The E-factor

What is the right mindset for a writer? As someone who often has the wrong mindset, I feel like this is a question I can answer, as opposed to someone who simply started with the right mindset.

One theme I keep coming back to is friction. It’s easy to see friction or resistance as a sign of inadequacy and to step back from it. But friction is actually a sign that I’m challenging my own limits. I’m trying something and it isn’t going right because I haven’t tried it before, or often enough. When I hit friction, I usually make a calculation about whether the friction is something I can overcome. I’m calculating something I call the E-factor.

• How much energy or effort do I need to expend?
• What kind of experience or effect can I expect?
• How much will my efficiency or sense of efficacy expand?

The more I push against friction, the more my E-factor increases. But that doesn’t mean the friction ever goes away. It just means I can reach friction points I couldn’t reach before.