luni, 7 aprilie 2014

How I Wrote a Novel in 3 Days

 Hello, fellow human.

 Today's post is about what I like to call 'Extreme Motivation'. Something that we are all used to wanting, but never actually managed to reach. It's that thing that keeps you going in that vision you have of yourself working non-stop towards your goal.

 We all have our highs and lows. It's during those high points where the world seems to be at your fingertips and that desire to conquer pops out of nowhere. Suddenly, you are hit by an image of yourself vigorously typing at your amazing project sometime late at night. Proudly, you announce that starting tomorrow you will be that person.


Yes, I'll be right with you as soon as I'm done writing my 367 page e-book

 What happens when you wake up the next morning?


They called him 'Tired Power'.

 There you are again, watching mindless YouTube videos in the comfort of your bed. In fact, you're even annoyed with it, but for some reason keep on wasting your time.

 Maybe it's just the way we're programmed to act. Maybe it's just some basic survival instinct meant to do one thing and one thing only: keep you alive. Unfortunately, as time went on, man developed a consciousness that worked against his reflexes. 


Your conscious mind vs. your subconscious mind.

But enough with the complaining. Here is how I, for one brief moment, managed to overcome it(and you can too).

 Here's how I wrote a novel in 3 days

 It was the winter of 2011 and I was an unpopular and possibly retarded kid. 

 However, it wasn't the above that was bothering me. In fact, I always saw myself as being light years ahead of everyone else. I knew I was better than them and all I needed was a way to prove it(which is a bad mentality to begin with, but I'm just saying this as part of the story).

 So in the three days following Christmas, all I did was write an average of 40-50 pages a day. By the end of this writing rampage, I had a rough version of what was my second (completed) book.
 A few months later, I got the rights to it, added some extra chapters and printed out a small number of copies.

 No, I was not an overnight success and I didn't make any money from it- which is exactly what I was hoping for. I learned that life was a little more complicated than that.

 I then tried writing another book. This time, I couldn't stick to it. Why? Because I knew that all those rewards I wanted were not going to come to me this way. I needed another plan.

 *I ended up writing some e-books, but that's another story.

 For 6 years I tried to make a feature film. I always lost interest in every movie I'd start to work on.

  I have hundreds of unfinished scripts standing around the house. Some of them materialized into half-shot, half-edited 20-45 minute videos. All except for one.

 When I started making I Know Your Browser History, I decided to make my commitment to it by creating an IMDb page before I even picked up the camera. For me, the fact that the IMDb page existed was pretty much my only motivation.

 Unfortunately, I now know how many undone projects there are at the Internet Movie Database, so it would no longer help me stick to my projects. If I were to begin something else(and I will), I'd have to put myself in a position where I am forced to keep up with the same project no matter what.

 When I wrote the book, I never for a second had in mind the possibility of me failing at becoming a well known author. I did it as if commercial and mainstream success was right around the corner. I thought I was going to be famous.

 What is the key to Extreme Motivation?

 The answer is simple: Stay stupid.  
 Don't question the possibility of you succeeding. Do what you have to do and think later. 

 For example, the book was awesome. Everyone in school loved it, even though that didn't make me a celebrity. Had I used the same approach for marketing it- who knows- I could have made it.

 If you can't stay stupid, just find something that will force you to stay on the tracks. For me, it was the IMDb page and this blog. 

 In fact, it can be just a matter of goals: Instead of going for getting rich and famous through this project, just chose make this project great. Take it one step at a time and at least make it to the end of the first step.

 What happens if you don't take it step by step? You'll get a horrible project that you hate. Since you hate it, you won't be that confident with it and therefore suck at the marketing part. That's it.

 So remember- Stay stupid or have something else keep you stupid.







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