Clarifying is not my best skillset. I’m sort of obstructive of clarifying, actually. Why? Because I like Ideating – and clarifying comes first. And it is agonizingly slow, and keeps me out of the heaven that is shooting the shit, and throwing out ideas that make me happy. If I’m in a room full of people, it makes them happy, too. I’m showing my value, and it’s easy for me.
If someone in that same room is clarifying – asking questions like Why? and What’s stopping You? – over and over and over again, I start to feel stupid. I might even start to worry that I look stupid. Clarifying can make me very anxious – or it used to. And we all know that an anxious mind cannot be present or useful.
I’ve done my level best to avoid clarifying for much of my adult life, by working as a brainstormer. Things were supposed to be clarified before I got there, and decided after I left. It was a good gig. Every conference room I entered had candy or pizza and post-it notes and colored pens. I’d spew ideas and make money. Great gig.
But when I’m working on my own stuff, in my own office, no one clarifies for me. That felt liberating at first. Woohoo! I can work on my most exciting idea! And GO! But a couple of months later, I’d see a glitch. Something wasn’t working. I’d have to stop. Bummer. It was such a great idea, I thought. Or was it? I never fully clarified what it might have been a great idea for, but obviously (at least, now, it’s obvious) not for this situation.
After years of start and stop. Wasting time and jumping to new ideas, I started to CLARIFY. I pulled on my big girl pants, and I did the work.
It took me years to come to the realization that I had a big blindspot, and a bigger attitude problem, about one part of the creative process.
Why, What’s Stopping You?
When it became painful and painfully obvious I needed to begin clarifying, I used this tool – sometimes called the Ladder of Abstraction or Why, What’s Stopping You. It helps you get to the bottom of what challenges you will face to achieve a goal, and how to clarify which ideas will work best in the circumstances.
Start with the goal statement. What are you trying to achieve? This could be a big goal, like having a bestseller, or a small goal, like making a scene work. Phrase your goal using the language, “It would be great if…” (IWBGI is a clarifying tool, in and of itself. You can read more about it here. )
It would be great if… this scene didn’t feel wooden and sucky.
That’s how goals start out. The language is negative and painful. Try it again a few more times. And try to get specific. Figure out what you’re really trying to achieve.
IWBGI… this scene could show us how much mother and daughter care for each other, even if it’s uncomfortable for them to say it.
Okay, stop here for a minute, and write your goal statements. Don’t stop at one – or even two – write it a few ways. When it feels like something you actually want, you’re ready to ask the questions, Why? and What’s Stopping You?
Why? Why? Why?
I’m going to go forward with the example: “IWBGI I could show that they care for each other” as our current goal. And hopefully, you’ve stopped and arrived at a goal that matters to you – something with a tug for you.
WHY do you want that? Think about your answer.
And don’t stop there – ask yourself for 2 other reasons WHY you want that. And then you continue to abstract your answers by asking WHY ELSE? 6 more times. (see below.) This exercise can bring you real clarity in your big WHY – the aspirations of what you’re trying to achieve.
For example: If “IWBGI I could show the mother and daughter care for each other” WHY is that important?
- Lay the groundwork for upcoming scenes
- To clarify the daughter’s motivation
- Prove the mother isn’t as mean or heartless as she’s about to seem.
(Just pulling reasons out of a hat, but you get the idea?)
WHY ELSE? is an abstraction – from the vague answer, you might get more specific and compelling reasons, why.
- Lay the groundwork for upcoming scenes
- So the slap in Chapter Two is more shocking
- Feel the bond before it ‘breaks’
- To clarify the daughter’s motivation
- Show her conflict with her mother
- Understand why she rejects her mother’s values
- Prove the mother isn’t as mean or heartless as she’s about to seem.
- reader needs to be able to relate to mother
- show their love from childhood
As you go up the ladder of abstraction, you’ll get deeper and more abstract as to your hopes and aspirations for the scene that is currently keeping you stuck.
Time to ask the second clarifying question: WHAT’S STOPPING YOU.
What’s Stopping You?
Here again, you’re trying to get at what the problem is, by asking WHAT’S STOPPING YOU nine times. If you answer this honestly, you can see what’s holding you back from getting what you want. And from there you just have to decide whether those things are worth changing.
The examples of WHAT’S STOPPING YOU could be specific – like “it doesn’t make sense in this scene bec x.” Or it could be “I don’t know how to show the muted emotions. Or it could be “I’ve written it 3 times and it’s no good.” Continue to abstract your feelings and objections by asking WHAT ELSE? 2 x per column. (See the chart below.)
Here’s the exercise. You can print it out and use it to clarify your own dreams, big or small.
The trick here is to see your aspirations – your higher self – in the 9 WHYs? In the 9 things STOPPING YOU, you’ll see your obstacles and fears. Writing them all down and forcing yourself to go deep permits you to see what often stays hidden. You have clarified the problem.
The next thing to do is to turn those reasons (both positive and negative) into challenge statements by adding How to (H2) or How might I (HMI) in front of your pesky problems, and get your brain into thinking mode. (This is called Mighty Language. And of course, you can read more about it, here.)
Before you know it, you’ll begin to have specific ideas to resolve some of those problems, and you’ll be back in business again. Coming up with ideas and rolling forward smoothly.
The best thing about stopping to clarify is that the failure to clarify won’t stop you in tracks. Taking the time now will help prevent your mind – and your writing – from getting muddled.
I wish you clarity, keenness and smooth sailing.
In the meantime, you CTA.