Ever wondered if something was worth doing?
Last week, in a session with a client, they shared a step they were taking in the late stages of revising their novel.
“I’m not sure if this is a waste of time or not,” they admitted.
However, after we discussed it further, we found there were benefits and that the process itself was enjoyable to do. They opted to continue, doubt-free.
This clarified a framework I’ve loosely applied in my head ever since I worked with Simon Van Booy as my editor on a previous novel1 and I was at a similar stage to my client. By contrast, I was not doing something beneficial at all. Simon shook me out of my perfectionistic tinkering with a question:
“Are you making it better, or just different?”
Ever since that conversation, I ask myself this question whenever I have a creative decision to make. Is this actually worth the effort? My clients will nod along as they read this… this is a question I pose to them often, too.
The Creative Decision Framework
However, in the session I opened this post with, we took this question deeper and I laid out my variation on the Eisenhower matrix2 for just these moments:
When Simon asked me if I was making things different, not better, he was also asking me if I was hanging out in the “enjoyable, but not beneficial” quadrant. I was anxious, and it felt better to keep working on the manuscript after it was finished, even if there was no objective benefit other than the illusion that I was working. It was enjoyable to reduce my anxiety, even if the book didn’t improve.
My client, on the other hand, was hanging out in “Beneficial and Enjoyable” and worried that enjoying something meant it wasn’t serious work that they should continue. We were able to confirm the value so they could continue with confidence.
How to decide using this framework
When I’m pondering a choice, these are the criteria I assess, but only now can I lay this neat layout of four boxes and identify the reality of the process.
Enjoyable and beneficial is the dream. We enjoy what we’re doing, and it is creating progress and improvement for our work. Many of us feel this way about early drafts. The accumulation of words feels exciting, along with the discovery of the story. Sometimes we feel guilty about just how fun this is, so if you need a permission slip, here it is:
YOU MAY ENJOY THE WRITING PROCESS. REALLY.
Not enjoyable but beneficial comes for us all at some point. The day we don’t want to sit down and write, the days the writing feels rough and ugly, or like we’re not getting the flow we desire. Still, showing up is beneficial, so this is productive.
In addition, this can happen with other stages of the process. We revise and feel uncertain. We’re not sure we’re headed in the right direction. It’s a stage of the process we don’t like, but know is necessary. In this case, we press on and hope for an easier day tomorrow.
Enjoyable but not beneficial is tricker to catch in the moment. Perhaps you just adore research. You’ve convinced yourself that you simply MUST read these 200 books before you are qualified to write the next scene. Or maybe you’re like I was and tinkering with removing and putting the same three adjectives back into a scene because you’re scared to call the book finished.
Creating the perfect plan, or the perfect outline, or the perfect writing notebook set-up (really the perfect anything, let’s be honest) is a big clue you’ve been trapped by Enjoyable but not beneficial.
Regularly checking in using this matrix will help you catch it faster in the future, without sacrificing months to color-coding character sheets or researching every single detail of a ten-year historical period, even those that play no part in your book. (I know this quadrant well, if that’s not already apparent) Break free of its seduction, and you’ll be much more likely to finish your book during your lifetime.
Not Enjoyable and Not Beneficial is the quadrant to avoid. On the surface, it seems easy to identify, but you have to take serious stock to clarify when you’re in it. Sometimes we’re so used to working hard that something being painful doesn’t register as a reason to pause and reflect.
If you are someone who subscribes to “butt in chair, NO MATTER WHAT” it will benefit you to define what beneficial means to you. Only then can you confirm you’re in the land of grim and unhelpful writing.
Defining “Beneficial”
The definition of beneficial will vary for all of us, and it will also change as the project progresses.
If the first draft defines beneficial as “500 words added to the draft every day M-F” that same book may have “clarify main character’s motivation for chapter 2” as a beneficial result when you’ve progressed to the next draft.
We may also spend time when writing, especially with fiction, creating text that doesn’t end up in the book, or we may decide later that a section needs to be cut. This is painful if we continue defining beneficial as “make the book longer” after draft one. Consciously reframing beneficial to “make every chapter and scene count” is a far more useful guideline at this stage. It may even shift cutting text from “not enjoyable” to “enjoyable” because you’re directly serving your larger goal.
How I used this framework for Book Alchemy
Last week was my first back to work after the holidays. It was, to put it mildly, a ROUGH re-entry. I lived in Los Angeles for twelve years and have many friends and family, including my brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephew way closer to the fires than I’d like. My brother and his family are safe, as is their house (for now), but many others B and I know have evacuated and some have lost homes. This took up a lot of my headspace, and still does.
In addition, I’d made an ambitious plan for the week, including seeing all of my clients, opening the first Your Writing Year intensive today AND having the Your Writing Year planner delivered through Substack instead of my newsletter platform, as in previous years.
Yikes.
About mid-week, my anxiety was at a 10 and I was pacing around the house to discharge nervous energy, breathing erratically. Something had to give.
By applying this matrix to everything I’m currently working on, I’ve come up with a new plan that keeps me firmly in the “Beneficial and Enjoyable” quadrant.
Changes to Book Alchemy effective immediately:
Throughout 2024, I prioritized creating a lot of free content for this space, sharing articles first for free and then paywalling the archives after two weeks. This took a ton of my energy, but I’m thrilled at both the archive and the community growth.
Last week, I had to admit I’m now stretched too thin. I thrive working with my private clients and running writing Intensives. In addition, I’m incredibly grateful to have a much larger paid subscriber community here at Book Alchemy. However, I’m nearly maxed out with those commitments alone.
As a result, I want to honor the commitment these subscribers have made to the community by making these changes:
Footnotes, the monthly roundup, will remain free to all, with an article from the archives un-paywalled for a limited time with each issue
The Secret Library Podcast is returning in February! This is so joyful for me to create as my offering for free subscribers and the public
Articles on Craft + Process, like this one, will be for paid subscribers
WORKSHOP this Friday, January 17, at 8am Pacific / 11am Eastern / 16:00 GMT / 17:00 CET: Tarot reading for the writing year ahead for paid subscribers. Recording will be available.
The Your Writing Year planner will be available through 1/31 for free subscribers, but will go behind the paywall on 1 February, as the tech on Substack is not designed to effectively deliver downloads to free subscribers only.
I am making these changes to honor the bandwidth I have currently, and hope this inspires you to consider your own bandwidth in your life. As writers, we always need to protect our energy and mental health, because this is how we save the energy we need to write.
Without making these shifts, I would have no time left for my own writing, and I have realized it’s time to protect that more carefully.