(1,800 words, 10min read)
You finally sit down to write.
You open a new page…… And shut it again.
Ugh.
Isn’t it strange how easy it is to binge-watch a bunch of episodes (or a whole season) of your favourite TV show, or even *groan* waste hours doom-scrolling through TikTok or Instagram?
Yet just the idea of sitting down to write for a similar length of time makes you clench up.
Your brain shuts down.
The resistance is so strong it makes you want to slam your laptop shut and run out of the room screaming.
You really want to write but you just can’t seem to do it.
Guess what?
You’re not alone.
Starting is often the most difficult part of any creative endeavour. Everyone who has ever worked on a creative project feels this invisible obstacle at some point.
So how do we start?
Tough Love
You may have heard that you need to accept the painful truth that writing is a job, like any other, and requires discipline.
So a simple solution is to buckle down, bite the bullet, and set the timer for 2 or 4 hours, and write.
“Just do it!”
This advice is reasonably sensible and practical.
If you’re someone who just needed a bit of butt kicking, and this advice works for you, then stop procrastinating and get to it!
But if you’ve tried that approach and still feel that there’s something else holding you back, or identify as a fellow neurodivergent person prone to experiencing overwhelm, the tough love route might be ineffective and have the converse effect of putting you off further.
I’d like to propose something a little gentler.
Approach it with Acceptance
First, recognise and acknowledge what you’re feeling without judgement.
If you’ve ever heard that voice in your head saying, “What’s wrong with me? Why does it seem like everyone else can do it, but I just can’t?!”…
Realise that it’s perfectly normal to “not feel like it” at times, and just be okay with how you feel at this moment.
Know that this feeling can and will pass.
This will actually relieve some of the tension, and free up the space in your head that’s being taken up by the fight between what is in the present and what you want, expect or feel should be.
I guarantee that the internal conflict is contributing to your inability to write.
Does this mean that we’re just going to wallow or stay stuck?
On the contrary, acceptance is the beginning to making real progress.
And off we go!
Start With Why
Why do you want or need to write?
Is it for an assignment?
Do you want to improve your writing and communication skills?
Do you want to get a job or start a business writing for a living?
Or maybe you have a book or screen-play trying to emerge from within you?
Getting clear on your “Why?” will help you focus on the end goal and break through the resistance.
You may even find yourself enjoying the process of writing once you have a concrete understanding of your reason(s) and the benefits you will gain.
“It is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress.”
James Clear, Atomic Habits
Pay Homage to a Favourite Author
Choose one or two passages that are deeply meaningful to you, and copy them out a few times.
It could be a particularly poignant passage from your favourite author, a list of encouraging affirmations that really resonate with you, or a riveting dialogue.
Make sure it’s something that you have an emotional connection with.
To be clear, this is not meant to be passed off as your own work.
Never plagiarise another writer’s work!
What we are trying to do here is ease you into the right frame of mind with a little help from an experienced writer.
Copying out a passage can help immerse you into the writer’s mental space when they wrote it and get your own writing juices flowing.
You could even take it a step further and rewrite the pieces in your own words, and use that as a jumping-off point.
Let Your Natural Creativity Flow
We are all inherently creative, no matter what anyone may have said to the contrary.
Free writing, writing whatever comes to mind with no rules and no judgement, helps you tap into that source of creativity within you.
If you’re used to typing on a keyboard or a screen, grab a pen (or pencil) and paper for this.
There’s a magic in the act of physically putting pen to paper that I find irreplaceable. The tactile sensory feedback activates a different part of my brain that typing just doesn’t replicate.
It’s important to be kind to yourself here.
If you feel like you can’t think of anything, write that you can’t think of anything and how you feel about having nothing to write about.
Write about something that happened today, or something you’d like to happen. Or about something that’s been worrying you. Or even something delicious you ate recently.
Look around the room or out the window and write about the first thing that catches your eye.
The possibilities are endless.
This process might even end up helping you uncover underlying reasons you’re feeling stuck.
It could be that there was something you’ve been worrying about (such as a fear of criticism, or a fear of standing out) that you were subconsciously trying to avoid, and it ended up showing up as a block.
Or maybe it’s not that you have nothing to write but that your mind is actually considering too many options and pre-judging them too harshly, before you’ve even explored them.
Just remember, this is a judgement-free zone.
Let whatever comes up flow onto the page.
All of it is perfectly valid.
Negotiate With the Voice In Your Head
Decide that you’re just going to write for 5 minutes.
Only 5 minutes.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s good, or if you finish.
After 5 minutes, you can put it down, take a break, or stop entirely for the day and go do something else.
You might have trouble with the idea of having to sit down and write for an hour.
But 5 minutes?
You can definitely commit 5 minutes even if you have a fully booked or really bad day.
The real magic of this is that most of the time you’ll end up writing for way more than 5 minutes, because once you start inertia takes over and you’ll be on a roll.
This 5 minute trick works because it minimises resistance.
It makes it easy to honour your word to yourself and get started on your writing journey.
It might seem silly and insignificant but what you’re doing is building confidence that you can do it.
Plus you’ll be building that writing muscle every time you do it, so it gets easier to write for longer as you rack up those tiny wins.
“Every action you take is a vote on the type of person you wish to become.”
James Clear, Atomic Habits
Get Some Help From a Tomato
As an extension to the above, you can try the Pomodoro Technique.
You’ve likely heard of this productivity technique, but if not, it’s a simple and effective time management productivity system named after a cute tomato-shaped kitchen timer (“pomodoro” is Italian for “tomato”).
It consists of setting a fixed block of time (traditionally 25 minutes) for work or study, followed by a short break (5 minutes). These intervals, called ‘pomodoros’, are stacked and you take a longer break after every 3 pomodoros.
It’s customisable and works best if you experiment with the lengths of work and break time to find a variation that best suits you.
I find 45-50 minutes of work followed by 10 minute breaks, then a longer 20 minute break after 3 stacks works best for me, but try it for yourself to find your ideal configuration.
A quick search will reveal the many apps and timers available online to help you implement this method.
My personal favourite is pomofocus.io for its clean and simple, yet highly customisable, design.
Eat an Elephant
No, not literally.
An elephant is a huge creature. How do you eat one?
One bite at a time.
It’s possible that one of the reasons you feel like you can’t write is that you’re thinking of the project as too big of a whole.
The previous two points dealt with breaking time spent into more manageable chunks.
Now we’re talking about breaking down the project itself.
This could be a matter of jotting down a quick outline or some important points you want to include, then focusing in on individual points.
Doing this sections the project into smaller pieces, so that it’s easier to handle.
It’s also a good idea to note down for later reference any and all quotes, points, and ideas in a document, a notebook, on Notion, Trello or whatever your favourite note-taking and idea storage system is.
This helps make sure you don’t forget any good points, while weaker or irrelevant points can be omitted, edited or saved for a different article.
Tip From The Pros
Pretty much all accomplished and respected writers will tell you that in order to be a professional, you have to behave like a professional.
A big part of that is scheduling regular (daily) time to write, blocking it off, and making it non-negotiable.
Turn it into just another thing you do every day, like brushing your teeth, taking a shower, and feeding yourself.
Just as those regular daily activities are essential to taking care of your personal hygiene and necessary for physical health and well-being, scheduling time to write every day is how you honour and take care of your creative health.
It may sound unsexy initially, but committing to self-care is a way to shower yourself with love.
Your creativity needs care and nurturing too, so don’t neglect it.
If you keep at it, eventually you’ll build a new daily habit of writing, and you’ll find it becomes easier to just sit down and get going.
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”
– Steven King
Closing
Finally, if all else fails just give it up for a while and try again later.
It could be that all you need is a little break.
Read a good book, go for a swim, take a walk in nature or just around your neighbourhood.
Try something new and fun, or do something old in a new way.
Remember to regularly replenish your inspiration tank, so that you can come back to the page refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to flow.
You can do this!
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