favourite self-development authors is Seth Godin. I almost fall into a trance when I listen to him speak. A few years ago, he published a book called PUSHING PAST THE DIP: HOW TO BECOME THE BEST IN THE WORLD. I recently reread it.
In the book, Seth speaks about making the long, tough slog through mediocre-ville. Honestly, I laughed while I read it. It was probably a manic laugh, but still, I think about this book often. Seth mentioned that you must concentrate your efforts, push a little harder, commit a few more resources, and leave the mediocre to the average Joe.
The Dip he refers to is the long slog between starting something new and then mastering it. He says the secret to becoming the best is by quitting all the stuff you aren’t good at and all the stuff that are your biggest time-sucks. This leaves you free to invest your time and energy into the one thing that will take you through the Dip.
An example of what he did: Seth blogged every day for three years. He became #1 in his field due to the number of expert blogs on one particular subject matter. His point is that there are so many choices in this world that if you want to get good at something, you need to concentrate on it and do it.
The problem with this statement is that leveling up is a choice, and going above and beyond is an even more significant decision. Being better than average is hard work and overwhelming. Most family and friends are already betting the bank that you can’t accomplish whatever your dream is. The fear of failure pokes at your belly button, making you sweat. You worry about every little thing. About being an impostor. About wasting your time and not accomplishing anything. What is happening?
LIZARD BRAIN.
What is it, and why do we need to tame it?
“A Lizard Brain is the part of the brain to which primitive, nonrational, or self-interested behavior is attributed. Your lizard brain thinks the world is ending while your more rational side can see that you’re in no real danger.”
~ Oxford Dictionary
So, when it comes to a writer with a Lizard Brain, they might think their novel sucks, but in reality, it is not that bad. The writer over-reacts by immediately self-doubting their writing style or choice of words when, in fact, they are just over-thinking it.
“It is the part of the brain that is phylogenetically primitive. Many people call it the Lizard Brain because the limbic system is about all a lizard has for brain function. It is in charge of fight, flight, feeding, fear, freezing up, and fornication. The limbic system is much more powerful than we humans credit it to be.”
~ Psychology Today
What does a lizard brain have to do with being a creative writer?
Simply, it is about the irrational human behavior of the writer.
- You say you want to finish that novel, but instead, you read a book.
- You say you want to sign with an agent, but you haven’t finished editing the novel yet or sent out any query letters.
- You say you need more exercise, but you spend all night stretched across the couch watching Netflix and eating potato chips.
- You say you want to network with other authors, but don’t sign up for the conference or attend other authors’ book launches.
- You say you want to write a short story, but spend the week writing the first line and never get to the second line before giving up.
- You say that you want to support other authors, but you never write a book review, buy their book, or recommend it to others.
- You say you want to write a trilogy or a series of novels, but you haven’t outlined or come up with the characters yet.
These contradictions are a continuous battle between what you say you want for your author career and what you are doing to accomplish the task.
Why is it so difficult to do what we say we would do?
It is because of that damn Lizard Brain. It is the reason you are afraid. It is why you are not creating the novel you desire to finish and why you would rather read a book instead of writing one. Reading is easy. Writing is hard. If writing were easy, everyone would be doing it.
Seth Godin talks about this at great length. He claims Steven Pressfield first described the Lizard Brain as being the resistance.
What is resistance?
Resistance is fear, self-doubt, and procrastination. It is inside you.
Resistance is the voice in our brain telling us to be careful, go slow, and take the easy way out. It might ask you to check your email every five minutes, glance at your Facebook notifications again, or play a game of Wordle. The resistance is the writer’s block or the procrastination talking, coaxing you into doing anything other than what you want to do. It is the hesitation you feel when you know a task will be time-consuming or difficult.
The closer you get to the end, the more you don’t want to put in the extra hard work to finish the edits on the novel. That’s because the Lizard Brain is interfering and causing uncertainty. It is coming from that little place by the brain stem responsible for the fear you are experiencing. It hates making changes, dislikes achievements, and wants to avoid the risk of you having your feelings hurt and your heart broken. It sends bolts of fear through your body, which sends you directly to the couch to wrap up in a warm, fuzzy blanket and scroll through social media apps for comfort.
The bad news: You can’t get rid of the Lizard Brain. Unfortunately, it is there to stay. What you can do is acknowledge it and learn how to tame it. You need to figure out how to work around the fear and the threats of people laughing at you, so you can ignore it and get the job done.
Once you understand that the Lizard Brain lurks in the background, it frees your brain by staying in the present. You no longer need to worry about what “might” happen later if you experience the fear of someone ridiculing your work, criticizing your main character’s choices, or flat out saying that the novel you spent five years writing is garbage. The juggling of emotions takes practice, which forces you to push the distractions out of your mind and focus on one task. Ignore everything else.
Try to tame your Lizard Brain.
Pull out that novel, ignore the resistance, and write something that will make you proud. Write something unique. Something that matters. Finish it. Move on to the next thing. Soon, you will have a pile of work waiting, so it doesn’t matter if one novel or short story gets rejected because you have something else they might like. Try again.
They say you will never achieve your dreams unless you ignore the fear and get on with it. You are above the average Joe saying they will write a novel one day. You are putting in the work, and you can do it. Time is ticking, and unfortunately, you never know when your time will be up.
*Full disclosure: I wrote this blog not just for you, but primarily for me. My Lizard Brain has been highly active this month, and I need to find a way to relax, stay calm, and finish my work. Now that I know how to tame my Lizard Brain, I can concentrate on the self-discipline and self-belief necessary to get my shit done. Good luck to both of us.
