I’ve been complaining sharing my excuses to help me get back to The Work for a while now. Maybe it’s all been in vain. Maybe someone’s listening and, dare I say, comforted by all my griping. Or maybe that’s all wishful thinking and no one’s paying attention at all. Because who wants to read this blog when there are plans to make with our friends we haven’t seen in a while that will hopefully be canceled because we don’t really want to get out of bed or put on clean clothes.
Whatever the case, I’m sick of hearing myself whine about everything holding me back. Sure, it’s helped me actually push through most days (I’m up to 12,487 words so far). And, yes, I’m definitely using it as an excuse to forcefully figure out my own process, but I’m more curious about you.
What’s stopping you from writing?
How does your brain trick you into starting tomorrow, forever and ever until even your headstone reads, “writer who never wrote?”
Why are you here instead of working on that story you always promised yourself you’d finish?
And what are you doing about all the things keeping you stuck?
Is there anything that has worked for you in the past?
What do you recommend I try to get myself going on a stalled project?
Do you have a secret tool to get yourself to do the work?
Will you share your magical abilities to not stall out on a project after only finishing one quarter?
(# Of words I wrote for my manuscript today: 0)
Rebecca–
I so wish I had a magical tool to share with you to not stall on a project part of the way through, but I’m afraid doing just that is my signature move.
To quote one of my many favorite Steven Pressfield lines: “The universe is not indifferent. It is actively hostile.”
My brain also loves telling me that reading just this one more article on craft or re-checking that one book on getting motivated, and I’ll be mentally equipped to plunge into practice.
Educational advancement as an excuse for not doing the work has to be the platinum level of conniving. So we have to be kind to ourselves, which takes practice. And it isn’t always easy. But then, what’s the alternative, right?
If you want to get going again on a stalled project, my thoughts–based on my own experiences–are: 1.) Does the project still have a heartbeat? I.e., do you still feel attached to it enough that you want to get back into it? If so, then 2.) You might feel an invisible barrier separating you from the original immediacy of the content. What works best for me is to not revise or obsessively re-read (easier said than done) what’s already there, but let the world build again in your imagination, find that spark again that appealed to you, or 3.) let the story and its universe live in your head for a few days, until some new element pops up that you want to explore in writing about this universe and maybe turn a corner that way. 4.) Put off worrying about how the new and old pieces are going to fit together for later.
I’m in that re-immersing state right now, or at least I hope so, which is a fancy way of saying: # of words written (in the past week!) on the story I got really revved up about continuing: 0.
Here’s to breaking the cycle!