This is the Write Now Podcast with Sarah Werner, Episode 116: A writer’s true work. 

Welcome to Write Now, the podcast that helps all writers, aspiring professionals and otherwise to find the time, energy and courage you need to pursue your passion and write. I’m your host, Sarah Werner, and I am recording this episode first thing in the morning. So I’ve got a cup of coffee. I fed Madorie. I mean, I always feed Madorie because I take care of her. But that’s taken care of and I’m ready to record. I’m going to see if she meows a little bit less this episode. But I’ve also gotten some feedback that her meowing amuses some of you. So if she does, I’ll leave it in and you can be amused. She just seems to take issue when I’m speaking to something that’s not her. So she doesn’t like it when I speak to my microphone. Such is the life of a podcaster.

All right. So let’s dive into today’s episode topic. I wanted to talk about true work for a couple of reasons. First, I’ve had a couple of you asked me what I talk about when I talk about true work since it’s something that I’ve mentioned here on the show before, and that is true work with a capital T and a capital W. So it’s like a thing. I also thought this was a good time to talk about it because last week’s episode was about, is writing hard work? So that’s episode 115, if you haven’t listened to that one yet, go ahead and give that one a listen. I think it touches on some really crucial aspects of what it means to be a writer and to put work into your writing. But today’s topic is a little bit different. This is about your true work.

I first came across the concept of true work, it wasn’t specifically called that, but it was sort of the same idea, when I was working for the marketing company that I used to work for. Management was encouraging us to discern what was our actual work that needed to get done and brought the company a profit versus what was the busy work that was taking up our time and keeping us from the more important work. In this context, for me, my true work at this job was creating a site map for a client’s new website, or creating a content strategy for a new marketing campaign for another client. These were things that had a direct influence on our bottom line. It made the client happy. It made us money, all of that good stuff.

My busy work, the stuff that did not have that direct impact on our bottom line was stuff like answering emails, going to the break room to make a new pot of coffee, meetings where nothing really got accomplished, that kind of stuff. This is also where I learned the difference, or I learned to discern the difference between urgent and important. Sometimes tasks would come across my desk with a great deal of urgency, like, oh my gosh, I need this right now. But it was up to me to discern if that person’s emergency was now my emergency, if this work that was urgent to somebody else was actually urgent for me, if it needed to sort of sweep in and take the place of the true work that I was doing.

Often, the edge of urgency to the request made me want to drop everything and take care of it right then. But I had to figure out, okay, is this something that is important to do right now? Or is this something that is just here to sort of take up my time and to take away time from my true work? I came across this concept in a later context in I think it was August of 2020 when I was working through this audio coaching bundle from creative coach, Jen Carrington, whom I absolutely adore. I mean, I’ve never met her in person, but I love her journaling exercises. I love her thoughts on creativity. I really enjoy her work. At the time I was running my own business, and at this time I still am running my own business and so my work consisted of all manner of things.

I was working on the Write Now Podcast. I was in the midst of writing Girl in Space season two. I was answering and responding to emails from potential clients. I was fielding requests for speaking gigs. I had all of the myriad business running tasks to do, so finances, taxes, all of that stuff. I had four email accounts. I had a billion different social media accounts to keep updated. That’s just how it goes. It was so interesting to come across this concept and she didn’t call it true work, I don’t remember what she called it, but it was the same. It was this concept of what is it that I must do.

I realized there was a parallel between what I had learned about true work and busy work over at the marketing firm where I used to work and what I was dealing with now in my own business because there were a lot of urgent tasks. What I realized was that the day-to-day business running stuff had completely eclipsed my creative work. What I was doing was filling my day with administrative tasks and all of that other stuff, and putting off writing Girl in Space season two for whenever I had scraps of time. I was deprioritizing my creative work and prioritizing the business running work.

I’m always learning. It’s something that I love to do. There was always this question of, are you running your business or is your business running you? I realized that my business was running me. My business was dictating what my schedule looked like and what I later realized was my true work was getting deprioritized and relegating to the scraps of time left in the margins. when Jen Carrington asked, “What is the work that I must do?” By must, it was not so much what is here with a sense of urgency, but what is it that I am called to do, that I began to understand what was happening. I want to open up this question to you, what is your true work? What is it that you might mistake for your true work? What is the busy work that gets in the way?

Perhaps right now you’re like, “Oh my gosh, Sarah, that’s a huge question. I don’t know how to answer it. Or maybe I know what I want the answer to be, but that doesn’t seem to be the right answer.” Let’s work through this. Let’s work through what your true work actually might be. This is the work that moves the needle. This is the work that gets you closer to where your heart wants to be. I’ve talked about this book before, but I really encourage reading The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. I actually have the audio book so I can listen to it. I really enjoy journaling along and responding to the questions that are asked. But this book does a great job of asking you some questions that can really help you understand what it is you are called to do, what is your purpose. We’re going to go deep here.

I have some questions that I would love for you to take some time today or whenever you have some free time and write these down or think about them or record your voice, speaking them, however it works best for you to process these questions. Again, these are from The Big Leap. The first one is fill in the blank. I am at my best when blank. When are you at your best as a human being? For example, for me, I’m at my best when I am writing down creative ideas, when I’m doing something new, when I’m figuring out how things connect and relate, when I’m having fun putting together and connecting these ideas. When are you at your best?

The next leading question, because that’s what these are and it’s fantastic is, again, fill in the blank. When I’m at my best, the exact thing that I’m doing is fill in the blank. What is the exact thing you’re doing when you are at your best? When you are happy, when you are fulfilled, when you are shining? Again, I’ll give you some of my own examples here from my journal. This journal is dated June of 2019. So the answer that I put down here is when I am at my best, the exact thing I am doing is creating what I want to create. I’m doodling, I’m enjoying the tactile feel of the pen or pencil on paper. I’m seeing the art of the words on the page. I’m creating relationships between characters and witty dialogue. This is exactly what I’m doing when I feel like I am at my best.

Next, Gay Hendricks has us get really, really specific. So, when you are doing these things, the thing that you love most is fill in the blank. So when you’re doing these things that make you feel like you’re at your best, what is it you love most about that? So, for me, I wrote down not knowing where it will take me, surprising myself, having new thoughts and ideas, creating a compelling piece of art, warming up to my characters and seeing them come to life. What is the thing that you love most when you are doing the thing that speaks most to your soul?

Hendricks further clarifies, when do you feel the inner glow of wonder and excitement? I think that’s really key. When do you feel that inner glow of wonder and excitement? I want you to really take the time to reflect on that. Again, these questions are taken from The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. So I don’t want you to think that these are my questions and that I’m some sort of genius for this. These were just really, really helpful questions that I took from this book and that I would like to share with you. So really, what we’re looking for here is what brings you joy and fulfillment and true deep satisfaction?

Now, you may feel a little bit torn here because often the things that bring us those feelings are difficult sometimes. They’re not necessarily easy or even always necessarily fun. Again, please do go back and listen to episode 115, is writing hard work? And you’ll hear all about this. But while your true work may be difficult or hard to do, it will be fulfilling and it will bring you that inner joy, that feeling of wonder and excitement. Now, I want to talk briefly about the things that we often mistake for our true work, or things that we use to avoid our true work, because often, we give in to self-sabotage because of fear, because of anxiety, because it’s difficult for us to justify spending our very short and limited lives on this earth doing what we were truly called to do.

This is going to be different for everyone because we all have demands on our time and our energy and our resources. For me, what I mistake for my true work or use to avoid doing my true work are things like my email inbox and answering emails. I mean, yes, that’s how I communicate with the outside world. That’s how I get work. But I often find myself spending hours and hours in my email inbox, when really I should spend 10 minutes in my email inbox and dedicate the majority of my working time when my brain is not burned out, overwhelmed or exhausted working on my creative work. I’ve also noticed that my email inbox is something of a to-do list that just literally anybody, any stranger, any random person who has my email address can send me an email and thus create a task for me, which I feel I must attend to, often at the expense of the time I had set aside to work on my true work.

I’ll have emails come in with people asking me for help on things, and I’ll say, “Well, there goes my day of writing. I have to respond to these 20 emails and delay working on Girl in Space yet again.” Similarly, social media, our schedule, flattering or exciting opportunities that come in from the outside, household chores and tasks. What others tell us, we “should be doing”. Like say someone comes into your house and looks at your bookshelf and says, “Wow, you really should alphabetize your books by author.” This is a very silly example, but it’s still an example. You’re like, “Oh my gosh, heck, you’re right. I’m going to stop doing what I had lined up for today and just throw myself into re-alphabetizing my bookshelves.” Again, a very silly example, but I think that that’s the thought process that happens. 

It’s analogous to when we get an email or when we get a phone call or an urgent request. That’s urgent, but not actually that important. Now, you might notice that I have not yet talked about something that I think a lot of you also have. In addition to the creative work you feel you are called to do, you might also have to contend with this little annoying thing that we refer to as a day job. So is our day job work? Yes. Is our day job our true work? Maybe, but maybe not. Is our day job necessary? Often, yes. I have talked so so so many writers and creators whose dream is to quit their day job and to do their true work full-time for pay. If that is something that your heart longs to do, if that is something that sounds beautiful and thrilling and fulfilling to you, then I encourage you to start working toward that or to continue working toward that if you’ve already begun.

But I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, it’s okay to have a day job. Because your true work is not necessarily going to be a moneymaker. This is just a fact and a consequence of the economic system in which we live. Our economy is fueled by supply and demand, and unfortunately, a lot of really unpleasant politics. Because of that, unfortunately, the thing that you are called to do, the thing that fulfills your soul and lights you up from the inside might not be extremely well paying and that’s okay. I say this because at one time, this was true for me. Also, history is filled with examples of great artists, people who pursued their calling and performed their true work while also holding down a day job. I learned the other day while listening to David duChemin’s wonderful podcast, A Beautiful Anarchy that Agatha Christie, the prolific mystery writer, was a pharmacy assistant. William Carlos Williams was a doctor.

Tons of other writers and creators were insurance salesmen, teachers, professors, janitors, ticket booth operators, park rangers, receptionists. It is possible to pursue your true work while also holding down a day job. The trick is to make sure that you’re in the right kind of day job for you. If your day job drains every last ounce of creative energy from your soul and leaves you a shriveled husk at the end of each day, unable to write or create or follow your true passion, it might be time to look for a day job that allows you to re-establish that sense of balance. Comedian Sara Benincasa very famously wrote an essay called Real Artists Have Day Jobs. Because the reality is we need to put food on the table. We need to pay our rent. If you’re a United States citizen like me, you need to pay your ridiculously overpriced health insurance, because sometimes unfortunately reality exists and we live in reality and reality often necessitates a day job and that’s okay.

Now, if you are at a point where your day job and your other household tasks and caring for children or whatever it is that takes up your day causes you to continually delay working on your true work, if you find yourself delaying your true work, or perhaps even worse, settling for distractions, then I’d like to offer you some encouragement. It is possible. You can make this happen. I know I sound a little bit like a green screened Shia LaBeouf, but you are resilient. You are more resilient than you know. Your true work, the work that you are called to do, the work that suffuses you with a feeling of great purpose, it’s not going to just go away. I encourage you, ask for help. If you need your partner or your friends or family members to help you pick up the slack in other areas of your life, or to hold you accountable or to keep you on track, it’s okay to ask for help. Maybe even delegate some things, delegate some of that busy work, those things that get in the way of your true work.

Make it possible, rewrite some rules if you need to. Figure out what are the shoulds that other people are telling you that you should do, like our silly example of re-alphabetizing your entire bookshelf just because someone else said you should. What can you rearrange about your circumstances? Even deeper than that, what’s causing you to delay your true work? What’s causing you to settle for distraction? Maybe there are some fears or discomforts there that you’d benefit from tackling. I had another burst of inspiration about the concept of true work when I was reading, Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield. In Turning Pro, again, another book that I think I would recommend, even though I think that in the book, Steven Pressfield, I don’t know if I want to go into all of this, but in the book, Steven Pressfield sort of villainizes being an amateur and praises being a pro. I’m not sure that I love that because there’s huge value in being an amateur.

The root of the word amateur comes from doing what you love. So I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to villainize being an amateur, but okay, that aside, in Turning Pro, Steven Pressfield talks about the difference between your “shadow career” and something that he calls your real work. Again, I just substituted my own phrase of true work for that and really came to a new understanding. In Turning Pro, Steven Pressfield says, “A shadow career entails no real risk. If we fail at a shadow career, the consequences are meaningless to us. If you’re dissatisfied with your current life, ask yourself what your current life is a metaphor for. That metaphor will point you toward your true calling.” Again, that is an excerpt from Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield. Again, I want to point out that having a shadow career or what we might think of as a day job isn’t a bad thing.

Again, when we live in a real world that takes real money to survive. But I really love how he talks about risk and how we perceive failure and what that says about our true calling and the fears that surround it. I’d encourage you to ask, what are you doing right now that’s a metaphor, that’s a replacement, that’s a distraction from your real work, your true work? What vision and dreams for your life do you need to clarify and to get to work on? I know a lot of us often blame our day job for our inability or our lack of energy to work on our true work. I say this because for decades, I did this as well.

But what I was really doing was leaning into the distraction because putting in energy and time on my true work was a risk and it was scary. I was terrified to fail at it. But I noticed that while I didn’t have an hour of time to work on my true work, I did somehow have an hour of time to scroll mindlessly through Instagram. While I didn’t seem to have an hour in the evening to jump into my true work, I did somehow have an hour to lay in bed under six blankets staring at the ceiling and hating myself. I’m not saying this to shame you for not working on your true work, because while our true work feeds us and fulfills us and energizes us from the very core of our being, it’s also often extremely terrifying and hard and intimidating. I don’t begrudge anyone that.

But what I do want to say is we get one life. What are you doing with yours? As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on today’s topic, which is that of your true work with a capital T and a capital W. I would love to know if you’ve identified your true work, if you are hard at work on your true work, if you are avoiding your true work. I would love for you to share your honest and vulnerable and authentic answers with us, to any of the questions I’ve asked before, or just your own insights about your relationship with your true work. I invite you to share your thoughts and comments and questions and all of that good stuff on the show notes for today’s episode, episode number 116.

In order to do that, you can go out to the show notes for today’s episode, which are out at sarahwerner.com. That’s S-A-R-A-H-W-E-R-N-E-R.com. Navigate to the show notes for episode 116. Scroll down to the bottom and there you’ll see a comment section where I encourage you to tell me your thoughts and your experience. While I don’t have the time or the bandwidth or the spoons to respond to every single email I get, I do make sure that I personally respond to every single comment that I get on my website. So I would love to hear and engage with your thoughts there.

Also, as you know, I don’t know make the Write Now Podcast alone. I have this beautiful collection of patrons out on Patreon who support the work here that I do financially, who help pay for hosting costs and other costs associated with producing this show for an audience for free. I want to say how grateful I am today for my patrons, including Amanda King, Laurie, Regina Calabrese, Evie Knight, Garrett, Leslie Duncan, Sarah Lauzon, Sean Locke, Summer, Tiffany Joiner, and Tim Shen. Thank you all so much, so very much for your gracious assistance. If you, yes you, would like to join their ranks and become a patron on Patreon, it’s very easy and it’s also very inexpensive. You can contribute as little as a dollar per episode or as much as you want.

Oh, I’m so awkward with this. But if you want to become a patron, you can do so very easily. You can go to sarahwerner.com, navigate to the show notes for today’s episode and click help support this podcast, which will take you out to my Patreon page. Alternately, you can do it directly through Patreon by going to patreon.com. That’s P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com/sarahrheawerner, that’s S-A-R-A-H-R-H-E-A-W-E-R-N-E-R, and making your pledge. If you decide to do that, I deeply appreciate it. If this is something you cannot afford to do, I totally understand. I know that for many creators, finances are very tight. The best thing that you can do to help spread the word of this podcast is to spread the word of this podcast.

Let someone who is a fellow creator or a fellow potential creator or someone who you just think could benefit from this show, let them know about it. Show them how to download a podcast. If they’re not sure how to do that, download a few episodes for them. Yeah, spreading the word of this podcast is extremely helpful. I want to say, thank you in advance for doing that. With that, this has been episode 116 of the Write Now Podcast, the podcast that helps all writers, aspiring professional and otherwise to find the time, energy and courage you need to pursue your passion, to do your true work and to write I’m Sarah Werner and I’m going to get some of my true work done today.