The Power of Focus

In recent weeks here on Scribe Sisters we’ve discussed writing your passion and how it helps to have balance in your life. Today I want to throw another important ingredient into the mix:  the power of focus.

There’s no doubt passion plays an important role in writing. When writing is your passion, and you feel passionate about your story, you have a strong motivation. At the same time, all work and no play can make anyone a bit dull. Family, friends, the day job, and other interests provide the necessary balance and ignite our creativity.

On the other hand, all too often I hear about passionate writers who lead well balanced lives, yet still cannot finish a story. Sad to say, I know of someone with five different writing projects going on all at once, who last I heard, hadn’t finished any of them.

Most creative people have lots of ideas and excel at starting new projects. Do you keep your story ideas in a notebook or computer file? I do, and there are so many, I hope I live long enough to write them all! Do you start projects around the house and not finish them? I have to admit, I have a few.

Passionate people can be scattered. There are so many things I want to do in this world—how about you? I know someone who is always busy, but how much does he really accomplish? Not as much as you might think. Does “busyness” really make a difference? I’d say no. Busyness needs a strong focus in order to be effective.

Some passionate people may talk a lot, but leave the doing to others. I know someone at my day job like that. She can wax eloquent with terrific ideas, but her follow-through is non-existent. How much does she accomplish? Very little.

Once I worked on a project that involved a prominent physician. In addition to treating patients, he was an executive of a major hospital, the national chairman of a well-known organization, a sought-after speaker, a brilliant researcher, and author of scientific articles. I asked him, how did he manage everything? He had some help, but much of his work he accomplished on his own. What made him so effective? He told me he compartmentalizes. What that means is, when he’s seeing a patient, he focuses only on that one person. He doesn’t think about anything else at that moment. When he’s in a meeting, he focuses only on the topic of discussion, and so on. I tried compartmentalizing the various aspects of my life, and it works! Compartmentalizing helps me focus on writing and nothing else during my precious writing time.

What it takes to finish a story is focus, and focus isn’t sexy. Focus means slogging through when the writing becomes tough, the time when too many potentially wonderful writers drop out. Finishing is doggone hard work. Some writers say they develop a love/hate relationship with their stories. Plugging away when the fires of passion have cooled, when other exciting projects sing their siren songs, can be difficult. When that happens, it helps to remember why you started the project in the first place. What was it about that idea that inspired you? Refocus on that emotion and use it to your advantage.

When passion ignites too many ideas, when life scatters our energies, when interest wanes in the project at hand, focus remains a powerful tool. Focus makes a huge difference in my life. When I come home tired from the day job, focus is what sits me down at my computer and keeps me going. Relatively few people in this world finish a manuscript, but I’ve finished one and am close to finishing another, thanks to the power of focus. Passion gets us started, but focus propels us to “The End.”

Happy writing!
 
Jule