What is the best cure for writer's procrastination.?

Question

I want to be a writer but there is something keeping me back from my dreams. Maybe it's fear or procrastination. I don't think it's writers block. When I think about writing I get overwhelmed and nothing gets written except journal entries. Has anyone experienced this? Any suggestions? Thanks

Answer 1

Pretend that you are someone else. Turn off your rational mind, excising all notions that get in the way of stream of consciousness. That means don't bother with spelling words correctly or using proper grammar, perhaps even using a shorthand that only you can understand. Write at night, right before bedtime. It would be even better if you didn't have to work the next day, possibly starting to write at midnight, not finishing until 4 or 5 am. You will need to sleep for 10 hours every day, allowing yourself extended times of deep relaxation. Induce a dream state by consuming a small cup of absinthe, but don't overdo this. After a writing session, go back and transfer circle about 10% of what you've written to be examined later. After you've written 1000 pages of stream, you'll have 100 pages of really fantastic quality stuff that you can then edit.

Answer 2

Yes, I am also trying to write.
And it is an overwhelming task.
I try not to think about how much I have to write.
I think, "okay, I will just work on this for fifteen minutes today" and I set a timer.
Then, after fifteen minutes, if I feel like continuing (because often if I start I get sucked in), I do. If I don't feel like continuing, I stop. That way I am always getting a little done, and I haven't turned something I enjoy into a "must do" chore.

I also don't think journal entries, blogs, etc. are a bad thing. I found that anything I write on any subject is later useful in some way. Even if a 10 page blog just gives me one good idea/bit of dialogue.

The other thing that keeps me going is to go back to wherever/whatever made me excited about writing. It could be a place, a person, or a favorite book, or movie. I even have some old school projects that I pull out and look through from time to time.

Well, good luck. I hope some of that was helpful.

Answer 3

Yes.

Remember, all books are written one word at a time.

Also, give yourself permission to write crap.

Read: Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. It should help you break through the fear and procrastination. Also, make a commitment to yourself to spend a certain amount of time daily. Hold this time sacred for writing and writing only. No listening to music or surfing the internet. Only 30 minutes a day. Or an hour. Not too large a block of time. Then sit. Write or do nothing but don't do anything else but write. No reading. No daydreaming. Heck, if you catch yourself daydreaming, start writing what you're daydreaming about. Just shut up and write. Now.

One
word
at
a
time.

Until you read The End.

Answer 4

Yep, Been There, done that.

The problem with me at least, is the fear of writing junk, and putting my name on it.

Then I followed one of my mentors who told me to write (physically, with a pen and paper), anfd turn off the internet. I take about a half hour early in the morning to write and write and write. It doesn't matter what about. You connot stop or pause for even a moment. Just write whatever in the subject area you want to, or any other thought that comes to your mind. If you are stuck, just keep writing stuff like - I have no idea what to write now. My mind is a blank. I am stuck etc.

Pretty soon, you will have a page full of stuff, and then another page and another. Once your time is up. get up, take a break. Return after your break and take a look at what you have written. There may be some nuggets of gold in there. rewrite or type those into a new document.

Do this for a week, and you will be on your way to writing that book or article or thesis.

Answer 5

I get this, it's a pain and at times I wonder do I really want to be a writer, but then I feel it, that urge, even if I have nothing in mind I sit with pen and paper.

The way I get over it is, I think rather then think about the end of the story, I think about some point that I want to write, some part I know I will love, that keeps coming back to me, and I know exactly what I want to do with it and how I want it to go. and I concentrate on that while I'm writing. it makes it easier to write because I have a goal that isn't 400 plus pages away and doesn't feel intimidating. the fact is, you have to write every day, even if it's a word. A writer writes, what else is there, if you're not writing, what else are you? that probably sounds sad, but I love writing more then anything except my cat. now I really am sad!

Answer 6

Oh god. I have been in a horrific state of writer's procrastination for a month or so due to my impending high school graduation, but honestly, the only thing you can do is to set time aside for writing and just DO IT. I've learned this the hard way, seeing as my head is CLUTTERED with ideas, and minimal time for jotting things down, and then I feel like I have to tell it as a story rather than write it, and eventually, I get so deep into it I don't remember the initial idea and can't write it all down.

So, like I said, just do it. Set time aside. And don't procrastinate, because then the ideas fly away. Once you start, don't let yourself stop until you're completely satisfied with it.

Good luck <3

Answer 7

Start writing vignettes, with descriptions of place, dialogues between characters, etc... Maybe start with the day in the life of a character, or maybe write an autobiographical thing. The more you write about these places and people, you'll find yourself attached to them.

This will help you overcome what inhibits many writers, which is that they can't be passionate about a story that has yet to be written. It's a lot easier to write a story once you care about what happens to your characters.

Answer 8

I find moving my laptop and plugging it in in another room where there's no internet access - thus fewer distractions - is helpful.

I agree with the person who said it's OK to write crap - at least then you've got a starting point, something you can edit or which will lead to better stuff.

Having said all that, I find it hard to get on with it too, so you are not alone! Good luck.

Answer 9

Steps to the Cure
1. Realize you are delaying something unnecessarily.
2. Discover the real reasons for your delay. List them.
3. Dispute those real reasons and overcome them. Be vigorous.
4. Begin the task.

Hope this helps!

Answer 10

I'm impressed by the quality of the answers you have received. There's a lot of advice there that I will take.
One other piece of advice that was once given to me. Instead of trying to focus on something big, focus on something small, one square inch of soil, for example, and write all you can about that.