Do you struggle with writing? I’m talking about literally having trouble getting words out of your head and getting them onto a word doc, or onto paper.
I do.
I know that as a book coach, I’m not supposed to say that out loud, but it is the truth.
I know from my own personal experience, as well as from regular feedback I receive from aspiring authors, that it’s not uncommon for writers to become paralysed by what I like to call our inner editor.
We have an idea that we want to explore and we start putting things down on paper, or typing things into a note on our computers, and before long we are reading and rereading the few words we’ve written, and editing them, and we’ve lost our creative spark.
Or worse, we don’t even start putting our ideas on paper because we just get so stuck trying to get the words right in our heads that we don’t even try to write something.
What am I talking about exactly?
I’m talking about the fears that keep us from just writing what comes to mind – unfiltered – for fear of getting it wrong.
This happens day in and day out for so many aspiring authors, and ultimately means that years go by for a writer with no book and an unfulfilled longing that is deeper than ever.
It took me many years to have the courage to write something that I thought was share-worthy.
Frankly I think it’s devastating to think about the many authors who are yet to be published and are creatively unfulfilled because they won’t dare to finish a first and probably very ugly draft of their book.
It’s especially disappointing for me as I’ve personally been able to learn some great strategies for getting past my own inner editor long enough to get a book or two written. So I know it can be done.
If you are struggling to get past your inner editor, here is one strategy you can implement right now that will help you tame her.
Schedule some regular writing time that is edit free.
By edit free, I mean writing whatever comes to mind as quickly and as messily as you can, without any thought for what you are writing or how you are writing it or how it even looks as you are writing it.
Have a chat with your inner editor and ask her to take a step back for just 5 minutes.
It could be daily exercise or you could schedule it in for a few times a week but the more often you do it the better it will work for you.
Invest in a timer and start off with 5 minutes a day. You can keep going if you are on a roll, and you can build it up to longer sessions over time, but the main thing is to regularly write for at least 5 minutes without any thought for what you are writing.
Side note: If you have read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron you would know that the author calls these sessions morning pages where you just dump whatever is in your mind onto paper. If you haven’t read it, I recommend you do.
It’s amazing what happens when you get past that first 5 minutes. It’s like a door opens and the creative juices start flowing rapidly. And that is when you really start enjoying the process of writing.
It’s also when you start to believe in yourself and in your ability to be the author you know you were meant to be.
I have other strategies, of course, but this one is a goodie and it will quickly make a big difference to the amount of writing you do and to your experience of writing.
Hands up if you struggle with getting things written. Or are you one of the luckly ones for whom it flows effortlessly?