Avoid Falling Victim To The Toolbox Fallacy

How many times have you sat there, as a writer, and thought that if only you had that one thing you could really get cracking on your book? What was that thing? A special notebook so you could do your plot outlining properly? A new computer so you could write the story? That shiny piece of software so you can get the formats right, or design your own cover image?

If that's the case, chances are you've fallen victim to the Toolbox Fallacy.

What Is The Toolbox Fallacy?

In case you skipped the above video (which you shouldn't, it's quite good), the idea behind the Toolbox Fallacy is that most of us believe that we can't start our projects until we have some nebulous item in our toolkit. You can't get in shape till you have a gym membership, you can't make videos until you get a shiny camera, you can't write your script until you can afford that kicking software suite, and so on, and so forth.

Having a hammer matters... but it's not what makes you a carpenter.

What makes this fallacy such a problem is that, sometimes, you do need a certain tool to do a job. Can't cook without a heat source, you can't draw without paper, and so on, and so forth. However, as Passion of The Nerd points out, it isn't enough to simply have the tools. Or, as he puts it, owning a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter... using the tools is what lets you make things. And sometimes we prevent ourselves from creating, even when we have the tools. Or we blame the fact that we're not creating on the fact that we don't have the ideal tools... even if we do have access to tools that would let us get the job done.

You don't have to sell a lot of books to be an author. You don't have to have a fat publishing contract, and movie studios competing over your book to claim that title. You certainly don't need a top-of-the-line laptop that gleams on your corner table down at the coffee shop. To be an author, or even a writer, all you have to do is write. To produce. To turn your work from a noun into a verb. It's that element, actually doing the thing you talk about, that a lot of folks simply don't do. Maybe it's performance anxiety, maybe it's fear of failure, maybe it's that deep down people don't actually want to change their habits, and make room for another tough thing to accomplish. Whatever the reason, you have to do, otherwise you're just twiddling your thumbs and waiting for a starting gun that's never going to sound..

And as Cracked pointed out in 5 Ways You're Sabotaging Your Own Life (Without Knowing It), the key element is a true desire to do the thing. Because if you want to do something, if you need to do it, you will find a way. You won't need to wait until you can get the funds together for a new laptop; you'll start writing your story longhand with the intention of typing it up later. If you have a computer, you don't need a top-of-the-line software suite to make videos, because you can download free video editing software, and use the camera and mic that come with your computer (or even with your phone, if you want to).

There is nothing standing in your way of creating, except your mind, and the belief that you can't do it until the stars are properly aligned. But while it's nice to have the top-of-the-line tools, the most important things to have is a desire to create, the skills and creativity to shape your project, and the bare essentials to get the job done.

Anything more than that is nice, but not necessary to get the job done.

You Can Do It... Right Now

Think about the project you were going to take on. You know what it is. You've gone over the details, the layout, and every step of your plan. Ask what you want to have to get it done. Now ask if you really need any of that, or if you could instead start that project with just what you have on-hand, right now. If you really wanted to.

I'd lay you a wager that, for every writer out there reading this, you could start that book, that short story, that script, right now. So go do it. Trust me, you'll feel better when you're not making yourself wait any longer.

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That's all for this week's Business of Writing! If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife!

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