Brad thank you so much for saying procrastination is a norm for many writers. It lifts a lot of self-criticism! I'm great at planning - I have a huge storyboard with the 10 chapters and post it notes for each of the 48 scenes that shape my memoir. I've now written half of my memoir (I won't tell you how long that has taken me). However, I have recently started using 2 similar strategies to those you offer here. And they are beginning to work for me. In the past, I think I overwhelmed myself with the grand plans for the day. Now, I do find focusing on what you call, "the next right thing" (love your addition of "right") truly helps. Choosing something small to get me to sit down and start writing is magical. I also like your, "aim for 80%." I call that "don't worry it's just a draft." Once I start I can easily keep going for hours. Thanks again.
Hi Audrey, I'm glad the video helped some! Absolutely, every writer I know procrastinates. It's just being human to procrastinate. AND--we can do this hard work with a combination of self-compassion and gentle nudging ourselves to ego the next right thing... over and over. The older I get the less I believe in those "habits" self-help books. I believe we emerge naturally from underneath our doubts when we stop being a strict task master to ourselves. At the same time, we can't always let ourselves off the hook! This might sound woo-woo, but we creatives need "motherly" self-kindness and "fatherly" self-encouragement and self-nudging to do the hard things.
Our brains are wired for story - I love that. You make it seem and sound so easy!
Hi Eileen, Great to see you here! I hope your book is getting read and changing lives!
Brad thank you so much for saying procrastination is a norm for many writers. It lifts a lot of self-criticism!
I'm great at planning - I have a huge storyboard with the 10 chapters and post it notes for each of the 48 scenes that shape my memoir. I've now written half of my memoir (I won't tell you how long that has taken me). However, I have recently started using 2 similar strategies to those you offer here. And they are beginning to work for me. In the past, I think I overwhelmed myself with the grand plans for the day. Now, I do find focusing on what you call, "the next right thing" (love your addition of "right") truly helps. Choosing something small to get me to sit down and start writing is magical. I also like your, "aim for 80%." I call that "don't worry it's just a draft." Once I start I can easily keep going for hours. Thanks again.
Hi Audrey, I'm glad the video helped some! Absolutely, every writer I know procrastinates. It's just being human to procrastinate. AND--we can do this hard work with a combination of self-compassion and gentle nudging ourselves to ego the next right thing... over and over. The older I get the less I believe in those "habits" self-help books. I believe we emerge naturally from underneath our doubts when we stop being a strict task master to ourselves. At the same time, we can't always let ourselves off the hook! This might sound woo-woo, but we creatives need "motherly" self-kindness and "fatherly" self-encouragement and self-nudging to do the hard things.
*Promo sm*