Hi Reader,

Every evening, I water my new xeriscaped garden. One of the big planters I got as decorative elements full of petunias is called Big Red. She is the largest of the five pots full of annuals I bought.

Big Red also happens to be home to approximately seventeen thousand earwigs. (This number has not been scientifically verified, but emotionally? It's accurate).

The second the water hits the soil, those nightmare creatures come crawling out of the darkness. Tiny legs. Tiny antennae. Tiny pincher butts.

Tiny nightmares. 😱

For a while, I had the same reaction every single time.

I built my garden for the butterflies and the honey bees and the hummingbirds. I wanted to enjoy watering my flowers without the accompanying horror movie.

Then, I made a decision.

BURN. IT. DOWN.

I’m kidding. 😅

I couldn’t change the situation, because my garden is organic and pesticide free, and I built it with my own two hands, and I love it so much! Tending to these baby native perennials brings me a sense of joy and calm in this tumultuous world.

So, what did I do instead? I changed the story.

Now when I drag the garden hose to Big Red’s House of Nightmares and start the spray, I become The Garden Witch.

And these little nightmare creatures are my children, cursed by a rival witch, forever to live as deplorable creepy crawlies until I can find the cure (or kill the rival witch, but she’s wily and elusive).

My children come out of hiding, crawling up the decorative grass thing in the middle of the planter

“Hello my little darlings," I say, often in some poorly rendered Eastern European accent. "Time for your bath my preciouses."

(The life of a writer, amiright?)

Has anything about the situation changed?

Nope.

The earwigs remain deeply committed to being earwigs (and they are, I have learned, excellent mothers).

But somehow...I'm no longer horrified with the experience.

I even saw one on Thing 2, one of my bee balms, and said, “What are you doing over here? You know it scares me to see you outside of your home.”

And that's why I'm telling you this.

Because I see so many writers standing outside their novels, waiting for the metaphorical earwigs to disappear before they'll let themselves write.

They're waiting until they stop doubting themselves.

Until the time feels right.

Until they have the perfect outline.

Until they know the beginning is good.

Until they're "in the mood."

As if all the messy, uncomfortable parts of being a writer are an infestation to get rid of before the real writing can begin.

But writing doesn't work like that.

The doubt isn't because you don’t know what you’re doing.

It's just...part of the garden.

Trying to eliminate every ounce of resistance before you write is a little like refusing to water the flowers because you know the earwigs will come out.

The flowers still need watering. We can’t neglect them.

Your story still needs you. So stop neglecting it.

The moment I stopped fighting the earwigs, they stopped being the bane of my existence and started being these almost charming little creatures waiting for their daily bath. They’re no longer scary (though, I do confess, if one were to crawl on me, I would probably die instantly).

I can finally pay attention to the flowers (and dead heading them so Big Red can be gloriously big and red again).

I think the same thing happens when we stop trying to create the perfect conditions for writing.

Instead of asking, "How do I get rid of this resistance/self-doubt/impostor syndrome?”

What if you asked, "How can I make room for it...and write anyway?"

“Can I acknowledge it’s there, personify it with a name (I call mine Curtis), put it in time out, and write anyway?”

“Can I refer to the feelings as my children or little pets or familiars and tell them to leave me alone for the next twenty minutes or so?”

And then write anyway?

Maybe today that looks like giving yourself five gloriously messy minutes to “throw down” (a term I learned from Creative Goblin Community Member Jessica) some of your story. The skeleton draft a lot of folks call it.

Can you take just five minutes and lower the bar to the sub-basement or to the core of the earth where it’ll melt and no longer exist?

Can you remove the pressure to be brilliant?

What would it feel like to just spend five minutes playing in your own fictional world because you miss it?

Because here's what I've learned:

Freedom doesn't usually arrive after the resistance leaves.

It arrives when you stop asking it for permission.

When you're ready to build a writing practice that doesn't depend on perfect moods, perfect confidence, or perfect circumstances, I'd love to help.

We're doing that right now inside The Show Up Challenge running now until the end of July. You can still join! It’s never too late to show up for the challenge and show up for your writing life.

And now it comes with a lovely community of beautiful souls all showing up for their writing.

Did I mention it’s FREE???????

Now, time to go say hello to my children. I’ll let the earwigs know you said hello.

Claire 💛

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Kira's Korner! The Odd Sleeping Positions of Kira Fishback. Also, I think she needs MORE toys.

New here? Forget who I am? I'm Claire! Author Accelerator certified book coach, award-winning horror author, project manager, sourdough maven, amazing wife and dog mom, and your future creative mentor! I help fiction writers ditch the rules, fall in love with writing again, and finally finish their damn (good!) stories! Ready to write? ​Heck yeah! Let's do this thang!​