Your Brain Doesn’t Want You to Work

Blog Post No. 512

belatedeasygoingcalf-max-1mb This blog is/has never been intended as a source for real information. I’ve never intended it to by any more than a place for me to keep writing regularly and maybe be a place of interest for people who like my books. (And a place for my parents to keep up on my life). I’ve hinted at how I write and I suppose that could be seen as helpful to some folks. Every writer has their own way of doing things (different schools of thought so to speak) but there’s lots of overlap.

Of all little bits of reading I do on the interweb, I tend to enjoy the snappy articles about science and pseudoscience. While I’m a big fan of citing your sources, sometimes I fall for less than reputable information. I try not to spread bullshit, though. There’s enough of that on the internet. I found some reputable sources for what I’m taking about today, but they won’t be the original source where I first heard about it. I hope that’s satisfactory, because the realization really helped with my issue of getting started.

1480261878364 The crux of the argument is that your brain wants you to conserve energy so it makes tasks look like they will take more work than they actually require. Supposedly it was an evolutionary advantage for our ancestors to conserve energy, therefore, we’re now lazy. You can read the articles and one of the actual studies by following the links at the bottom of the post, but that’s what I got out of it.

So? What’s a writer supposed to do with this information? Really, for me, it’s as simple as reminding myself that even though the latest edit on the Invasion Novel is going to be a lot of work, it won’t be as bad as I imagine. By making reasonable schedule and workload, I can get myself started and know that it won’t be so bad once I get moving. Also, I have no excuse for my laziness since I know that my brain is working against me. I’ve never trusted that thing much anyway. It’s always getting me into trouble and making me do things.

d7765297-b197-4f66-b863-13ead4dd80f8_text The fun part of writing is coming up with stories. First drafts are pretty nice too. Editing can be tedious, but there’s certainly a sense of accomplishment seeing the story improve (after the harsh reality of beta reads). Knowing the way I work against myself helps me keep going when the motivation isn’t there. Not like it’s a magic bullet cure-all, but it’s better than nothing. Hopefully this little bit of knowledge can help you too.