Want to Improve Your Writing? Change Your Mindset
In the last post I talked about identity, imposter syndrome, and the importance of identifying yourself as a Writer. Today I want to talk more about mindset, and how to utilize it to achieve your creative goals.
In Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she talks about two mindsets that people can have: The fixed mindset and the growth mindset. The fixed mindset is focused on talent, on being smart, and being automatically good at something. People with a fixed mindset feel that their skills, personalities, intelligence, and talents are fixed, and that they probably won’t change much over time. In fact, any new activity is potentially scary because it might challenge their self-identification as the “smart one,” for example. Or in the case of writers, actually finishing a book and submitting it to an agent is scary because rejection will mean “I’m not a good writer after all.” They tend to avoid risk, and think in black-and-white terms.
People with the growth mindset, on the other hand, feel that through application, practice, and effort, they can change, grow, and improve. A rejection is just a setback, and they remain open to the possibility of doing things differently until they see the results they want. They practice until they get it right. They view activities like writing as an iterative process, always evolving.
Although we are all on the continuum from fixed mindset to growth mindset, we tend to grow up with particular beliefs, reinforced by how authority figures (parents, guardians, teachers) raised us. How they viewed us, how much of a fixed vs. growth mindset they had, how they talked to us, their expectations and desires all played a part in how we view ourselves and our abilities. Most of us come out more strongly one than the other. Or perhaps, we have more of a fixed mindset in certain areas, while in others we are more open to the growth mindset.
If you were told you were a good writer, or were smart, that might have led you to believe more in the fixed mindset as far as writing is concerned. If, on the other hand, people took the time to tell you “you described the forest really well here, but what does the person look like?” or to say, “I can see you worked really hard on learning the different types of meter for this poem” it probably helped you to embrace the growth mindset, where you realized that you can learn and improve and your success is due to your efforts rather than simply some gift or ability.
I was very much raised in fixed-mindset mode. I believed I was naturally good at some things and not others, and that nothing I did would make much difference. I could work a little harder at the things I did well, but I believed that if you had to work hard at something it meant you weren’t very good at it. If I was good at it, it must come with little effort to be brilliant. Classic fixed-mindset psychology, according to Dweck. (The corollary is, if it comes easy to us, we often don’t value it very much). Even though I know better now, I still find myself slipping into fixed-mindset thinking on occasion.
As writers, though, we have to embrace the growth mindset. Those that don’t are easily visible. They are shocked and hurt by any critique of their work that doesn’t certify its brilliance. They get rejected a few times from traditional publishing figures, and they immediately jump to self-publishing because agents and editors obviously don’t know what they’re missing (not that self-publishing is bad; but if the only reason you’re doing it is because you aren’t able to see or admit the flaws in your work, it’s not a better path). Or they face rejection or critique, and give up. “I guess I’m just not a good writer after all.”
Am I saying talent doesn’t matter? No, it does matter. But rare is the genius whose work springs forth perfectly, with no need for instruction, practice, or editing. Good writing is often rejected, for a variety of reasons. Even if one book gets published, there is no guarantee a second will. Before that can happen, there may be many long years of apprenticeship needed: writing courses, teachers, mentors, coaches, practice with forms and all the elements of craft, lots and lots of reading… Genius can’t be taught, but good writing can be learned. You have to have the mindset that you can always learn and grow. There is no “done.”
For some reason, I learned the growth mindset as far as writing is concerned. I left my MFA program over 10 years ago full of optimism, and the assurances of my mentors that publication and success were around the corner, because I was a “good writer.” A really good writer, in fact. When I started getting rejections, then when my first… and then second… novels weren’t published, I took the critiques and got to work on my weaknesses. I still have moments where I think “If I were meant to do it, it wouldn’t be so hard,” but I also know that I’ve learned so much from the journey (and I’ve learned a hell of a lot about teaching writing as well). I am still growing, still learning, and still loving the process.
What about you? What is your mindset regarding writing? Are you committed to the growth mindset? Besides your overall writing goals, what are your learning goals this year? They might be craft goals: get better at developing characters; learn more about story structure; or they might be business-of-writing goals: learn to write a killer query letter and synopsis. Do you have a plan for achieving those goals? Books to read, critique partners, courses to take…?
Whatever you do, with the growth mindset you are always learning, and no learning is ever wasted. Commit to consciously improving your work through a growth mindset: What can I do differently? What can I learn next? And you will never fail.
