The Rule of Thirds ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

It’s no secret that sometimes the writing life is hard. Even after we publish, whether we’re in the middle of a contract, when the writing is going well - and especially when the writing is tough. When family life seems to be intruding, when a family member has a health scare, when it’s a beautiful day outside and we want to be anywhere but at the keyboard pecking away at the keys. 

Those are the days when writing is hard. And those are the days that it may seem like writing is too hard. That this dream we’re all chasing is maybe not worth the blood, sweat, and tears that it requires. 

I was talking with a writer friend recently about burnout and our talking turned to the Rule of Thirds, something I’ve followed (mostly) since my high school days when my volleyball coach taught us about it. The Rule of Thirds basically goes like this: when you’re chasing a big goal you should feel good about the goal/your progress/your efforts about one-third of the time; you’re going to feel just okay about it about one-third of the time; you’re going to feel terrible, no good, very bad day type feelings about one third of the time. As long as your roughly in that one-third/one-third/one-third range, you’re good. You’re feeling what everyone else is feeling. You are not failing. 

Now, obviously, what I learned is focused on physical training, but I still think the lesson or rule can be used in other areas of our lives - and chasing a career dream like writing is one of them. Because, like physical training, writing is a solo effort. We write (primarily) alone. We edit (primarily) alone. We interact with others mostly in the digital space when we are (primarily) alone. And when we’re alone,it can be easier to see and dwell on the bad things than to realize all of the little steps we are taking forward. 

So, how do you shake off those bad feelings? That voice that is telling you this is too hard, that you aren’t good enough, that it’s all just a dream? 

I don’t think we always can, but I do think we can react in a certain way to keep moving forward. When I’m having one of those days, I channel my inner Dory, you know, from the Nemo movies, and I “just keep swimming”. Well, writing. Some days are going to be bad writing days, but the key is to keep your progress moving forward. If you’re having one of those bad writing days, maybe you switch gears to make it a research day. Maybe you take a walk. Maybe you vent to your bestie about the frustrations. And the next day, you reset, and go for it again. 

What I’ve found in the last nine years of being a published author (and the more-than-9-years of being an aspiring author) is that mindset matters. A single off day isn’t going to derail your progress, and it doesn’t mean you aren’t a writer. It’s just a bad day. So shake it off and wallow a bit if you need to . . .and the next day, start fresh knowing that you aren’t alone. We all have those bad-third days. We’ve all been there. We’ll be there again. 

But we’ll also have those good days, and we’ll celebrate those together just like we commiserate with the bad.