I saw something a couple months back, that I can’t get out of my head. It’s something that reminded me of how – too often – we get distracted by the “new and shiny,” forgetting work of skill, craft, and meaning. But, I’ll get back to what that thing was in a moment…
I see this a lot with writers and other creative entrepreneurs: how new apps, social media, systems, buttons, marketing tactics, etc – seem to make us feel:
- Clever when we find it; cutting edge when we share it.
- Hopeful that there is an easier path – a shortcut – to success.
- Relevant and contemporary by knowing about this new thing.
- Validated. (ooohh, this is a biggie)
And in our everyday lives, this plays out in a variety of ways, writ large via social media: Tweets, links, giveaways, blogs, videos, lists, podcasts, etc. And endless list of “Have you heard about this amazing new trick?! Click here!”
I get less excited by this stuff for a lot of reasons. Perhaps primarily because I have found that the stuff that really works – the foundational ways the people learn about things, feel connected to them, and take action – works really well, but are difficult to master. And yet, in learning THIS craft – how to better communicate, how to better identify and understand your audience, how to better connect with others in a way that is meaningful, not promotional – something more interesting is created.
Okay, back to the beginning of this post. What was the thing that I saw that reminded me of all of this? A 75 year old dance number from a movie that astounded me, the Nicholas brothers from the 1943 film Stormy Weather:
About half-way through the video, just when you think “wow, this is pretty impressive, I’ve seen enough,” they duo raises the stakes. It’s worth watching the entire three minutes.
Fred Astair reportedly said that this was the finest piece of tap dancing ever filmed.
When I looked up the Nicholas brothers, it was neat to learn that each of them lived to see the turn of the century. I found this documentary on them that includes interviews with both brothers.
I suppose my concern over the “new and shiny” is about two things; The first is overlooking the amazing culture and accomplishments from our past. For instance, how many of these top rated documentaries have you heard of? I knew of surprisingly few of them. There are decades worth of top documentaries waiting for me to discover them.
The second thing is that the term that I hear most often from writers is: “OVERWHELMED.”
They are, plainly put: overwhelmed by trying to balance their regular lives, crafting their books & stories, the publishing process, and the desire/pressure to ensure it reaches readers. And, like all click-able headlines (“10 amazing ways to use Pinterest to launch your book!”) this tends to encourage the behavior of looking for shortcuts and new and shiny ways of doing more with less effort.
And I can’t blame them for wanting this type of thing. But I think that shortcuts of the new and shiny remove the wisdom of the journey. That there is something important to be experienced when you explore goal setting that leads to action; small steps that build momentum; hone and test messaging which leads to true engagement with readers; establish a proper strategy and communication channels that WORK, instead of just juggling a million social networks.
That, for all the shortcuts and new and shiny things that distract us everyday, there is something lost – perhaps a lack of diversity of efforts & experience when we all look for the same mindless best practices.
I watched a documentary this week, Finding Vivian Maier, of a woman who spent a lifetime taking incredible photographs, but never shared them with anyone. They were found after she passed away, and the story of who she was and what she saw is as intriguing as the photographs themselves.
In the context of this post though, what I love is that we are discovering an artist who focused on the basics – deeply communicative photographs of the human experience. And the fact that we discover her decades after she created most of her work, simply underscores that value is found not just in things that are new, things that are shiny, but things that are universal, well-crafted, and timeless.
Do you find yourself overwhelmed? How do you keep yourself motivated to focus on the foundations, not the new & shiny?
Thank you.
-Dan
Every time I gravitate to the new and shiny, I have a little voice in my head (it’s a combination of advice from mentors of all shapes and sizes) that tells me “write the next book.” “Is this helping you write the next book?” And I usually admit that no, it’s not, and crawl back to the writing. Mind you, this happens 20 or 30 times a day lol. I’m easily distracted. The thought of someone crafting a story or a photo or whatever art and then not sharing it with anyone makes me very sad. Art, in all its forms, is meant to be shared I think. For the record, I’ve never heard of any of those documentaries. Thanks for sharing them!
Thanks Melinda! What you describe sounds familiar, and my gut is that it comes with increase freedom. So you have the freedom to write for portions of the day, which means you don’t have a boss and colleagues and social pressure looking over your shoulder. So you can venture off down inspired paths, but as you said, you have to keep checking yourself if these paths are in the service of your books.
-Dan
Another honest and to-the-point dose of much needed marketing sanity. Tks, Dan. Loved the video – the applause from that crowd was WAY too tame. If I was there, I’d have been hootin’ and hollerin’ like mad. Amazing talent.
RE: your questions – YES, I do sometimes feel overwhelmed, but I try to stay focused on the things that matter most by paying attention to the real affects of different activities. It is, as you said, tempting to believe that the latest shiny, new object will be the cure-all you’ve been looking for, or that the activity you secretly (or not so secretly) enjoy (*cough* Pinterest *cough*) is actually DOING something, BUT … you have to be honest when assessing the value of different activities. What works for one person may not work for another. You need to look closely at the RESULTS and not get all caught up in the activity itself. Shiny new objects have no intrinsic value. They are only worth something as a means to an end. You have to stay focused on the “end.”
TKS for another great post. Have a lovely weekend. Hope you’re feeling better!
Thank you Jamie! We are on the mend here, but slowly. Owen, Sarah, and I all got sick, and are all in jammies 24/7 recovery mode.
Glad you’re on the mend, but so sorry you all got sick at once. That’s rough! I hope you are able to make the best of your convalescence and be back to 100% SOON! 🙂
Overwhelm shows up on occasion, usually from being distracted by too much new and shiny in my inbox telling me how much more I have to learn and do. Then I breathe a little bit, take a break, and get back to the task at hand–creating a new and shiny to filter the hype and overwhelm of too much new and shiny that I don’t want and help me find the new and shiny that I do want.
Dan, thanks for the new and shiny post, and for connecting me with a distraction worth my time.
Thank you Paul!
-Dan
I recently found myself more overwhelmed than any time in my life. Between
juggling husband and three kids under 13, full time job, part time job, A
marathon editing run to make my publisher’s goals for book launch, marketing,
AND writing a second book in a series under equally stressful timelines.
After a few weeks of not meeting my own goal-timelines for getting this
done, I cracked.
I had to be honest with myself. I cut social media down, making it more
“social”. I used it as downtime. I also re-aligned my goals, and told myself if
I didn’t hit them, it would not be the end of the world. Admitting to myself
that I COULDN’T do everything that was expected of me in the contracted
timeframes was huge, and such a relief.
Instead of having so many goals I was sprinting toward, I focused on one:
Getting “Book One” finished on time. Everything else had to be secondary. Yes,
I am falling behind on projects that are due later, but so be it.
That does not mean that I am not working on the other projects. It just
means that I have primary, secondary, “and so on” focuses. Once I finish the
final proofread of book one (on Monday) my primary focus will switch back to
writing book two for a few days until the information/interviews/magazine
articles/blog post requests come in for the marketing of book one (That releases
September 23rd).
And later on, I will actually treat myself to a vacation. Yes, a week off
will put me even further behind, but hey, I need this.
Work will still be here when I get back.
I keep telling myself that this is what I wanted… the opportunity to get
my book out to the world. It is happening, and me freaking out is only going to
make myself miserable.
Admitting that I might not make all my deadlines LATER ON DOWN THE ROAD has opened me up to MEET ALL THE DEADLINES NOW. Instead of being overwhelmed, I am starting to enjoy the process.
Jennifer,
Love this – thank you! Yes, prioritizing is essential, so is letting some things slide. And it’s interesting how perspective can really shift here. I have had the stomach flu all week, and for the most part lost 4 entire days of work. And you know what: the world didn’t end!
🙂
Have a great day.
-Dan
Hi Dan. Thank you for another thoughtful post. I do find myself overwhelmed with all of ‘it’. Just yesterday I stopped and came up with this personal quote: Celebrate your accomplishments instead of beating yourself up. I keep myself motivated by (trying) to limit going on FB (harder) and twitter (which is easier). I am also taking your previous advice and trying to connect more with individuals and trying to build rather than just post. Something new and shiny will be out everyday but I think it is important to look around at the world and see what has stood the test of time you know? Books, art, architecture – not that the new and shiny is bad – some of the new architecture is incredible like in lower Manhattan but the old is pretty cool too – just look at the George Washington Bridge or the Brooklyn for that matter. That solidity gives me fortitude. Again, thanks for the great post. Feel better soon.
Thank you Kimberly! Agreed about balancing the ‘new’ with that which has stood the test of time. Have a great day.
-Dan
Definitely guilty here, at least in the past. More recently, not so much since my head space is now in the long picture. That changes everything.
But my first thought (again) was: “This advice is so out-of-the-box. I would read a book on the biz that referenced tap dancers and important documentaries.” Have you considered it, Dan, or do you not want to contribute to “next shiny thing syndrome”?
P.S. I had heard of many of the documentaries because I used to volunteer at the AFI and IDA (Int’l Documentary Association) Film Fests. But with a shock I realized, I don’t do that stuff anymore and I miss it.
Thanks Debra! Ah, I am indeed beginning to work on something, but I need to finish fleshing it out before I announce anything yet.
Thanks!
-Dan
Dan, exceptional post to end this “work” week on. As I read it, I began to think of how often I do feel overwhelmed and I’m not the most overwhelmed among us, I’d offer. You see I put off my writing until after retirement because I was already overwhelmed by being a wife, mother, and accountable to my employer, a high-powered law firm which demanded sometimes more than 10-12 hours/day and often more than five days/week. And yes, even in that life, I was still mesmerized by the new, shiny something that was going to make life easier and less stressful while it made me the best that I could possibly want to be.
And yet, as a retiree, writing her first book and wanting it to be the best that it can be I am as easily overwhelmed as the next. Opening email after email offering a bigger and better and yes, shinier class or book or software program than the last email I read. And what do I do about all of it?
I try to remember that I am only one person with one shining objective ahead of me: to write the best book possible and be the best writer I can be. So, in order to do that I have to prioritize — family, home and work, just like all those years before. Some days require more of me in one area or the other, but nothing new and shiny is going to improve on the tried and true in my life — the support of my husband, friends real time and online who encourage me, and my own determination to squeak out what I can each day, if it’s only 30 minutes, to work on my baby. Shiny and new is usually transitory — the new wears off quickly.
Hope you and your family improve quickly, and thanks for making me stop and think about these things that are precious in my past and in my present.
Sherrey,
Love the way you view this – prioritizing and small steps. Yay! And yes, we are on the mend, thank you!
-Dan