Feeling Uncomfortable

Yesterday while working out on the elliptical machine at the Y, I was reading a woman's magazine to pass the time (instead of panting out the seconds to reach my 30 minute quota!). One article was titled "6 Weeks to a Younger You," so of course, I had to check it out. ;-) It consisted of a recommended set of lifestyle changes to implement each week for six weeks to improve the quality of your life so you look and feel younger, healthier, and happier. You know, the typical woman's magazine article.

In glancing through the nuggets of wisdom that included things I was already doing, like eating more fruits and veggies, exercising regularly, using sunscreen, solving crossword puzzles, and so on, one piece of advice really resonated with me:

Resolve to do one thing each day that makes you feel uncomfortable.

If you followed this advice, you would constantly be nudging yourself out of your comfort zone, trying new things and confronting problems, instead of wallowing in the same old rut that keeps you from growing and learning. Soon, making risky decisions, even little ones, would become a habit. Wow!

Resolve to do one thing each day that makes you feel uncomfortable.

What great advice that is for a fiction writer. The last place you want to be when telling a story is someplace comfortable. Because that means not only are you bored, your reader is bored. Through your characters, you have to experience uncomfortable emotions, solve uncomfortable problems, and confront uncomfortable experiences. Otherwise, your story isn't interesting. So, why not apply what works for your story and your characters to yourself?

I thought back on occasions in the past few years when I've made a decision to do something that felt uncomfortable in my writing life, and how much personal learning or progress resulted. For instance:

When writing my rough draft manuscripts, I now publicly post my word count goals and progress. I used to do it on the Pikes Peak Writers yahoogroup or a Sisters in Crime Guppies goal-setting subgroup or other small forum, but now it's on my Facebook page, for all of my thousands of friends to see. Why do that? It makes me accountable and forces me to put my (ever increasing) butt in the chair and pound out the words instead of finding some housecleaning or gardening to do instead.

Once I stood up to read at a Pikes Peak Writers gathering, even though I hate to do readings and know I suck at them. I asked for honest feedback on my presentation skills (or lack thereof), and then I read not just a piece of fiction, but a poem, one of the very few that I've written in my adult life. Eek! My hands were shaking and I was sweating, but I plowed through it. The feedback from my fellow writers on how to improve my delivery was extremely helpful, especially from those who had done multiple poetry readings before. But what was even more gratifying was the praise I received on the poem itself. That gave me the courage to try writing some more.

I said "yes" to a request from a high school to make a presentation about how to write a short story. You may say, well that's not so bad, but this high school was in the most deprived and dangerous section of the city. All of my writing friends, once they found out where I was going, said there was no way they'd visit that school even in the middle of the day. Frequent reports of knife fights, drug selling, etc. in and around that school appeared on the police blotter. Then, I found out that I would be talking to not just one English class, as I had originally thought, but to a whole auditorium filled with students from five classes. And my contact said, "Don't worry, the teachers will stay and take care of any behavior problems for you." Yikes!

That was another sweaty palms experience. But it turned out fine. Yes, a few students slept through the talk, and the teachers quietly reprimanded a few other students during the talk, but I made my presentation highly interactive and asked a lot of questions. I even was able to get some students participating and talking. Later, a few young writers stayed to ask me about potential markets for their stories, and the teachers' gratitude was enormous. What an ego boost! I've since gone on to make many other presentations to high-school or middle-school-aged teens and have thoroughly enjoyed every one.

Other uncomfortable things I've done in my writing life have included saying "no" to volunteer jobs so I had the time I needed to write, telling a critique partner that their plot twist or character just wasn't working for me, including a character name in a charity auction even though I was a relatively unknown author (I was sweating again while waiting for someone, anyone, to enter that first bid), and more.

What about you? Have you done something lately that makes you feel uncomfortable? What happened? How did you feel afterward? Did you learn something or grow in some way from it? Please share! And,

Resolve to do one thing each day that makes you feel uncomfortable.