It’s a mere 650 words. For the writers amongst us – that’s a doddle: a pleasant way to spend an hour in fact. So why am I sitting sighing over a stubbornly blank laptop screen? Ah well, that would be because it’s a 650-word article for a magazine. And that makes a difference doesn’t it?
Suddenly I’m lost for words. The opening line of the article has to hit ‘em between the eyes and the fear of sounding ill-informed or – heavens above – boring seems to be paralysing my brain.
I’m a voracious writer. To have my hands hovering and unproductive over the keyboard is tantamount to losing my voice and – judging by the pleas for help I get on Twitter and email – a sorry state of affairs I’m obviously not alone in.
But years of having to produce timely and topical wordage for magazines, journals, newspapers and high falutin’ CEO types have taught me this: just start. Because once you start tapping ‘the flow’ will creep up on you. You won’t always notice it’s arrived. But oh the joy when you realise you’ve written a page that’s actually not too bad and the day is saved.
I still find it difficult to write without a title at the top of the page. An annoying little habit I picked up when starting out as a junior press officer. I would sit and stare at the empty screen unable to begin until a headline-clinching title was in place. And I’ve never actually got past this. But too many cases of impending panic over missing a deadline have taught me this: just start. It is possible for me to find ‘the flow’ without the award-winning whizz bang title every time. Put something, anything, in bold at the top of the page and get cracking.
There’s a theme emerging here: ‘just start’. Writers’ block can be a manifestation of a whole host of irksome issues. Some writers amongst us may have deep-seated fears about being good enough. Some may find it hard to hold forth on topics that don’t excite. But whether you are procrastinating because you don’t want to be exposed as the terrible author that, deep down, you know you are (scoff) or you’re constantly making cups of tea because you really can’t work up a passion for writing about the merits of a particular floor cleaner, one thing’s for sure: you won’t get anywhere unless you start.
If the prospect of producing 180,000 words for your first novel is so daunting that all you ever say is, “I’m writing a book” and never, “I’ve written a book”. Then it’s time to start. Nobody says you have to write 180,000 words this week. If you can write 2,500 words in a day, that’s 72 days of writing – now that doesn’t sound so bad does it? Plan your daily words target in around your research, plotting and your day job and you’ve a nice tidy schedule to work with. You’ll have your fat manuscript in your hot little hand before you can say, ‘proof-reading’.
Yes it’s so easy isn’t it?
But, I hear you cry, “What if they find it boring? What if they laugh at my writing style? What if there’s someone out there better than me? What if they say, ‘no’? What if Auntie Gladys sees I’ve written about men’s nether regions and thinks I’m a trollop? What if it’s total tosh? What if I do all that work and it’s not a bestseller? What if they can’t even give it away? What if they ask for more and I’m a one-hit wonder?”
Yes our pesky demons are just brilliant at throwing these little ‘what if’s’ into the fray – ‘what if’s’ that are probably responsible for a great many unwritten masterpieces. Perhaps it’s time for you to put your pesky demons and their wailing cries in their place, even if they may be right on one or two counts. (I have it on good authority that Auntie Gladys considers men’s nether regions quite unmentionable.)
And if the ’what if’s’ persist, ask yourself this: “So what?” and just start!
If you’re having trouble beating off the pesky demons that are holding you back from writing. Get writing! on my three week e-course: Get writing!
Mary Keeley 