Daily writing is important to me, but there have been some days when I just haven’t put myself in the seat and started typing. While out walking recently, I tried to figure out the why’s, the reasons for my resistance. It proved to be a useful exercise, so I decided to share my process in this month’s blog post.
I use 3 steps to identify my Sneaky Resistors. It only takes five minutes, and all you need is a pen and some paper.
Step 1
Write down your goal, i.e. what you want to achieve. Ensure it’s realistic and achievable.
Examples:
- I want to write 300 words every day
- I want to write on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings for 1 hour
- I want to write for 20 minutes during my lunch break
Step 2
Read back what you’ve written. Read it slowly and read it out loud.
Now ask yourself these two questions :
- “When I read my goal, how do I feel about actually doing it?”
- “Why do I think it won’t happen?”
Write down whatever comes into your head :
- Reasons, feelings, physical reactions
- Don’t filter or question your thoughts, just dump them onto the page
Step 3
For each reason you came up, challenge it, consider how true it is.
Be totally honest with yourself – nobody else will know.
- Is it actually stopping you from writing?
- Could you work around it somehow?
My Sneaky Resistors
The most common reasons I write down include :
I don’t have time
My plot is terrible
I don’t know what to write!
Just not in the mood
I need a break from this damn book
My vocabulary sucks
I’m tired
My ideas are rubbish
It’s all been done before, by someone else better than me
Once you put names and faces to your resistors, you take away their power. You can confront them one at a time and find a way around them.
Be compassionate with yourself while doing this. Whatever saps our energy is real, it does exist, in our minds and in our physical body. The good news is that they are our thoughts and feelings, we own them, and therefore we can befriend them and work with them. Sometimes this means compromising – fifteen minutes of work is rewarded with fifteen minutes of play – that’s a win-win.
Happy writing,
Harry
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