Thank you for writing this. I’ve also realised that trying to force myself into a schedule makes me dislike the whole act of writing. I find that when I’m not pushing myself or attaching any obligation to it, ideas flow more naturally. I’ve noticed it’s much easier for me to express my thoughts when I’m chatting with friends. But if I have to sit down on a Monday to produce something on the same topic, I feel stuck.
That’s exactly it. Creativity can’t be forced out at 9am on Monday and trying to often just creates stress. That’s why I prefer loose structure and flexible goals
Absolutely agree, thank you for sharing Benjamin! My 'content calendar' is a field of ideas, saved in first drafts and waiting for the 'right' time to be picked up and refined. Such a pleasure to work on these ideas and see where they are leading me.
This is so interesting and timely. I’ve also been thinking about the rhythm that women experience, which adds another layer to this approach. Every month there is at least 1 week where writing happens so naturally and with ease and one week where I could rot and do nothing. Instead of resisting this rhythm, I’ve been leaning into it and it’s creating way more ease and flow in my life. Production still happens, but not on some patriarchal timeline that relies on discipline alone.
Thank you! This helps a lot! Do you have any advice for someone who wants to pursue more than one creative tension at a time? That's what stresses me out.
Yes I know what you mean. I have a YouTube channel which is unrelated to this substack and so I am always going between the two. This is really basic but it’s important to write everything down. I have two folders for both and that helps me to untangle the mess in my head.
Thank you, Ben! That felt very timely and precise, which for me only proves the point of your article.
I wonder if you have some overarching holistic goal when embarking on exploring those specific tensions (e.g. a book), or it’s more like embracing and sharing your curiosity wherever it leads, or…?
You're right, a content calendar might help some folks, but if your writing feels like a chore, then it’s time to tune in to your own rhythm instead of a schedule. - There's nothing worse than showing up for the sake of showing up.
Writing is recording thoughts. Our reactions to events, happenings, others and thier words. It is uneven in output. To force out output results in no soul expressions, no life to our words and no help to others.
This was helpful. I've been questioning my natural rhythms, or rather how to honor them without being naive. It's tempting to get on board with a content calendar, but I know that any sort of schedule rarely works for me. I'm driven by tensions, as you called them, and hadn't landed on that organizing principle.
When I'm trying to solve those deep, nagging questions, I come alive, read excitedly, and write naturally from that space. I just need to regularly create those conditions. I'm off to hone my tensions!
I’m brand new to substack and I couldn’t be happier that I came across this. I had this inner voice nudging me to question IG as my main channel. I was always running out of caption space. Frustrated at the lack of depth and constantly chasing ‘stop the scroll’ hook formulas. I want to share stories and build my community with authenticity. I’ve been told I would do well here but it felt like another thing to plug into the content hamster wheel. This post was perfect timing because I would have made this mistake. I already wrote my core tensions. Thank you so much for this.
Thank you for writing this. I’ve also realised that trying to force myself into a schedule makes me dislike the whole act of writing. I find that when I’m not pushing myself or attaching any obligation to it, ideas flow more naturally. I’ve noticed it’s much easier for me to express my thoughts when I’m chatting with friends. But if I have to sit down on a Monday to produce something on the same topic, I feel stuck.
That’s exactly it. Creativity can’t be forced out at 9am on Monday and trying to often just creates stress. That’s why I prefer loose structure and flexible goals
Absolutely agree, thank you for sharing Benjamin! My 'content calendar' is a field of ideas, saved in first drafts and waiting for the 'right' time to be picked up and refined. Such a pleasure to work on these ideas and see where they are leading me.
This is so interesting and timely. I’ve also been thinking about the rhythm that women experience, which adds another layer to this approach. Every month there is at least 1 week where writing happens so naturally and with ease and one week where I could rot and do nothing. Instead of resisting this rhythm, I’ve been leaning into it and it’s creating way more ease and flow in my life. Production still happens, but not on some patriarchal timeline that relies on discipline alone.
Thanks for sharing!!
Thank you! This helps a lot! Do you have any advice for someone who wants to pursue more than one creative tension at a time? That's what stresses me out.
Yes I know what you mean. I have a YouTube channel which is unrelated to this substack and so I am always going between the two. This is really basic but it’s important to write everything down. I have two folders for both and that helps me to untangle the mess in my head.
Thank you, Ben! That felt very timely and precise, which for me only proves the point of your article.
I wonder if you have some overarching holistic goal when embarking on exploring those specific tensions (e.g. a book), or it’s more like embracing and sharing your curiosity wherever it leads, or…?
I would like to write a book at some point and when I do I know I will have a lot of material to work with from what I have already written
You're right, a content calendar might help some folks, but if your writing feels like a chore, then it’s time to tune in to your own rhythm instead of a schedule. - There's nothing worse than showing up for the sake of showing up.
Writing is recording thoughts. Our reactions to events, happenings, others and thier words. It is uneven in output. To force out output results in no soul expressions, no life to our words and no help to others.
This was helpful. I've been questioning my natural rhythms, or rather how to honor them without being naive. It's tempting to get on board with a content calendar, but I know that any sort of schedule rarely works for me. I'm driven by tensions, as you called them, and hadn't landed on that organizing principle.
When I'm trying to solve those deep, nagging questions, I come alive, read excitedly, and write naturally from that space. I just need to regularly create those conditions. I'm off to hone my tensions!
I’m brand new to substack and I couldn’t be happier that I came across this. I had this inner voice nudging me to question IG as my main channel. I was always running out of caption space. Frustrated at the lack of depth and constantly chasing ‘stop the scroll’ hook formulas. I want to share stories and build my community with authenticity. I’ve been told I would do well here but it felt like another thing to plug into the content hamster wheel. This post was perfect timing because I would have made this mistake. I already wrote my core tensions. Thank you so much for this.