Here are some words of advice from several bestselling authors to motivate and inspire you whenever you're feeling blocked or you can't seem to ditch the writing doldrums...
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Writer’s Block
Earlier this year, Merlin Mann gave a talk at MaxFunCon about creativity and the act of producing creative work. One of his points resonated with me and I want to share it here because it’s so important for writers.
He said:
“How many of you have thought more about the kind of notebook you buy than what you’d like to write as a result of it?”
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“We create these mental barriers for ourselves about all the things that just need to change a little bit before we can get started...If I just had this one little thing that was a little bit different, I’d feel so great about starting this project.”
I see this so often with writers. I’ve even been guilty of it a few times myself. How many times have you said to yourself, “If I had that particular software (or gadget, or tool), I’d write”? How many times have you procrastinated about writing and blamed your lack of productivity on the need for the perfect notebook, pen, or other gizmo?
Writing is not about the toys. It’s not about the gadgets or the software. You don’t need that fancy Moleskine notebook. It might make you look hip but it won’t make you a better writer. Writing makes you a better writer.
If you’re always waiting until you have the latest greatest tool before you start writing, you’ll never write. When you make that gadget a requirement for getting the words down on paper, you give yourself a permanent obstacle, because as soon as you acquire your current item of desire, you’ll come across yet another item and the cycle will begin again.
The real problem isn’t your need for the perfect gadget. The real problem goes much deeper than that. It's rooted in fear – fear of failure, fear of success, fear of change, fear your writing sucks and nobody will want to read it.
If you still want that fancy new tool, make it a reward you give yourself after you write, after you complete your first draft or meet a specific goal.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy whatever notebook you feel most comfortable writing in or use tools that help you work more efficiently. It’s much easier to write a screenplay when you’re using software that formats everything for you. Tools and software are not always bad. The problem arises when acquiring such-and-such new toy becomes a hurdle you’ve convinced yourself you need to overcome before you can write.
There's only one thing that will kill this form of procrastination swiftly and mercilessly: Write something every day.
It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. It doesn’t have to be long. You just need to make an honest effort to get some words on paper every single day. If you need help with this, check out my post about how to form a daily writing habit.
When you write something every day, the excuses begin to fall away and eventually all you’re left with is the act of writing. It’s a beautiful thing.
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In my quest to become a better writer, I've taken classes, read dozens of how-to books, kept a journal, and joined local and online writing groups. After all this time, I've learned there is one habit that will improve your writing more than any other:
Write every day.
It seems so simple, yet any writer knows it's rarely as easy as it sounds. You come up with excuses -- you don't have enough spare time, the laundry needs to be done, you need to organize the files on your hard drive, you're tired after a long day at work -- and you tell yourself you'll write something tomorrow. And when tomorrow rolls around, you come up with new excuses to justify why you aren't writing.
Believe me, I've been there. I've also discovered the biggest drawback to that mindset: The longer you go without writing, the harder it is to get back to it.
If you don't write regularly, the words dry up. The blank page becomes even more intimidating than it already was. The longer you put off writing, the more your talent and skills will atrophy.
The self-loathing also kicks in and you start hating yourself for not writing. You sink further into a pit of despair and doubt. You're frustrated and maybe even depressed, so you don't feel like writing, which means another day goes by and the frustration and self-loathing grows stronger. This cycle continues, feeding on itself and intensifying, until eventually one of two things happens. You give up altogether and set aside your dream of being a writer, or you sit your ass down and write something.
Here are a few things you can do to ditch the despair and develop a daily writing habit you'll actually stick to:
Stop waiting to feel motivated to write
I used to think I lacked motivation, until I realized motivation isn't some mystical force the universe bestows on those who are worthy. Don't wait around for motivation. It isn't going to arrive on its own. In fact, stop thinking of motivation as a necessary condition for writing.
Instead, think of writing as something you're required to do every day, like eating, sleeping, or brushing your teeth. You don't need to be motivated to do those things. You just accept them as part of your day.
Stop waiting for inspiration
William Faulkner once said, "I write only when I'm inspired. Fortunately I'm inspired at 9 o’clock every morning." It's tough to find a better way to convey that point.
Write something every day, whether you feel creative or not. If you're staring at a blank page and nothing comes to mind, write about how you're staring at a blank page and nothing is coming to mind. Write a description of the room you're sitting in. Write about your plans for the day. Just write something. After you've been writing for a few minutes, the resistance will break down and the words will start to flow.
Find ways to remind yourself to write
Keep the idea of writing always in the forefront of your mind. Stick post-it notes in prominent places -- the bathroom mirror, your computer monitor, the refrigerator door, and anywhere else you're guaranteed to see them. Change your reminders every few weeks. If you don't, they'll become part of the scenery and you'll stop noticing them.
Place a note in your wallet where you'll see it every time you reach for money or your credit card.
Use a site like HassleMe to send yourself automated reminders via email to write something every day.
Work on your self-discipline, but be gentle
Start with something small. Write for five minutes every day, or write one paragraph each day, or write 100 words per day. Create a goal that's easy to meet. Every time you meet your goal, you'll feel like you've accomplished something worthwhile. This will keep you coming back for more.
Build up to one hour per day, or one page per day, or 500 words per day, but do it gradually. Don't push yourself too quickly to set higher goals. Wait until you've met or exceeded your current goal for at least a few weeks or more before you set a new goal.
Don't hate yourself if you don't meet your goals. Forgive yourself and start fresh the next day. Research indicates self-blame is counterproductive and you’ll procrastinate less if you forgive yourself. Remember what I said earlier about self-loathing? It's a vicious cycle, and if you're not careful it can spiral out of control. You can end the cycle by putting the past behind you and focusing on the writing you're going to do today.
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Fear of failure is something that keeps many people from writing. They dream of being published but hold back because they're afraid their writing isn't good enough. They worry other people will read it and think it sucks.
Sometimes this fear is enough to stop a writer from sending her manuscript out to agents and publishers. Sometimes it's enough to stop her from writing anything at all.
In my experience, there is only one surefire way to overcome this fear -- give yourself the freedom to fail.
Give yourself permission to suck. In fact, don't just give yourself permission. Expect your first draft to suck. That's why it’s called the first draft -- because it's the first in a planned series of drafts, each hopefully better than the last. Even bestselling authors don't turn out perfect prose on their first try.
One screenwriter I know refers to her first draft as the "vomit draft", nicknamed as such because the process involves spewing forth the words as quickly as possible without letting the messiness of it all slow you down.
Give yourself the freedom to write crappy material. Don't worry about how it sounds. Don't worry about grammar or spelling errors. Don't worry about anything other than the fact that if you don't try, you'll never know. If you don't write, you'll never publish that novel. You'll never sell that screenplay. You'll grow old thinking and wishing about what you could have done.
Turn off your internal editor and just get the words on paper.
This is more difficult than it sounds. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, your internal editor just won't shut up. When that happens, take a five-minute break and have a friendly little chat with it. Tell it you value its opinion, you're grateful for its help, and very soon it will have its time in the spotlight, but at the moment your goal is to give it some words to play with later. The operative word here is "later". Not now, when your only objective is to get through the first draft.
So don't just give yourself permission to write badly. Plan it. Tell yourself, "This draft is going to stink, and that's perfectly fine with me." When your first draft is finished, it probably won't stink nearly as much as you expected it to, but if it really does stink, that's okay. It's a learning experience. Every chapter, scene, and draft is one more step along the path.
If you give yourself the freedom to fail, every page you write will bring you closer to success.
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At one time or another, every writer searches her heart and mind for a great story idea and comes up short. The muse is silent. The motivation is gone. The driving force that compels her to write just isn't there.
At this point, the writer has two options. One: wallow in self-pity, bemoan the situation and dwell on the lack of creative flow in the hopes that some interesting tidbit of an idea might magically present itself. Or two: take action and find something to get those creative juices flowing again.
While it often seems like the best ideas just appear in the mind — usually popping in at the most inconvenient and untimely moments — those ideas don't [click to read more]
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Every writer has her own style and approaches writing differently. Some write in an office while others write at the corner coffee shop. Some have time to write non-stop for hours each day, while others can squeeze in only an hour here and there. Some have a strict routine while others take up their pen on a whim.
No matter what your style, applying discipline to your writing habits can go a long way toward improving your writing. While some might say following a routine squelches creativity and prevents the writer from fully succumbing to the muse, the evidence says otherwise. The top writers in the world — best-selling authors and screenwriters alike — consistently mention the routines they adhere to in order to get their words down on paper.
Getting the words on paper is what makes the difference between just saying you're a writer and actually being a successful writer.
The key to adopting a disciplined approach to writing is to [click to read more]
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I've come to the conclusion I truly deserve to be crowned Queen of Procrastination. Procrastination is a big kingdom — especially with so many writers taking up residence there so often — so Queen of Procrastination is a title one would expect me to be proud of, yet somehow I don't feel quite as proud as I should. Instead, I'm burdened with the weight of the lurking feeling of guilt one gets after living in Procrastination far too long, which brings me to the topic of this entry: how to move away from Procrastination and into the much more rewarding place I like to call the Writing Zone.
The Writing Zone is a beautiful, magical place. It fills us with a vibrant excitement that gets our blood pumping and our skin tingling. It puts us on a high unlike any other. It's a powerfully addictive drug, only without all the messiness and legal problems.
Think back to the last time you wrote an incredible scene, a scene that just flowed from your mind and through your fingers onto the page. Think of how [click to read more]
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In my last entry, I described my personal experience with writer's block. I had an abundance of story ideas but I froze every time I faced a blank page. I couldn't even start writing, let alone complete a chapter or a whole novel or screenplay.
There are two types of writer's block. Writers who experience the first type suffer from a lack of ideas. Writers dealing with the second type have no shortage of ideas but suffer from an inability to get into the flow of writing.
This technique is intended for writers bogged down by the second type of writer's block. It's a trick I learned a couple of years ago but at the time I thought it sounded a bit silly. It seems to work well for me now that I've given it a fair chance. Give it a try. It will help you get the words flowing again.
Step 1
Grab one of your favorite books, preferably in the same genre as the story you're trying to write. You'll only need the first two to six pages, so if you don't have a copy of the book handy, feel free to select an excerpt from the author's web site and [click to read more]
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For the past year, I've suffered from a form of writer's block that is completely new to me. Actually, any form of writer's block is new to me because I've never had writer's block before. I've always had more ideas than I'll ever have time to write about, and I've always been able to sit down in front of my computer and write without hesitation. Then, a year ago, something changed.
At the time, I didn't know what changed. I only knew I'd suddenly lost my writing groove. The ideas came at me fast and furious, as always, but when I sat down to write, the words just wouldn't come.
I put my hands on the keyboard and froze. My mind drew a blank. I couldn't string two sentences together to save my life.
This went on for days, then days became weeks and weeks became months. I went through bouts of depression. I felt frustrated, angry, stifled, and confused. Writing was my outlet, and now that outlet was gone. It had slipped [click to read more]
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