Don’t Look Down

I finally had a chance to clear my RSS feed over the weekend, and uncovered a fascinating profile on Janelle Monáe and the productivity tools/corporate structure she uses over on Fast Company, and the things she’s picked up from businesses like Pixar. 

Interesting reading. But I’m still not the biggest fan of Slack.

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Speaking of business models: once you decide on something, especially in the early days, it can be easy to second guess yourself. In a lot of ways, building a writing career is a lot like walking a tightrope between two buildings–if you look down and pay attention to what the fuck it is you’re doing, then you’re immediately going to make things a hell of a lot harder.

Instead, your main job once the destination is set is focusing on the little things you are meant to be doing in that moment–the little flexes of muscle that maintain your balance, adjusting your grip on the balance pole. Inching your foot forward, taking the next step, not looking down at all.

Trusting the slow accumulation of steps to get you to the far side.

It’s tempting to spend today–the tail end of the Winged, With Sharp Teeth giveaway–plugged into the computer checking numbers, fretting about whether they’re good enough to pay off down the line. To look down, in other words, and think about what I’m doing instead of focusing on the next step.

Here is what I should be doing today: putting the third Short Fiction Lab story through its paces; redrafting a scene in Warhol Sleeping; doing some PhD reading; drafting a section of my conference presentation.

Who has time to look down? There’s writing to be done.