Know Where Your Writing is Going
Know Where Your Writing is Going
Creating a Container for Your Creative Work Helps Solve Procrastination
Creating a Container for Your Creative Work Helps Solve Procrastination
Me, earlier this morning:
After a weekend trip, I was ready to get back to working on my novel. The one that’s three-quarters finished, that I abandoned last fall. I’d reread it all and was eager and excited to get back to work on it.
Except then I wasn’t.
My morning habit lately has been to journal first thing in the morning, spending time getting ready for the day.
But not today. I had plans to get right on it! No time for fluffy stuff like diaries today. On to the important things like writing a novel.
Then I didn’t get onto it.
When A Writer Isn’t Writing
The Misery of Not Putting Pen to Paper (And Cures)medium.com
I opened my computer to get going and saw an interesting notification from Facebook. Actually, I didn’t know it was interesting, I just followed it. Then I decided I better check my email…just in case. And saw another interesting link to follow.
I thought about my novel a couple of times and reminded myself I needed to get on it.
Yeah, yeah, my brain said, brushing that pesky thought away. And went to open another email.
This continued for a bit, until I finally came to my senses and saw what I was doing. (So much of our unproductive behavior is unconscious.)
I was not writing. In a most dedicated manner.
And I was not writing because I didn’t know what to write. I didn’t know where I was going.
I yelled at myself a bit (sometimes you have to holler to shake your brain out of unconscious mode) and finally, finally, finally, got going on the next chapter. I opened a file, titled it, and saved it. Tiny as those actions are, they constitute a small ritual that signals to your brain you’re at work.
They signaled it to me.
I was back in the game, baby.
Here are some other ideas that have proved helpful to me in the past and I hope will be helpful to you:
Open a File
If you’re just starting the project, open a file and label it with the name of the next chapter or scene. If you’re writing by hand in a notebook, start a page for it. If you already have a file going, open it.This creates a container for your work. It gives you somewhere to go. Then you can at least start by writing a few bad word in the open file. And, as happened for me, the act of creating the file signals the brain that you’re ready to write.
Take Good Notes
Every time you have a thought about the story during a writing session, or at another time, write it down. This morning I remembered that somewhere in the novel notebook I’d been keeping last fall I had notes on where to go next. Taking good notes can mean the difference between making forward momentum or getting stalled. Keep a notebook dedicated just to this project, or write your notes in a journal. Put them on your phone or in a computer file. But write them down. You won’t remember them, even though you think you will.
Write as Regularly as Possible
The more often you are working on a specific project, the more firmly anchored it is in your mind. And that makes it easier to know where you are going. When you only write once in awhile, it feels like you have to start all over again. Because I am returning to a novel I abandoned partially finished last year, I’m starting anew. It takes time to get into the flow of a project, and that can only be achieved by writing regularly.
Get Over Your Writing Block Already
Because Writing is Easy, People, Compared to Other Jobsmedium.com
Side Step
Also known as backing yourself into the project. This morning, as I floundered, trying to myself to work on my novel, the words for this post starting flowing in my head. So I — you guessed it — opened a file and started writing it. This doesn’t count as working on my novel, but it does count as writing. And as I started collecting my thoughts about the benefits of knowing where you are going, I remembered that I did know where I was going on my novel. I had those notes I could follow. At least as a starting point. I left this article midstream and went off to start writing my next chapter.
Write One Bad Sentence
Sometimes it’s the act of actual writing that will get you back in the flow. Looking at a blank page or an empty computer screen reminds you that you don’t know where you are going. If you did, that damn screen wouldn’t be blank. So putting some words on it helps. They don’t have to be glorious words, just words. And maybe, just maybe, those words will clarify where you are going next.
I sure hope so!
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