WWN13: Greasy Grooves and Writing Moves

Long time back I came across a gentlefella by the name of Pavel Tsatsouline.

…imma call him Pavel.

Pavel is a former Soviet special forces instructor.

He’s also the dude that popularised the kettlebell in the West.

Back in the day, yours writerly followed a kettlebell program derived from Pavel’s material and while I retained my visibly writerly physique…

(I.e. not very much of one.)

…I did get mighty stronger.

Recently I decided it’s time to rekettlebell my life.

Naturally, that made me think about one of Pavel’s little philosophies and how to apply it to the writing life, perfect for this here the Write Way Newsletter Issue #13, right after…

…this word from our sponsor today which is:

moi.

I’m wrapping up a couple of projects right now which means I have a slot or two spare to work on somebody else’s projects for a change. A rare thing.

Even rarer, I don’t currently have a waitlist wanting to work with me. So if you’ve got a burning project you want written or edited, hit reply and let’s talk.

I mean, not literally talk. I hate high pressure sales calls so I don’t do them.

But we’ll bat details back and forward by email until I’m sure that I can definitely help you, and you’re sure that you want me to, and Bob’s your Uncle. Or Aunt, anything’s possible these days apparently…

But you gotta move quick if you’re interested, because I have a publisher already knocking at my door asking if I’ll do editing and work-for-hire for them.

That’s not likely to materialise until next month, but once it does my uncommitted spare time vanishes faster than bellyfat on a kettlebell routine, which brings us right back on topic to Pavel’s strength training philosophy which is:

strength is a skill.

In other words, and I’m simplifying because this is a writing newsletter and I want to get to the point, it’s not just bigger muscles but better brain-body connections.

Practicing the physical act of the exercise is beneficial training…

…even if you’re not “lifting heavy”.

So.

You can go the progressive overload, lifting heavier each time, straining, etc.

Or you can do the movement constantly at lighter weights to train your brain until the movement becomes automatic. Just like walking.

Straining versus brain-training.

Both are good.

But it’s the second I want to talk about because Pavel recommends a strategy he calls…

…greasing the groove.

The gist of it is this:

1. Pick an exercise.

2. Do it a lot at low reps.

So say you wanna get more kettlebell swings, you just stick a kettlebell on the floor of your writing cabin where you see it ten times a day, and every time you walk past it you bust out five swings.

Across a day you get fifty swings in.

Across a week, you find you get a lot stronger at that action.

Can confirm, it does work. And if that sparks your noodle, you can read more about it applied to physicality here.

But this is the Write Way, and we’re focused on the writing.

Whaddya know, greasing the groove is a killer way to improve here too.

Do I need to explain it all again?

Your savvy Write Way Reader mind is already working away at it, I know. How can you grease the groove with writing?

How can you move from thinking “I need to get a full on four hour writing session in to think deep” to finding little things you can constantly do to improve?

Believe me, those tiny moments add up and before you know it, you start to show it.

So rather than explaining it all again let’s get straight down to brass tactics and let loose with a few things I do to “grease the groove”. The key thing you need to remember is that all of these are about one thing:

The Big Mo!

And the big mo is, of course, momentum. The more momentum you have, the easier it is to get going each time. Take a day off, and the next day you’ll find it ten times harder. Write for a day, and the next day you’ll find it ten times easier.

Now, each of these tactics I’m gonna cover could spin out to a full issue of the Write Way but I want to give you a holistic picture so we’re going to go high level across five different tactics.

So tactic one to grease Big Mo’s groove is have a damn routine.

Write every day, same time every day, never stay away. You get the drill. Consistency is key, because it keeps that groove nice and greasy. Let it dry up and you’ve gotta start over.

And I was going to say that I didn’t care when you wrote so long as it was a routine but tactic two is…

…write first thing.

Introverts, pay attention.

Because this one goes out to all of you.

And yous’uns on this list are all writers so at least eighty percent introverts. But write first thing. Why? Well there’s a whole host of reasons, not least is that I do it and it works. But the main thing for our purposes here as you start the day by knocking out your big task then everything else is gravy.

Back to Pavel, if the groove you’re greasing is pushups and you want a hundred a day - it’s gonna go a lot better for you if you bust out forty first thing…

…than if you leave it to after dinner before you remember, and have to cram it in before bed.

Same story with writing.

Tactic three, write in your head. Even if you never write it down and it’s never seen again. Be constantly churning over phrases, ideas, creating outlines for essays etc.

I write some banger lyrics in the shower. Or witty bits of dialogue for novels. Or killer phrases for social media content. And then?

Well… Gurus look away right now because…

And.

Then.

I.

Forget!

By the time I get out the shower, it’s gone because I never wrote it down.

Five hundred gurus just cried out in agony and perished!

But the truth is that, if you’re a half way decent writer, you don’t need to write down every good idea. You’ll have another dozen tomorrow. You don’t even need to capture every perfect phrase.

Because those forgotten phrases aren’t trashed: They’re training.

You bet I don’t remember every kettlebell swing, I don’t write down every single move and every single bit of form and technique or whatever. But every single one makes me a little bit stronger, sharpens my mind, greases the groove, builds up momentum and benefits me bigly.

Same with every perfectly captured phrase!

Tactic four is to microwrite. This is just like the think-writing above but you actually get it down. Bit by bit and piece by piece. Here is where we lean into the power of productive plodding. Pick a project, one that you’ve not got a snappy deadline on, and chip away at it.

I know one guy who has written entire hundred-thousand word novels on his phone, mostly while waiting in line at the DMV and similar pointless activities. I can’t do that, but he does.

I’ve written most of my hymns like this though. Scribbled notes during a service. Put ‘em into Notion, then chip away at it whenever I have a minute. I’m constantly glancing at the phone to remind myself, then writing a bit in my head, then putting it down on paper (or screen) later.

Even if you can’t write a book that way, you sure can outline a chapter…

The other thing you can do to chip away at a bigger project is to read around it. Which is conveniently tactic five:

microread!

You don’t need an hour to dig deep to read great writing. Just replace a few of those stupid X-Twitter breaks with dipping into a poetry book. Or a book with short chapters, or something that you want to take slow.

I have a hymnal lying out in my office and frequently I’ll pick it up and sing a hymn. Or just read one. Given that I write hymns, there are few better ways to “grease the groove” than constantly exposing myself to them.

It helps me to think poetically, which then bleeds into everything else as well.

I’m also working through The Creative Act by Rick Rubin which I’ll read while I’m watching the kids on the trampoline, dipping in and thinking about it as I go.

And I’m reading Watership Down, a chapter or two a day as I drink my morning coffee.

(Yes, Jim, I read multiple books still. So sue me…)

But the point is that each of those is greasing the groove of thinking in a writerly way.

And then when I come to sessions like this?

Sessions were I have a 1,500 word newsletter to send to you?

It just flows out, and forty minutes later I’m done.

All thanks to greasing the groove.

Go forth and grease, and until next time may your pipe be dry and your grooves well greased…

…yeah I know how that sounds but I’m sticking with it.

Yours,

James Carran, Craftsman Writer

P.s. it’s 8pm exactly as I type this so this is going out without an edit, but do hit reply if you like the sound of working with me - whether it’s on a newsletter, a book, or another project.