New Year, New Approach

With the New Year having just passed in our Modern Age of Technology, it is impossible to ignore the endless stream of resolutions claimed by nearly everyone.  A quick glance at Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or any of dozens of social media sources, you will find numerous hopes and promises for the coming year.  The resolutions range from learning a new skill to pursuing a hobby to the ever recurring desire to live a healthier life. 

The resolutions are compounded by the marketplace offering aid that will help you achieve your goals.  Fitness gyms fill the commercial gaps of your favorite broadcasts with beautiful people wearing spandex that reveal perfect, tanned abs claiming that you too can have the ideal beach-ready body in time for summer.  For a fee, you can quit smoking, eat healthy, earn more money and become smarter.  For but a few dollars, you can become a better you and thus – be happier.

The truth:  You will fail.

Let me stress that your failure is not a product of some character flaw.  You are not weak.  You are not inferior.  You are simply human and setting a long term goal of self-betterment is not realistic.  I’m not saying that having a goal is bad.  On the contrary, goals are vital.  What is important is creating goals that are within reach.  Keep it real.

No.  I’m not suggesting you lower your standards and set little goals, either.  Ambitious goals give us a destination to strive towards, but no great achievement has ever gone from conception directly to completion.  Set a final goal, yet focus on the conditions needed for that goal to be achieved.  Perhaps an example:

Weight Loss.

Goal: Lose fifty pounds

Statistically, overweight individuals who have made a resolution to lose weight have failed an average of six times.  Why is this?  Simple:  life gets in the way.  You might join a gym and be pumped up to work out every day.  The first day was rough, though.  You are sore and need to take a day off before another workout.  You decide that maybe every other day at the gym is best.  You see a few pounds vanish and get excited.  Then something comes up and you can’t go on Monday, so you will just get back to it Wednesday.  Missing one day doesn’t matter… until one day becomes a week off.  Maybe the weight loss has plateaued and your goal seems impossible.  You start to question if there is a point to sweating and being sore when you have nothing to show for it.  The gym becomes something you dread.  Eventually, you give up.  Your body just won’t lose the weight.  You stop working out.

This is a common occurrence.  This is the only reason gyms often require contracts.  A gym can be profitable by charging a monthly fee, but the real money comes from cancelled contracts.  They know full well that most people who sign-up for a membership (especially after the first of the year) will give up before the spring thaw.  They are counting on it.  They expect you to fail and to pay them for a service you aren’t using.

Should you avoid joining a gym?  Of course not.  Be realistic, though.  You probably aren’t going to have time or energy to work out as much as you hope.  Having a goal weight is fine, but don’t dwell on it.  Instead, concentrate on the act of working out.  Even though the pounds aren’t evaporating at an accelerated pace, you are still doing a good thing for your body.  If the gym isn’t for you, simply taking a walk is beneficial.  You missed a few days or a week?  So what?  It doesn’t make you a failure.  Don’t let your goal defeat you.

This applies to everything.  Tried to quit smoking, but gave in and had one after a stressful day at work.  That doesn’t mean you have to go back to smoking fulltime.  Pick up where you left off.  It’s okay to have hiccups along the way.  Been counting calories, but was seduced by a piece of chocolate cake?  Good for you!  You deserve a treat now and again.  One stumble doesn’t need to mean failure.

For the New Year, I have decided to try my own approach to resolutions.  I really have no idea if it will work, but it’s worth a try.  First, I have my “final goals” (which I will tuck away and hope to reach):

~ LOSE FORTY POUNDS

~ QUIT SMOKING

~ FINISH A NOVEL

~ WRITE MORE (NON-NOVEL RELATED)

Ambitious, I know.  Having these goals defined, I am going to focus on a list that is manageable:

~ WALK LAPS AROUND MY TRUCK BEFORE AND AFTER EACH DRIVE SHIFT

~ PURCHASE THREE (3) INDIVUALLY WRAPPED SNACKS EACH SUNDAY.  ONLY THREE (3) AND ONLY ON SUNDAY.  RATION THEM DURING THE WEEK.  IF ANY REMAIN COME NEXT SUNDAY, PURCHASE ONLY ENOUGH TO HAVE THREE (3) SNACKS ON THE TRUCK AT ANY GIVEN TIME.

~ REDUCE TOBACCO USAGE BY FIFTY PERCENT EACH WEEK.  NEVER HAVE MORE THAN ONE (1) PACK ON THE TRUCK AT ANY TIME.

~ COMMIT TWO (2) HOURS TO MY NOVEL EACH DAY PRIOR TO GOING TO BED.

~ POST A BLOG EVERY SATURDAY CONSISTING OF AT LEAST ONE THOUSAND WORDS.

This list seems doable.  Will these items lead to my final goals?  Eventually.  Might not happen in the next year, but it is a step in the right direction. 

I leave you with a mantra that I focus on every day:

There are no big problems.  There are only clusters of little problems.  Solve the little problems and the big ones will solve themselves.

Thank you for reading and Happy New Year!

Motivation to Care...

Have you ever read a story or watched a show on television and during certain scenes you find yourself thinking: "Why would anyone act this way? This is ridiculous!"

Well, you are not alone. It isn’t because you are missing some vital point or that the characters are just too deep for you to understand. Most times, it is nothing more than the author failing to create a convincing character or story.

An important part of writing is to create a character your readers can relate to and place your cast in situations that make sense.

I know… this sounds like a major obstacle and seems to infringe upon creative license.

“Why should I be forced to tailor my writing around the readers? If they don’t get it, then they aren’t the right type of reader for my form of creativity.”

I’m not talking about changing your story content… just how you are planning telling it. You can write a story about an orphan girl who trains a monkey how to fly a hot air balloon in Alaska… the trick is making your readers care.

One of my favorite tools for writing is Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

*read more about Abraham Maslow

 

If you are already familiar with the Hierarchy of Needs, then thank you for visiting and hope to see you next time!  For everyone else, here is how this simple pyramid can help you and your writing.

 

We start at the bottom and work our way towards the top.  Without the basic (lower) needs getting met, you cannot move forward.

 

 

Physiological Needs:  These are the most basic.  Food, Shelter, Breathing, Warmth, etc.  Those simple items we all need just to live. 

We see the physiological needs being the focus in a lot of writing.  It is something everyone can relate to:  if we don't find food soon, we will die - or - we are running out of air and we will die if we don't reach the ocean surface. 

Most important factor to remember at this level:  We need it or we die!


Safety Needs:  Simply put: Security.  Holding on to the things we have.  You can go basic as to protect your body, food or shelter.  You can also go as far as protecting a job or your family and even health.  You will also find that a person will risk their safety to fulfill the physical needs (Fisherman braving harsh seas to bring home food,  man will fight wolf to have cave during blizzard).

Safety needs often go hand-in-hand with Physiological needs.  As readers, Safety is something everyone deals with:  what will I do if they close the factory?  What if someone tries to break into my house?  It is getting late... maybe I should make sure the kids are "really" at their friends house.

Safety factor:  I have this, I need this, I need to keep this.

Now Physiological and Safety are easy to understand and sit well with the readers.  You don't need to explain why these things are important. 

The next three aren't so primal and require alot more skill in writing to actually make people care:

Social Needs:  Love and Belonging.  Friends, Family, Intimacy.  Need I say more?

You can find examples of the Social level at any time by simply tuning your television to Lifetime or Hallmark.  Social needs are the breeding ground of romance, drama, teen fiction, after-school specials, and non-stop sitcoms.  Hugs, kissing, loving... good stuff and many readers.  (note: also, there are many writers riding the love-train).

Social factor:  I need someone to love.  I need a place to belong.


Esteem Needs:  Yes, self-esteem up here.  Here you will also find Confidence, Respect of/by Others, and Achievement.

This is also where you find self-worth. This area usually requires a lot of extra writing to explain why it is important for Jeff to win the science fair - or - why should I care if Tanya finally stands up to her mother?  You must explain why this is important.

Esteem factor:  I need you to accept me and respect who I am.


Self-actualization:  Problem Solving, Creativity, Morality.  This is where you reach your potential.  A goal of personal ideology being met.  Being who you wish to be.

This is also a point where a character would find that inner purpose ... a meaning or reason to their actions.  Religion or artistic fruition being a common focus in writing.

Self-actualization factor:  This is who I am and what I am meant to do.


Now, this is in no way a complete and in depth look at character motivations.  This is only a brief look at a tool I have found to be quite handy.  I hope this has been of some assistance. 

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