“…this book is going to take its own pace. I am going to direct it but not push it about. This

6 min readNov 15, 2020

John Steinbeck’s Journal of a Novel is a national treasure. Keep a copy of it at your desk and flip it open to any page when you need inspiration or to quell your inner demons. Knowing that one of the greats faced the same challenges as you, and how he did it, will help you not only write better but you’ll feel better about writing.
Do you see your own inner voices so clearly? Or at all? If not, get to know them. Start to identify if those not so helpful thoughts are you or your inner critic or the inner thinker that needs some time to mull over things. Be gentle with yourself but be yourself nonetheless.
“If I could not relax today I would not write. I would sit over this book for the usual number of hours but I would not write down any of the story for fear it might carry my own tension.”

Get your name and face seen on all platforms. In the UK the main actor’s website is Spotlight. This is in fact so essential that there is a slim chance you will get an agent without one. For actors without much experience, there is Mandy.com, (or in the U.S. — castingfrontier.com). Here, you can upload your headshots and any clips you may have as well as creating your online resume. There is an “opportunities” board and a “jobs” board, offering the option to apply for both paid and unpaid acting projects dependant on where you are in your career.

Writing is a process and it takes a lot of patience. To get in the right headspace, to wrangle your thoughts and to let it flow. Pushing yourself may result in sloppy work or no work at all. Being patient is key to letting cohesion happen in your head. Go ahead, write your 500 or 1000 words a day but trust the process and be patient with yourself.

“My mind is like a god dammed animal. If it gets out it is very hard to catch. I’ve had it in chains for quite a long time and now I’ll have to get a net over it. It’s flying away.”

“I split myself into three people. I know what they look like. One speculates and one criticises and the third tries to correlate. It usually turns out to be a fight but out of it comes the whole week’s work. And it is carried on in my mind in dialogue. It’s an odd experience. Under certain circumstances it might be one of those schizophrenic symptoms but as a working technique, I do not think it is bad at all.”

Putting pen to paper, or fingertips to keyboard, is a scary process. Don’t deny it. You need to face your fears to be able to share your best work. Feel your fears and write anyway. Getting started, it might help to do what Anne Lamott does and let yourself write a “shitty first draft.” Your draft will get edited and polished, so let it come out as it may. Push through fear and write with it.

Writing takes a light touch to let your thoughts out without forcing them out. When you get in a state of flow your best writing comes out, I would bet. And to get in that state, you need to be willing to let it happen. Write, yes, but step out of your own way. Then the words will flow and the headlines will happen.

walks on the beach, soft to the touch,
feeling the swell, rhythmic and sweet,
darkening sky, tempest on gale
— two if by sea, you against me —
surge and retreat, capture the flag,
wrinkles of love, strewn on my floor,
flotsam like clues, left by the ebb

With access to endless social media at our fingertips, it isn’t as hard as it used to be to get your name in front of the right people. Past the obvious headshots, resume, and showreel, there are many other ways to promote yourself for maximum exposure within the industry.

“…this book is going to take its own pace. I am going to direct it but not push it about. This

Written by Akajhaka