We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Janet McConnell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Janet, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.
On my 65th birthday I woke up at 3:30 am with a stunning thought, “I’m turning 70 in five years! Just how much longer am I going to wait?” This existential wake up call jolted me into action. The obvious first move was to buy the perfect spiral notebook and the right pens. Next, I sat at my desk and waited politely for my muse to show up. Where WAS she?!! Pro tip: The muse defers to you to make the first move. What is an author’s opening gambit? Unfortunately, you have to just start writing. Badly.
Stepping back a bit, I had always romanticized the idea of an author or poet who would hole up in a pub or coffee shop to write. From J.K. Rowling to several of the Beat Poets, there is a long list of authors who have thrived being in public in a back corner, writing. If I wrote at home, I discovered folding laundry, playing with the cats, or scrubbing out the kitchen sink as never before. You may not be captured by this sort of mind game I played on myself, but there are a myriad of household tasks and errands that could be getting done instead of staring at a blank page.
So, like those authors before me, I needed to get out. I chose a lunch spot that I liked, and sat at the bar to nosh, sip tea or wine, and stare at a blank page for three consecutive hours a week. I would settle onto my stool just after the lunch rush, but before happy hour, when it was practically empty. There was conversational buzz nearby, but not close enough to eavesdrop. It was comforting to be in proximity to others without having to interact. After staring at my notebook long enough, I started scribbling phrases in a stream-of-consciousness style. I drew Venn diagrams with areas to cover. I wrote a couple of blog-like essays to expand on later, but I stared at the blank page quite a bit. The waiter catered to my solitude, not interrupting once I ordered something. I realize that three hours a week doesn’t compare to the pace of a professional writer, but for a side project, it worked well for me. The main thing to remember is that it needs to be sustainable for you. Your writing time needs to be at a pace you can keep up until your first draft is finished.
The rules of engagement are straightforward:
- Action. Writing is a doing verb. The time is now. Find your ideal venue and get started.
- No judgment. You aren’t doing it wrong. Staring at the page without getting up is writing. Bad writing is writing. Staring at the page and bad writing lead to good writing.
- Accept it. You are going to write badly. Start by writing badly. Do it in a gloriously hideous way. I mean, REALLY awful.
Oh, and if you’re tempted to think you’re too old, hear me now: You’re not! When Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote “Little House on the Prairie” at age 65, she clearly was ready to tell her story. Frank McCourt wrote Angela’s Ashes at age 66. Without listing more examples, I promise you that there is a substantial list of authors still writing and publishing in their 70s and 80s and beyond. There’s no wrong time to start. By the time you reach your sixties, you will have a lot to say, and have more than earned the right to be heard.
And finally, I share with you paraphrased take-aways and direct quotes from three books that are pure gold to me:
Atomic Habits, by James Clear
Who do I want to be?
A tree doesn’t stop growing. This is not because it’s unhappy with its current state. It’s just what a tree does.
Every action you take is a vote for the person you want to become. It’s like you’re casting votes to become that person.
Create a system for a more powerful story about yourself.
We don’t rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems. Create a system.
If you have your sights set on something higher than ever before, pick something simple and integrate it into your daily routine. This is how you create the new normal.
Out of this, I created a non-negotiable time to write. It is the winning move for me. Professional authors will describe different scenarios like: I get up early every day and write for 4 hours without leaving my chair. Or, I write 3 pages in longhand every day, or I write 1500 words per day as a non-negotiable.
The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield
“The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” This author nails it when it comes to the creative life, and all the obstacles that crop up. Just a hundred pages, and I still read this book every time I start something big and new.
Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott
“If something inside of you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work. Write straight into the emotional center of things. Write toward vulnerability. Risk being unliked. Tell the truth as you understand it. If you’re a writer you have a moral obligation to do this. And it is a revolutionary act—truth is always subversive.”
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”
“I don’t think you have time to waste not writing because you are afraid you won’t be good at it.”
There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That is simply the fear of bad writing. Practice bad writing. It gets better.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom for what it may mean to you. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a motivational and wellness speaker, award-winning senior bodybuilder, midlife-to-senior fitness trainer, and author of “The Elements of Aging Well: Wisdom from my Journey So Far.”
After experiencing a health crisis in my mid-40s, I transformed my body and my life, ditching my high-powered corporate career to become a fitness trainer with a mission to rewrite society’s rules of aging – what it looks like, what it feels like, and what we can do to activate our full potential at any stage of life.
I frequently speak to corporate, health & wellness, and over 45 women’s audiences about what it means to age well, the impact it can have on all aspects of life and career, and that it’s not just for fitness buffs. I motivate and ignite audiences to make lasting changes to live their life to the fullest through their senior years.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
- Recognizing my own resilience before facing the challenges ahead.
- Establishing healthy boundaries so I can maintain compassion and support for others while not creating the conditions of burnout.
- Acknowledging the power and modulating the state of my own mindset so that current circumstances have less power over me.
Each one of these qualities would merit an entire article. That is why I chose to devote a chapter for each one in my book, “Elements of Aging Well: Wisdom From My Journey So Far.”
Find out more about this at <ignitefitnesswithjanet.com>
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I invite collaboration and partnership with event planners and HR professionals as they book their speaking events for conventions and conferences. Having a dynamic keynote speaker or an articulate panelist is
more work that most people realize. I am a seasoned public speaker and panelist on healthy longevity, the radical promise of aging well, and developing a mindset for the road ahead. My Fall 2023 calendar is filling up now, but I still have some availability.
Contact Info:
- Website: ignitefitnesswithjanet.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interplanet.janet.9
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janet-mcconnell-65703a1b2/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Wraithpaz/videos
Image Credits
Everardo Keeme, Photo Fusion Studio David Byrd, Reality Reimagined Studio
