Just Write

One of the hardest things about writing a novel is writing the novel. I know, it sounds counterintuitive; however, as humans we tend to overthink. The whole analysis by paralysis can be a writers worst enemy.

For some it starts at the very beginning of the book. The title page. What are you going to call this masterpiece you plan to share with the world. Time passes, and after intense scrutiny and deliberation, you decide on the title, and for measures the byline comes easy.

Then the daunting task, the blank page. The beginning that will set the stage for the remainder of your book. You freeze, go get a drink, take a walk, phone a friend, anything to keep you from writing that first word, the first sentence, the first paragraph. Finally you decide enough is enough, “It was a dark and stormy…” you get the hint.

Now you’re in a groove. Your synapses fire on queue, your finger glide across the keyboard at a speed that causes your fingers to grow numb, and the “it” hits. Writers Block.

You’re doomed, the novel is now in peril, and the heroine of your story can’t save you because, your creativity has ceased.

What do you do?

Just write… say it with me, “just write.” It doesn’t matter what you write. It doesn’t matter if its unrelated to your current work in progress. It doesn’t matter if you throw it away five minutes after you write it, just don’t try to throw it away while you’re writing it, that would be weird.

Just write. Write about the scene outside, or your favorite song. Write the one who got away or the one who stayed. Write about that time, you thought about the time before you ran out of time. Just write.

Write about how you hated Brussels Sprouts as a kid, but now you make your kids eat them. Write about that time you found $5 in change inside your sisters piggy bank. Write about the time, you thought about the time – wait we already wrote about that time. Just write.

And before you know it (shouldn’t start a sentence with “and”), those synapses are firing again, your juices are flowing, and you are in a groove… until the next Writers Block. Then you know what you should do…

Just Write