Bite-Size Brain Teasers (#4)

The Writing Edition

Well, I wouldn’t be on this platform if I didn’t write for fun, so here I am writing about it again.

Three is the smallest literary number

Trios are everywhere. The three branches of government are executive, legislative, and judicial. The three kinds of gunslingers are the good, the bad, and the ugly. The Three Musketeers go on a great adventure together (and become a candy bar). The big bad wolf hunts three little pigs. There are three parts to the world – heaven, hell, and Earth. Real-time strategy games tend to have three opposing forces – Protoss, Terran and Zerg or GDI, Nod, and Scrin. There are three phases to the Hegelian dialectic, thesis, antithesis, and synthesis – though that one’s more two and a higher truth.

Threes are great as long as it’s not you, your girlfriend, and the guy she tells you not to worry about.

Still, the narrative power of saying things in threes cannot be understated. Having only one entity provides a bedrock, a measuring stick that all can measure against. Having two relies on the opposition between the two. Three, however, heightens the drama by having any conflict between two members always take into account the third party, often resulting in a classic Mexican standoff situation, where no party moves against the others for fear of the third.

The classic example of three powers, alike in strength…

With a little work, you too can harness the power of threes in your communication. Threes are best used in summary work when comprehensiveness is not as important as getting the point across in a short period of time.

Three bullet points, to keep the list compact. List items should try to represent all or the majority of the entries in order to provide a good overview.

Three-part slides to minimize clutter – a title, a chart, an explanation, or a title and two pictures.

Three key findings can help strike a balance between comprehensiveness and memorability.

Whatever it is you want to do, give it your all – mind, body, and heart.

The Only Way Out is Through

We’ve all heard of the dreaded writer’s block. The black dog stalking those who write regularly, writer’s block can strike at any time and for any reason. A break in the routine? Writer’s block. Having to deal with other factors in life and being unable to sit down and decompress your experiences? Writer’s block. Having written too much recently? Writer’s block.

Many suggestions have been given to overcome writer’s block – forget about writing for the time being, do some more research, or simply to find something else to write about. There are only two things, however, that get me out of it with any consistency.

First, get angry, or sad, or generally feeling bad, and force myself to process those emotions through writing. I am most productive, I find, at my angriest, angstiest, saddest, or sickest, with the words simply leaping to my mind after a nice little bout of suffering.

Second, write anyway, even if it’s a short essay like one of these bite-sizes, a poem, or a funny piece about sex robots, and see where that takes you. Writing something completely different can help dislodge obstructions in the main line of thought, and in combination with a good night’s sleep, never fail to get me back on schedule.

Both of these methods have one thing in common. I write my way out of writer’s block. Like a machine, the mind is designed to be used. Routine maintenance in the form of nourishment and maintenance of routine in the form of having a set time and place to write are both essential, but in most cases, one should simply fix the machine by running it harder, or turning it off and on again.

As in so many things, the only way out is through.

I’ll Never Write for a Living

There is a world of difference between using writing as a hobby or a side gig and embracing it as a vocation, profession, or job – whichever term you prefer. A hobby or a side gig lets me write what I wish, be unpredictable, and do whatever I feel is right. I don’t need to think about it being congruent with my professed image or market position. No need to paint by the numbers – it’s just me and my thoughts.

If it’s your primary source of income, however, everything is reversed.

You’re likely on a strict schedule, with word limits or subject matter expected of you, filling a particular niche in a publication, be it digital or not. If self-publishing, you have to get on the treadmill of self-promotion and pushing the word out there, always looking for new communities who might like your stuff or enjoy what you write. Suddenly, all the things I enjoy about writing take a backseat to what I have to do. Why?

Well, it puts food on the table, and that’s a very good motivator!

As such, I’ve made a conscious decision to never write for a living – or at least, never make it my primary stream of income. Writing is a form of meditation for me, and I reserve the right to pick up sticks and walk away if I think it’s right. I don’t want it to become a game where I’m trying to maximize my gains by writing about hot topics or controversial subjects that I don’t really care about. That’s not what I’m here for.

If you’re reading this – take a good look at what you’re here for. If you have an answer, well and good. If you don’t, figure it out.