5 Things Holding You Back from Writing
It’s the end of January; how are you doing so far on your writing goals? Still going strong? Or is your commitment starting to waver a little bit?
This is the fourth week of my 8:00-9:00 am group Zoom writing hour. Which means it’s also my fourth week of getting up at 5:30 AM to make sure I get everything else in my morning routine done so I can turn on the Zoom session in time (meditation, exercise, journal writing, nonfiction reading, getting ready...and most importantly, making coffee!). I like this routine, although some days getting up is harder than others. And there’s something about creating with others, knowing that we are all silently thrashing out our own work on the page.
In fact, it’s been so successful that I think I’ll continue it into February. I’m getting stuff done, not so much measured in number of words but in all the focused time spent thinking about my project, hashing out characters and scenes, and so on. The kind of deep-thinking stuff it’s easy to turn away from and go do something else.
After the first flush of success, it’s easy to fall off the wagon, which is one reason I’m continuing. I want to implant the habit of writing again, and this gets me to my desk no matter my mood or intrinsic motivation.
What else holds us back from creating?
Fantasy workspace
Fantasy time
Not having a habit
Not starting somewhere
Fear of finishing
Issue 1: Fantasy workspace
We imagine we need a perfect setup, or perfect quiet, or the perfect desk, or the perfect lamp, or the perfect pen, notebook, etc. You see where I’m going? Maybe you’re longing for the days when you could work in a coffee shop without fear of getting the plague. Maybe you just want “a room of your own” a la Virginia Woolf. I personally would love a cozy writing cottage in the woods, overlooking a lake or pond.
Some of us get our dream writing space. Most don’t. You have to work with what you have. It’s good to change it up a bit, too. I’ve driven to the ocean and written in my car overlooking the crashing waves. I’ve written in the library, at cafés, on my sofa, at my desk, in bed.
You might also not have your optimal level of noise. Some people want absolute silence; others want a background drone of instrumental music or coffee-shop chatter. Ambient noise can actually be a boon to creativity, and there are plenty of apps to give you all sorts of noise to choose from. Coffitivity allows you to write in the buzz of a Paris café, a Brazilian bistro, or a university dining hall, among others. If you’ve ever wanted to write in the Slytherin Common Room, Rivendell, or a host of other places from favorite books and movies, Ambient Mixer gives you your chance.
Issue 2: Fantasy time
I’ve written a lot about this before, but it bears repeating. Whatever you feel your optimum amount of writing time is, you probably won’t get it. Life happens, and work generally expands to fill the time allotted to it. Ironically, you may get more done in a half-hour of focused attention than four hours of fooling around thinking you’re going to write something.
Got 15 minutes? Re-read your last scene. Makes some notes for the next. Mind-map. Do a bit of research. Write 250 words. Even just sit and think about your project. Do something to keep it in your mind. It will be a lot easier to get into it when a larger amount of time does open up.
When you do have longer, remember to a) use a focus app to keep from being distracted; b) put your phone in another room; and c) set a gentle alarm to remind yourself to get up and walk around and stretch – it will help keep your mental and physical energies flowing.
Issue 3: Not having a habit
Related to #1 and #2, have set days and times for writing. These may change as your life changes, but don’t neglect to do it because you might not be able to do it perfectly. Right now, I work on my current project from 8:00-9:00 AM Monday-Friday, and I work on queries for my previous book on Saturday morning. I take Sunday off of writing, letting my brain recharge for the next week.
If you create a specific time and put it in your calendar, you are much more likely to show up for it. But only you can decide to make that commitment. Every time your brain starts to talk you into all the reasons why sitting down to write might be inconvenient or unnecessary, do this:
Stop. Acknowledge the voices. Realize that although they sound friendly, they are not your friends (but you’re tired! But you have this other chore to do! But you have no ideas – better to wait until tomorrow when an idea might magically pop into your head!). Take a deep breath. Feel your feet on the floor. Ask yourself: “How will I feel tomorrow if I don’t do this now? How will I feel next week, when another week passes and I have nothing written?” Don’t fool yourself that you will do it later, or tomorrow. You won’t, and you know it.
Issue 4: Not starting somewhere
Many of the reasons we have trouble creating a habit of writing is that as soon as we do, all the fears and judgments we have around writing rear their ugly heads (and voices). But at some point, you have to just start. Stop doing research. Stop planning. Stop thinking about it, or fantasizing how your first interview will go. Many days you will not feel inspired. You will have a headache. You will say “this is stupid, no one wants my epic saga of vampire aliens who move in next door to a staunchly conservative Christian family.”
Again, stop. Take a deep breath. This is a good practice whenever you start writing. Just breathe, in and out, feeling the rise and fall of your chest or stomach. Breathe in, breathe out. Relax the muscles of your head, neck, shoulders, face, etc. Say to yourself, “I am going to write now.” That’s it – no expectations of how good it will be, or how many words, or anything else.
Then commit to writing for 5 minutes. Usually the first 5 minutes is the time when we feel most reluctant. If you can get over that hump, try another five. Then maybe another... and then you just might get into the flow, and not want to quit.
If you don’t start, you will liove all your life in a fantasy, wondering what might have been.
Issue 5: Not finishing
This comes near the end of a project, or maybe even halfway through. The issue arises from:
Seeing the gap between what you hope it could be and what it actually is
How much work you need to do to revise it
Fear of putting it out into the world to be judged
It’s all the same problem. Your defenses go up, and you avoid finishing so the thing never sees the light of day. In fact, you have an awesome idea for your next project, so maybe you should start on that, since it will obviously be so much better than the one you are working on.
Occasionally, it is a good idea to leave a project unfinished. I put aside a novel I’d been working on for years, because I couldn’t quite grasp what I was trying to do with it, and too many well-meaning people (including agents) had told me conflicting things. I grew to hate it, and so I avoided it, and because I was convinced I had to finish it before starting anything else, I never wrote. I wasted far too much time on it before moving on to something else.
But if you have trouble finishing anything at all, then know: Finishing can be hard. Whether it’s a first draft, or finally deciding you’ve done all the revising you can, and you just need to get it out into the world. The satisfaction you’ll have from finishing is worth it though, many times over. If it’s not perfect, so what? Finish it, learn what you can from it, and move on to the next one. What you learn from the act of carrying a major project to the finish line will teach you through experience in a way nothing else can.
So there you have it. 5 ways you may be keeping yourself from writing, without really meaning to. All of them are driven by our inner fears and judgements, even though we may blame other people or circumstances. Identify which are the most likely to hold you back, and make a plan to confront them head-on. That’s the only way to keep moving forward.
