Article #4 on strategies to combat writer’s block
This article is the fourth in my series Is it writer’s block or is it an excuse? discussing possible causes of writer’s block and strategies that help me get moving again.
I hate it but sometimes I can’t stop it.
I sit down and open up a story or article that I’m some way into. Maybe something I started yesterday, or a week ago, or a month ago, or even years ago. I read back over what’s already there, so I know where to start today. Sounds logical, right?
But, then I start to tinker.
Hmm, that bit could be better. That word’s not quite right. Look for a synonym. Change it. Yep, that sounds better.
Ha, that’s a bit cliché. What was I thinking? There’s got to be a better metaphor or simile for that. Of course, there is, that’s it. Perfect (until tomorrow).
Oh, that bit doesn’t belong there. It should be at the start. Move it up. But, now this bit doesn’t work. Rewrite or move it.
This is me. Fiddle, fiddle, fiddle, and, whammo, the day’s gone. No more time but my story or article hasn’t moved forward, hasn’t got any new words. I now have to close it down and go and do that other thing I have to do that’s not writing.
The perfectionism type of writer’s block tends to happen when you’ve already got some words on the page, but you can’t stop changing them so your story or article never gets finished. You can’t keep writing because you’re not happy with what’s already there.
Perfectionism’s not necessarily a bad thing; you don’t want to publish or submit something that’s not good. No one wants that.
But perfectionism is a problem when it starts to interfere with your writing output.
We all want our writing to be perfect, or at least the best we can do. But, if we’re too busy pulling out the weeds, we won’t get the flowers planted. We’ll never finish the garden.
It’s easier said than done, but you have to let yourself write badly. Give yourself permission. No one’s going to see it at this point except you.
There comes a point where you just have to let it go and finish the darn thing. A bad first draft is way better than no first draft.
Nobody publishes a first draft. At least, no one I know. Most don’t even publish a second or a third draft. That’s what revision and editing are for.
What you could try
- Let yourself write badly.
Remember that no one except you need see your first draft. Or your second, or your third. No one needs to see it until you’re ready for them to see it. - Use the wrong word, fix it later.
Allow yourself to use common words and phrases, clichés and idioms. Don’t get bogged down by trying to come up with new and innovative ways to say something or you’ll never finish. Just get to the end and fix it later. - Start from where you stopped.
Do not read back over what you’ve already written. If you need to, reread just the last sentence. Then keep writing. - Stop for the day in the middle of a sentence, scene, piece of action, or thought.
Preferably where something exciting’s about to happen. Then, tomorrow, continue from there. That way you don’t have to come up with a starting point every day. Chances are you’ll be thinking about it between now and then anyway and you’ll want to keep going. - Just write until you get to the end.
Don’t stop. There’s nothing quite like the dopamine hit from actually finishing something, even if that thing’s not perfect. Then take that chaos and make it better.
The perfect piece of writing does not come out fully formed. But, you can’t polish a non-existent diamond. You have to have something tangible to work with.
The difference between my half-finished drafts and the book I read last night is that the book I read last night was finished. That writer sat down and wrote their first draft right to the end. Then they made it better. Then I got to read it.
Writing’s hard work, but a published book or article makes it look easy. When you read someone else’s writing, you don’t see the mess that preceded it. It feels like it must have been good from the start. But it wasn’t.
What you write today isn’t necessarily what the world’s going to read tomorrow.
If you can get past your own bad writing, then you’ll at least be able to finish. It won’t be perfect, but that’s what revision is for.
“I spent all morning putting in a comma and all afternoon taking it out.” Oscar Wilde
Stop tinkering, get words on the page, and get that thing done.
