Writers Write, Right?

Generally speaking, starting writing isn’t the problem. If you’re up for it then getting words on the page isn’t that hard. At first.

Enthusiasm, motivation, belief in your ideas — these things tend to be in abundant supply at the beginning.

Two weeks later, though, things may have changed. It’s all very well sitting down with the right intentions, but what do you do when all that drive you had goes missing?

There are, of course, various techniques you can use to help focus yourself — set deadlines, have goals, write outlines, use a timer, promise yourself rewards — but all these things assume you have the will to keep going.

So how do you bring the magic back to your fingertips?

The short answer is: you don’t.

At some point, especially if you’re writing a rough and ready first draft, you’re probably going to start doubting yourself.

It isn’t good enough; it’s too similar to other stuff; you don’t know where it’s going; it’s boring; the writing is clunky; you hate it; too many clichés; not enough action; and on and on.

But not only should you not be too worried, you should actively expect this to happen. When you fall into a funk, when you feel there can’t be any value to continuing, when reading it back makes you cringe, you should recognise that for what it is: part of the process.

“Oh,” you should think to yourself, “I’m at that stage.”

It isn’t always easy to be that self-aware when you’re right in the middle of that feeling, but whenever you get that overwhelming desire to give up, take a deep breath and just accept it. Don’t try to fight it or resist it. Allow yourself to experience doubt... and then let it go.

Yes, it could be utter crap, that’s the chance we all take. A huge waste of time. But there’s no way to know that at this stage. You only find out after you finish. So finish.

And once you change your goal from it being great to it being finished, the task becomes more manageable.

That’s not to say you should lower your standards, but when you fall into the psychological trap of judging things before they’re ready to be judged it can often feel like the only escape is to cut your losses.

Keep writing and get to the end. If it feels like torture, so be it. Of course there will be some stories that will not be like that. Words will flow from start to finish and it will be a joyful experience. And if that happens be grateful but don’t expect every time to be like that. That’s the anomaly, the typical writing experience will be far from smooth sailing.

And once you have a complete draft and begin the rewrites, guess what, it’s going to happen again.

This has no potential; it can’t be saved; I’m wasting my time; I have no ideas how to fix this; might as well as scrap it and start again; and on and on.

“Oh,” you should think to yourself, “I’m at that stage.”

Expect it to be painful. Expect to doubt yourself. Expect to be tempted to give up. And, occasionally, the temptation will be too great to resist. But most of the time, if you’re able to recognise it, you’ll be able to move passed it. It’s just that stage.

If you found this post useful please give it a retweet. Cheers.