23 years ago, when I first started writing, there were how to write book books ... and that's all. Nothing on the internet. No UA-cam. Just books. And how blessed we were. Writers growing up today have to deal with the greatest time-suck of all - phones, used badly. The best writers of the future will be the ones who have the most discipline in terms of distractions. That's why I'm still unsuccessful. Now, off to another UA-cam clip.
Well, leave it to a writer to coin that saying brilliantly. I have seen many try and fail at this one- dopamine can be a touchy subject. “Cheap dopamine” is a concept I can get behind and it feels inclusive. 🤯👏👏👏🏆💜💜💜
My problem is not my phone, it's actually video games lol. I'm a lifelong gamer, I love all kinds of games and I've gotten a lot of my story ideas from games like World of Warcraft, Dark Souls, The Last of Us, Detroit: Become Human, and many other amazing worlds. It's a part of who I am, and it inspires me to create my own worlds and stories, but every once in a while I tend to switch from being productive with my writing to diving into gaming and no lifing whatever game I'm into at the time XD. I have always been good at setting myself short term goals and deadlines though which personally motivate me and helps me move forward with my projects, but this is a balance I struggle with the most to achieve.
I didn't mention it in the video, but video games can certainly be a big distraction for a lot of writers. It's not that they are bad (I literally wrote a video game myself, so I think they're awesome), but as with everything, I think the key is using it as a reward for writing, rather than a way to procrastinate from writing.
I just wish social media wasn't necessary to potentially meet and theoretically befriend and or coordinate with people, like for a group hobby like hiking or maybe an RPG group. That'd be nice, but the neurological hand I was dealt makes it difficult to stay on course and navigate and network with people on different sites. Also, pardon my tangent.
These are basically advises that you may implement to your everyday life even if you're not a writer. The sources of your 'cheap' dopamine may be different but the general questions remain the same: how much do I need it? Do I need it at all? How much of it can I substitute with a well deserved doze of dopamine? Good job as always man!
I remember half a decade ago, in my free time, I used to be too busy for cheap dopamine, when I was working on a bunch of fan music videos I was obsessing over. My enemy then was mostly some blend of perfectionism seeping in, trying to make every couple seconds during the lyrics matter, and to sort of have a story loosing following the song. Left a lot of half finished projects on that hard drive when it gave out completely. But I miss being able to have enough ... to have a low enough amount of fear of things being a waste of time, I honestly was starting to think I could get things done. I have a hard time believing that now. Actually, sorry, I don't know if this is the place to share this. But anyone is welcome to comment.
I always appreciate you have something in your videos I’ve never considered before. I already activated greyscale mode and Digital Sabbath is a brilliant idea. Ditching the phone while writing was a game changer for me.
Ever since I watched this video, I've become more aware about my procrastination and even decided to turn off my Wi-Fi while writing so I don't get distracted. Thanks for the vid! It's really helpful :)
This is a big help, especially that part when you finally get something that feels like you'll get on track, only for life to get at you again -- dealing on struggles as they will never end. I always try to do something that will get my life on track. In other words, make myself seem perfect to be an every-day writer, when I shouldn't as perfectionism screws me up. Thank you for this video, its exactly what I needed to remind myself that even though I want to be a full-time writer, I'm still human and still got more learning to do in my life
Boring rant/story: I was really struggling to finish the book I'd been working on for 8 years, what with copious rewriting and editing, then rewriting again and editing that new material... and so on. I finally got to the last stretch which was the final edit - the "polishing" stage to get it ready for publishing, but by then I was so exhausted, opening the document just gave me a wave of dread and distaste... until a friend popped up one day asking if I wanted to join his Minecraft server. Since playing games gave me a huge feeling of guilt since I knew I should be working on my book, I tended not to do it and replaced gaming with scrolling FB or UA-cam or Instagram (which is arguably even worse than just gaming), but I really wanted to play... So I set myself a target: complete a chapter and then play. It worked! My reward for getting work done was to game for the rest of the day. I was able to finish a chapter a day and that's how I finished my book. It helped that a friend saw how much I was struggling and how positively I responded to congratulations and enthusiasm (since writing at this point just feels like a massive black hole), so whenever I finished that chapter, he'd really vamp up his congratulatory responses. Though, I'll say nothing of this being a year and a half ago and still being unable to publish the book (which I'm still confident is good enough to -be- published), but that's another day's rant into the void. Bottom line is: dopamine hits are MAGIC.
The most difficult part for me is that I need to use my computer to write, but then the internet with UA-cam is on my computer too, which makes it too easy and tempting to distract myself and waste my time.
I used to struggle with that too, for me I would put my software on full screen so that I can only see the text and none of the apps/tabs and also switch off the notifications. But if you feel you're getting distracted, try something like playing music to keep you engaged or maybe think of writing your future 1st drafts on paper , this is what worked for me but you can definitely try it out.
Thanks for the advice and encouragement! There are so many distractions from our individual pursuits. We should all remember that, if everyone, including corporations and governments, will pay good money for our attention, it is VALUABLE. And since they don't pay us, we have to get our value from it elsewhere. The most relevant one for me is I need to stop watching UA-cam first thing in the morning (like right now...) and at least some mornings start right out with my writing. Good writing y'all!
Holy cow I just checked my analytics. 2 1/2 hours on MESSAGES alone?!😳 That's so much time!!! Ok next day that I have off, we'll leave the phone "away" and see how I fare. Focus on writing, family time, or working out only.
Very timely as I've just walked back in from the gym lol. I have to say I'm totally guilty of procrastinating by getting those little dopamine hits. Not on my phone tho XD. Some great advice that I'm going to try to incorporate in my daily writing! Thanks!
I ended up getting an app that blocks other apps and makes me click over and over to open them, then once it’s open has a timer than knocks me out of it after 7 minutes. It’s actually helped me a lot with my social media problem
I've watched a lot of your videos over the past few days. Out of all of them I'd say this one was the most useful, the reason for this is because it showed me that I should probably actually write my story instead of get the cheap dopamine of learning how to write a story.
Thank you so much for the excellent tips. I am guilty of being hooked on cheap dopamine, and will employ these suggestions to help finish my WIP. I have subscribed, and I'm looking forward to watching your other videos. The plant in the background of your video looks really happy and healthy too😊.
One thing I am going to try out is to start writing on paper every day so that I have no distractions and a will to actually write, and then by the time I translate it to my device, already have so many ideas.
Something that really bothers me is how nearly every app, no matter the kind, will spam us endlessly with notifications. And I'd say 90% of those notifications are absolutely useless. It's not urgent that I go play sudoku or whatever on my phone. It's just more irrelevant information bombarding our brains and taking away from what matters.
I noticed lately that it isn‘t the focus I am lacking, but the content to work out with that focus I already have. xD So I do value your videos on writing techniques and knowledge immensely, but I still have struggles with making readers understand my perceptions and viewpoints on the content I am writing about. For example I have an odd sense of humor which I can‘t entirely make readers understand with the medium of words. Have you got any tips for that problem? Generally how to use words to deliver your content and the meaning behind it accurately ( or in fictional writing one might also say vividly ) without confusing the readers, poses a challenge for me, and I believe writers generally. If you ( or anyone in the comment section ) got any approach to solving that problem and sharing that I would be grateful. 😄
I really appreciated this video as someone who falls into that trap 24/7, I’m glad you didn’t fall into the “just discipline yourself bro” type of stuff you see a lot on social media😂 I had no idea about grayscale either, that’s such a cool feature.
I believe this is a generally great takeaway for anyone who wants to achieve something. It's also possible to turn habits that typically produce cheap dopamine INTO something that produces rich dopamine. It's about finding richness. For example: social media. Instead of consume, produce. People find cheap dopamine scrolling through random images and text. If that's something that you genuinely enjoy, seek richness in it. Find a theme that resonates with you, dive into the inner workings of that theme, and engage in your own growth within it. If you think about Cheap and Rich as metaphor to describe the depth of satisfaction you get from an activity, then consider enriching your source of cheap dopamine by putting a cognitive "investment" into it and seeking deeper satisfaction with yourself, and your activity. Just remember that in doing so, as Jed outlines clearly here when it comes to writing, learn to identify those sources of cheap dopamine that you will only EVER use as cheap dopamine, and remove them from your cognitive "budget" so you have more attention to "pay" into the tasks that do matter.
To be honest, I've never really used much social media. That being said, I really should slow down on my video/gaming intake. Though I'm still gonna watch and play things I'm passionate about, but I think a lot of these tips are gonna be really helpful, I'm honestly considering trying to find that greyscale mode at some point. On a separate note, about a month or so ago I watch this movie called Arrival, it was really good, and really posed some interesting thoughts. Having been taking Anthropology at the time, we were talking about linguistics and how that plays a part in our culture and the cultures of others. I've sort of had it in mind for the past few weeks in the background. Thought it could be a cool topic if that's someplace you wanted to go. But do watch the movie first if you haven't yet beforehand, it's really good - though slightly mind-bending. Regardless, thanks again for the great tips! I'm always glad to see one of your advice videos show up in my recommended, though honestly I'll probably just search you out if I ever want to full on binge stuff to help me get on track. 😅 Keep making good stories Jed! Looking forward to what you put out next!
I also think people's attention span for stories and "lengthy" description that aren't lengthy at all, got so much worse, and waiting for sonething to happen. Also thinking introspection = boring.
I have one question. I have been working on this one specific story for nearly five years if not more. I've scraped definitely two versions and may have just tossed out the third because of certain changes. I was nearly done with the first draft of this latest version when I found that I was really struggling. It wasn't lack of inspiration or motivation, it was that I didn't want to let go of the scene that I was about to write. I have known about this scene for almost as long as I've been writing the book and I would like to sit and act it out over and over where I am my main character. My question is, have you ever experienced this, or heard of people who have? If so, how do you/they handle this possessiveness over a specific scene or even the story as a whole? I am currently working on a different book that is a prequel to the one I've been working on all these years, in fact I'm working on the story that the world for that story came from. Thank you, you have really helped me get back into writing again and helped me come up with a lot of new things to help me keep going almost every day.
23 years ago, when I first started writing, there were how to write book books ... and that's all. Nothing on the internet. No UA-cam. Just books. And how blessed we were. Writers growing up today have to deal with the greatest time-suck of all - phones, used badly. The best writers of the future will be the ones who have the most discipline in terms of distractions. That's why I'm still unsuccessful. Now, off to another UA-cam clip.
To help with Rule #2, I like to remember one of my favorite quotes from artist Tom Sachs: "The reward for good work is more work."
That's a solid quote
Well, leave it to a writer to coin that saying brilliantly. I have seen many try and fail at this one- dopamine can be a touchy subject. “Cheap dopamine” is a concept I can get behind and it feels inclusive. 🤯👏👏👏🏆💜💜💜
My problem is not my phone, it's actually video games lol. I'm a lifelong gamer, I love all kinds of games and I've gotten a lot of my story ideas from games like World of Warcraft, Dark Souls, The Last of Us, Detroit: Become Human, and many other amazing worlds.
It's a part of who I am, and it inspires me to create my own worlds and stories, but every once in a while I tend to switch from being productive with my writing to diving into gaming and no lifing whatever game I'm into at the time XD.
I have always been good at setting myself short term goals and deadlines though which personally motivate me and helps me move forward with my projects, but this is a balance I struggle with the most to achieve.
I didn't mention it in the video, but video games can certainly be a big distraction for a lot of writers. It's not that they are bad (I literally wrote a video game myself, so I think they're awesome), but as with everything, I think the key is using it as a reward for writing, rather than a way to procrastinate from writing.
Deleting social media 6 months ago was what gave me time to write my first manuscript. Very sound advice.
I just wish social media wasn't necessary to potentially meet and theoretically befriend and or coordinate with people, like for a group hobby like hiking or maybe an RPG group. That'd be nice, but the neurological hand I was dealt makes it difficult to stay on course and navigate and network with people on different sites. Also, pardon my tangent.
These are basically advises that you may implement to your everyday life even if you're not a writer. The sources of your 'cheap' dopamine may be different but the general questions remain the same: how much do I need it? Do I need it at all? How much of it can I substitute with a well deserved doze of dopamine? Good job as always man!
I remember half a decade ago, in my free time, I used to be too busy for cheap dopamine, when I was working on a bunch of fan music videos I was obsessing over.
My enemy then was mostly some blend of perfectionism seeping in, trying to make every couple seconds during the lyrics matter, and to sort of have a story loosing following the song. Left a lot of half finished projects on that hard drive when it gave out completely. But I miss being able to have enough ... to have a low enough amount of fear of things being a waste of time, I honestly was starting to think I could get things done. I have a hard time believing that now.
Actually, sorry, I don't know if this is the place to share this. But anyone is welcome to comment.
I always appreciate you have something in your videos I’ve never considered before. I already activated greyscale mode and Digital Sabbath is a brilliant idea. Ditching the phone while writing was a game changer for me.
the South Park episode about Freemium gaming is great for explaining the concept of dopamine
Ever since I watched this video, I've become more aware about my procrastination and even decided to turn off my Wi-Fi while writing so I don't get distracted. Thanks for the vid! It's really helpful :)
Awesome video, after it I deleted the game I used to spend a lot of time on and decided to eventually create schedule of my day
Thank you, keep it up)
I think easy dopamine is ruining the world. Really glad to see people talking about this issue.
You need more subs my man, always posting quality videos.
Agreed
Thanks man
This is a big help, especially that part when you finally get something that feels like you'll get on track, only for life to get at you again -- dealing on struggles as they will never end. I always try to do something that will get my life on track. In other words, make myself seem perfect to be an every-day writer, when I shouldn't as perfectionism screws me up. Thank you for this video, its exactly what I needed to remind myself that even though I want to be a full-time writer, I'm still human and still got more learning to do in my life
Glad it helped :)
I thank youtube for sending this video my way. Subscribed!
Welcome!
Boring rant/story: I was really struggling to finish the book I'd been working on for 8 years, what with copious rewriting and editing, then rewriting again and editing that new material... and so on. I finally got to the last stretch which was the final edit - the "polishing" stage to get it ready for publishing, but by then I was so exhausted, opening the document just gave me a wave of dread and distaste... until a friend popped up one day asking if I wanted to join his Minecraft server. Since playing games gave me a huge feeling of guilt since I knew I should be working on my book, I tended not to do it and replaced gaming with scrolling FB or UA-cam or Instagram (which is arguably even worse than just gaming), but I really wanted to play... So I set myself a target: complete a chapter and then play.
It worked! My reward for getting work done was to game for the rest of the day. I was able to finish a chapter a day and that's how I finished my book.
It helped that a friend saw how much I was struggling and how positively I responded to congratulations and enthusiasm (since writing at this point just feels like a massive black hole), so whenever I finished that chapter, he'd really vamp up his congratulatory responses.
Though, I'll say nothing of this being a year and a half ago and still being unable to publish the book (which I'm still confident is good enough to -be- published), but that's another day's rant into the void.
Bottom line is: dopamine hits are MAGIC.
The most difficult part for me is that I need to use my computer to write, but then the internet with UA-cam is on my computer too, which makes it too easy and tempting to distract myself and waste my time.
I used to struggle with that too, for me I would put my software on full screen so that I can only see the text and none of the apps/tabs and also switch off the notifications. But if you feel you're getting distracted, try something like playing music to keep you engaged or maybe think of writing your future 1st drafts on paper , this is what worked for me but you can definitely try it out.
the flow research initiative has a lot to say about this subject.
I have no smartphone, but a computer alone is a great tool of distraction, so I will try the digital sabbath day suggestion.
Thank you Jed, you create great instructions and inspire me to write.
Happy to hear that, good luck with the writing
Thanks for the advice and encouragement! There are so many distractions from our individual pursuits. We should all remember that, if everyone, including corporations and governments, will pay good money for our attention, it is VALUABLE. And since they don't pay us, we have to get our value from it elsewhere.
The most relevant one for me is I need to stop watching UA-cam first thing in the morning (like right now...) and at least some mornings start right out with my writing.
Good writing y'all!
Thats some damn good advice!
I have no greyscale mode on my phone, but colourblind mode works as well.
And I'll try that digital sabbath thing also.
Amazing video, Jed. Needed this one!
Glad it was helpful!
There are some great ideas here! I have cut back on my social media time in the last week, and ended up both reading and writing more! 😊
Felt like you were speaking to me when you said find where the cheap dopamine source is coming from and kill it.
For everyone that is trying to find grayscale and can't find it check your accessibility section as well as display
Your videos are getting better and better bro. Was looking to get a book of yours, thought I'd go by publication date. Excited to read :)
Thanks! Hope you enjoy the books - Fires of the Dead was the first one I published.
Such wise and and insightful advice that everyone should hear---writer or not---if they want a life which more fulfilling, productive, and meaningful.
Holy cow I just checked my analytics. 2 1/2 hours on MESSAGES alone?!😳 That's so much time!!!
Ok next day that I have off, we'll leave the phone "away" and see how I fare. Focus on writing, family time, or working out only.
Very timely as I've just walked back in from the gym lol. I have to say I'm totally guilty of procrastinating by getting those little dopamine hits. Not on my phone tho XD. Some great advice that I'm going to try to incorporate in my daily writing! Thanks!
You're welcome!
thank you! it was useful!
I ended up getting an app that blocks other apps and makes me click over and over to open them, then once it’s open has a timer than knocks me out of it after 7 minutes. It’s actually helped me a lot with my social media problem
I've watched a lot of your videos over the past few days. Out of all of them I'd say this one was the most useful, the reason for this is because it showed me that I should probably actually write my story instead of get the cheap dopamine of learning how to write a story.
Glad it helped!
Thank you so much for the excellent tips. I am guilty of being hooked on cheap dopamine, and will employ these suggestions to help finish my WIP. I have subscribed, and I'm looking forward to watching your other videos. The plant in the background of your video looks really happy and healthy too😊.
Good luck with your writing!
One thing I am going to try out is to start writing on paper every day so that I have no distractions and a will to actually write, and then by the time I translate it to my device, already have so many ideas.
Something that really bothers me is how nearly every app, no matter the kind, will spam us endlessly with notifications. And I'd say 90% of those notifications are absolutely useless. It's not urgent that I go play sudoku or whatever on my phone. It's just more irrelevant information bombarding our brains and taking away from what matters.
Listen to him, people! He has found the answers to 99% of our writing problems
I noticed lately that it isn‘t the focus I am lacking, but the content to work out with that focus I already have. xD
So I do value your videos on writing techniques and knowledge immensely, but I still have struggles with making readers understand my perceptions and viewpoints on the content I am writing about. For example I have an odd sense of humor which I can‘t entirely make readers understand with the medium of words. Have you got any tips for that problem? Generally how to use words to deliver your content and the meaning behind it accurately ( or in fictional writing one might also say vividly ) without confusing the readers, poses a challenge for me, and I believe writers generally. If you ( or anyone in the comment section ) got any approach to solving that problem and sharing that I would be grateful. 😄
I really appreciated this video as someone who falls into that trap 24/7, I’m glad you didn’t fall into the “just discipline yourself bro” type of stuff you see a lot on social media😂
I had no idea about grayscale either, that’s such a cool feature.
Greyscale really makes a huge difference. Let me know if you end up trying it.
I believe this is a generally great takeaway for anyone who wants to achieve something. It's also possible to turn habits that typically produce cheap dopamine INTO something that produces rich dopamine. It's about finding richness.
For example: social media. Instead of consume, produce. People find cheap dopamine scrolling through random images and text. If that's something that you genuinely enjoy, seek richness in it. Find a theme that resonates with you, dive into the inner workings of that theme, and engage in your own growth within it.
If you think about Cheap and Rich as metaphor to describe the depth of satisfaction you get from an activity, then consider enriching your source of cheap dopamine by putting a cognitive "investment" into it and seeking deeper satisfaction with yourself, and your activity. Just remember that in doing so, as Jed outlines clearly here when it comes to writing, learn to identify those sources of cheap dopamine that you will only EVER use as cheap dopamine, and remove them from your cognitive "budget" so you have more attention to "pay" into the tasks that do matter.
I don't know if it'll work for me😮
I play videos in the background and can write 8 to 10 pages a day😅
Around 2,800 to 900 words.
To be honest, I've never really used much social media. That being said, I really should slow down on my video/gaming intake. Though I'm still gonna watch and play things I'm passionate about, but I think a lot of these tips are gonna be really helpful, I'm honestly considering trying to find that greyscale mode at some point.
On a separate note, about a month or so ago I watch this movie called Arrival, it was really good, and really posed some interesting thoughts. Having been taking Anthropology at the time, we were talking about linguistics and how that plays a part in our culture and the cultures of others. I've sort of had it in mind for the past few weeks in the background. Thought it could be a cool topic if that's someplace you wanted to go. But do watch the movie first if you haven't yet beforehand, it's really good - though slightly mind-bending.
Regardless, thanks again for the great tips! I'm always glad to see one of your advice videos show up in my recommended, though honestly I'll probably just search you out if I ever want to full on binge stuff to help me get on track. 😅
Keep making good stories Jed! Looking forward to what you put out next!
Arrival is my all-time favourite movie. Good taste!
So personally I listen to books or music while working out or doing smt hard or strenuous is that bad or distracting or is it perfectly fine?
I think that's great. I love listening to podcasts while I gym
I check my word count every paragraph tho. 😂
I also think people's attention span for stories and "lengthy" description that aren't lengthy at all, got so much worse, and waiting for sonething to happen. Also thinking introspection = boring.
I wish I could turn off UA-cam shorts for the same reason I deleted iFunny and never downloaded tik tok it’s to easy to get sucked in
I have one question. I have been working on this one specific story for nearly five years if not more. I've scraped definitely two versions and may have just tossed out the third because of certain changes. I was nearly done with the first draft of this latest version when I found that I was really struggling. It wasn't lack of inspiration or motivation, it was that I didn't want to let go of the scene that I was about to write. I have known about this scene for almost as long as I've been writing the book and I would like to sit and act it out over and over where I am my main character.
My question is, have you ever experienced this, or heard of people who have? If so, how do you/they handle this possessiveness over a specific scene or even the story as a whole?
I am currently working on a different book that is a prequel to the one I've been working on all these years, in fact I'm working on the story that the world for that story came from. Thank you, you have really helped me get back into writing again and helped me come up with a lot of new things to help me keep going almost every day.
"you go on a romantic date with a cavewoman"
I should read less McWebnovels.
It's funny to hear non Jews people say Shabbat.
Oh I h oh bibie😮5😊😮
Noice