i found some older writing advice posts in my drafts folder, so I’m finishing them up and making them live over the next few weeks. The original context/trigger for this is long-since lost, but the advice is still useful.
The easy fix is usually simple because there’s no opportunity cost involved. There is a problem, and the solution is obvious, with no risk of time, money, or potential failure that might make it a bad idea.
The bad fix is usually simple because the cost is obviously way too high. There is a problem, and the solution is obviously beyond your means. Ignoring it, and figure out some alternative, because the bad fix is not happening, no way, no how.
Most fixes are neither easy nor hard. They’re just kind of middling — risky, but not too risky; expensive, but not too expensive; likely to eat up resources, but a worthwhile investment if they work and circumstances aren’t likely to change without it.
When your computer dies, as a writer, the easy fix is obvious: get your hands on a new computer, even if it’s not great. Or switch to pen and paper, if there’s no obvious deadlines that demand finished files.
When your internet dies right as you’re scheduled to update your blog, or your software needs to download a new version just as you’re writing, then you’re in the median range where you weigh opportunity cost. When the solution isn’t easy—when the solution involves a choice—the possibility of choosing wrong.
There’s a multitude of solutions to the WiFi being down: move to a library or cafe with an internet connection; re-designing my schedule to focus on non-internet for a stretch, leaving the online stuff for later; doing tech support with the ISP to figure out what’s going wrong. All require an investment of time, money, or expertise that may pay off, but they’re also overkill if the problem is smaller than it appears.
So the decision paralysis sets in, weighing up options, trying to figure out what will get you to the goal as quickly as possible. And the time you could have spent driving to a library, or talking on the phone, gets devoured by wondering if those are reasonable decisions.
The decision you can implement now is worth more than the slightly better solution you take a long time to decide on. When shit goes unexpectedly wrong, you’ve got three choices:
- Assume the first solution is best and implement it.
- Give yourself a dedicated time limit in which you can brainstorm solutions and have them ready to go.
- Make an “in case of emergency” list for common problems while things are calm, so you don’t need to decide, just do what’s on the list.