WWN41 : You are overthinking it

Last week I sent no Write Way Newsletter post.

For two reasons.

One, I was still on semi-paternity leave adjusting to the new arrival.

And two, despite that semi-paternity leave, I was up to my pipe in a new writing project that I’ve been chipping away at over the last few months.

Which is what I want to make this week’s Write Way Newsletter all about.

Because there’s been a recurring pattern on this project that will teach you a useful thing or two if I let you “behind the curtain” a little bit.

But first, the context:

A couple of months ago I was approached by a major publisher to explore a new freelance project.

The long and the short is that they needed someone to take a scattered series of blogposts from a fairly famous and busy writer and turn them into a book. But they had no idea how it should be structured, how to pull it all together, what it should look like.

Plus there was a ton of work in editing and making the posts consistent etc.

Think of it like a cross between editing and ghostwriting, and so they reached out to yours truly, proprietor of this here Write Way Newsletter.

The project has two phases.

1. The initial design and planning for the book, structuring it, templating chapters, suggesting themes and concepts and so on for the approval of the author.

2. Pulling together and creating the book based on the agreed structure and templates in step 1.

And so for the last month or two I’ve been engaged in a slow back-and-forth with my contact at the publisher.

In the process, an interesting pattern has emerged.

He sends me a vague request with some ideas from their end, asking me to think about a specific aspect of the project and come up with some ideas for it, take the vague concept and make a plan.

I let it sit for a few days, thinking it through in the shower and on walks and so on. Then I sit with my pipe clenched between my teeth, puffing and thinking furiously as I hammer out the details.

Then I nervously email back, thinking “I dunno if they’ll like this…” because although I’m darned good at what I do, you never know if someone is going to see that. And if you’re operating at the cutting edge, you always wonder if you’ve quite got what it takes.

That lasts for a few days to weeks as it gets bounced around various departments, sent back to the author, publisher contacts are at trade fairs or whatever…

…before they come back and say they love it and I should move to the next phase.

Every. Single. Time.

It’s like clockwork. I overthink it before sending it, I overthink it after sending it, and then they love it. Most recently:

All of which is not (just) to remind you that I am a sought after writer, ghostwriter, editor and more. Nor as a the preamble to a new offer or any of that.

(I mean, feel free to hit reply if you do want to hire me, but I be expensive and busy so that’s not what this particular email is about.)

But simply to highlight a pattern and a problem that writers often have.

We think too much (in general).

And, related to that,

We think too little (of ourselves).

It is a perennial problem.

I think for a lot of writers the reason is that we don’t realise that most people are not writers. Most people do not think as much as we do, or as deeply, about words and ideas and anything really.

That’s not to castigate the “normies” or any of that guru bullshido.

Nothing wrong with being normal.

But we ain’t normal. Normal people don’t sit with their thoughts, ordering and structuring and typing them all out for the perusal of strangers on the internet. It’s weird.

Truth is that when you write something, you probably analyse it from every single direction to make sure that the proposal makes sense…

…only for the end reader to look at it for about ten seconds and think “sounds good”.

The truth is that you are far better than the average bear. Simply by being on this list, listening, applying and practicing what I preach at you, you’ll get pretty good at what you do. Doubly so if you invest in a course or two and apply that as well.

And there’s simply no way for someone who doesn’t spend the same level of time on it to be as good as you.

So don’t undervalue yourself.

Now.

That’s not to say that you should stop thinking it through carefully.

I mean, the reason my publisher contact is content with my work every single time I send it is because I spend that extra time thinking it through. It’s because I’m darned good at it.

It’s the same with every client I’ve ever had.

I do the work so they don’t have to.

But if you’ve put in that extra 20% of work that most people don’t bother with, then you don’t need to also add the extra 2 days of worry. Chances are you’re thinking too much about about the job and too little of yourself and your abilities.

Do the work, don’t worry.

Don’t overthink it.

Publish it.

Because the truth is that if you, the writer who has spent several days carefully thinking it through, think it’s good?

Most readers will too.

(And the rest are impossible to please. Kick ‘em and move on.)

Which feels like a good point to end this missive before I start overthinking it.

There is way more in depth and actionable advice on overcoming overthinking via my entry-level course ‘How to Write Bad’ here.

Until next time, may you be content with your pipe and prose,

James Carran, Craftsman Writer

fin

But not quite fin for the fine folks in Craftsman’s Corner who keep the lights on around here.

For them, a quick tactic to fix overthinking during the editing process and win back hours of their time: