One of the many writing struggles I have had to overcome as I write more and more is the issue that I tend to be an “all or nothing” person. And that transcends to nearly everything I do, including to my writing. So what does this look like exactly?
Well, for me personally, it looks like writing 4,000 words in an evening and then not touching the project for 4 months. It looks like powering through the first couple of chapters of a book and then going “alright, I’m not feeling this anymore”, and walking away.
And it sucks.
I have unfinished projects everywhere that include stories and other creative projects alike. I covered this in a similar way in my other blog post “The Struggles of a Project Bouncer”, one of the first Writing Blog posts I posted on this blog. In this post, I focused on this is a broad sense in that I have a bad habit of just jumping from one thing to another and not seeing stuff through to the end. And this seems to be particularly bad when it comes to my writing.
And the solution?
Well, it’s kind of boring, not gonna lie. It’s the answer to like 75% of must problems writer’s have and a lot of people have for that matter (myself included).
Self. Discipline.
Yuck. I don’t like that word. But it really is the answer to this “all or nothing” problem I have. But to get more specific, what does “self discipline” look like when it comes to pacing myself so I actually finish something in less than two years as oppose to typing out three chapters and walking away for 6 months?
Well, for me it looks like a writing schedule. And one that I stick to.
Everyone’s writing schedule looks different. In fact, many people measure it in different ways. Some people set the goal of writing X amount of chapters every week or month and others set their goal in amount of words. This seems to be the most common strategy.
Getting back to my particular solution, my goal tends to be around 5,000 words every week which comes to about 700 words every day which I know is manageable, at least in the summer time (my plan changes when school starts back of course). And even though I don’t stick to it perfectly, I find the pacing helps me see writing a more of a habit and something I do more consistently as oppose to a project I add to when the moon is in the sky just right and I actually feel like writing. Because If I do that, come to find out, I never get it done.
So if you’re an “All or nothing” writer like me, I definitely recommend trying this strategy. Try setting a goal and pacing yourself and resist the urge to spit up 5,000 words in one sitting and then running away.
You can do it! You can finish that story or that book! I believe in you!
By the Brooke 
Thank you for this post! Thank you for the great advice too! I am not an “all or nothing” person, but I am someone who always picks up too many responsibilities at once! This habit impedes me from finishing things. To resolve that, just like you’ve done, I’ve created schedules for myself. I’ve also studied myself so that I can see where and how I get in the way of accomplishing my own goals, then I work around that.
One very important thing to take into consideration is your mindset. In your post, you describe your habit as a “bad habit”. I always warn people to be careful of how they speak in relation to themselves and their habits. For example, for the life of me, I cannot watch a full movie in one sitting. It would drive me insane! After 30-45 minutes, I realize I’ve been sitting in a chair, staring at a screen [and basically doing nothing], so I get annoyed and stop the movie. I’ve accepted that about myself. So what I’ve been doing is while I eat my dinner, I watch a portion of a movie (30-45 mins movie/dinner sessions). It ends up taking me a few days to finish one movie, but that is what works for me for now so it’s okay! As for writing, it depends on the type of writing. For poetry, I usually sit and drown in my emotions for 10-15 minutes, then I walk away without writing anything, but if an idea feels delicious to me, I sit and write for what feels like forever. For longer texts like essays or stories, I usually sit down, go on a trance and write for hours. After I stop writing though, I can come back and finish the piece (if it wasn’t finished) but then I won’t ever have that “trance-like” inspiration/experience again. I will have to use my education on writing–writing skills and tricks–to finish it. Lol back in college most of my essays had one portion as creative writing and the rest is academic writing. My professors were always shocked!
I wrote all this to say I don’t think what you do is a bad habit or something problematic. It is all a means to an end. It’s your writing process. As long as you reach that end goal and you are proud of your final product, then the means was worth it. At times, we need to implement a bit more discipline or something else in our process to work more effectively with the beast, but what makes you an incredible artist/writer is that you have a beast in you that works how it works. That’s not a bad thing at all. It’s great!
I hope this helps! 🙂
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Thanks for such a thoughtful response to my post! It’s always awesome hearing other people’s perspectives! Especially from fellow writers!
And yes, perhaps I shouldn’t view it in such a negative light as sometimes that burst of “all” can create a lot of neat things! I think where I wish I excelled more was in seeing it through as I feel once I’ve barfed out what I feel is sufficient, I walk away from it and either dont finish it or procrastinate it for very long time even if deep down I really want to get it done.
I think it’s about defining when it starts becoming bad habit and not necessarily just how I get things done because sometimes it impedes me doing just that and then I have no finished product. And this is where, as you pointed out, the scheduling and self discipline comes in.
I think it’s something that I will get better at with time the more I do it and hopefully I’ll find a comfortable balance that plays to my strengths as a writer.
Anyhow! Thanks for the insight! I loved reading your thoughts on this!
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Of course! It’s my pleasure! Definitely be patient with yourself and be more observant with yourself as to why you procrastinate. Maybe create time each day where all there is to do is write, and if you find yourself sitting there for the duration of the time and not writing anything but instead just thinking, that is fine too! Just make sure that at that specific time everyday you push everything aside for writing. But I understand that that doesn’t work for everyone. Sometimes while doing the dishes, an idea to write pops in my head. So in that case, allowing myself and respecting my creativity enough to just stop what I’m doing and go jot down the ideas seem to be the best practice. But the bottom line is: create a routine where you can go at the writing piece consistently—even if you don’t write each time—until it’s done. Until you don’t feel like too much time was wasted 🙂
Another thing that used to work for me (especially back in school when I had to write ridiculously long pieces) is each time I feel like I’ve barfed out what I feel is sufficient, I stand up and walk around to stretch my legs then come back to it and edit what I’ve written so far. Sometimes as I edit, I will add some few things to it which may lead to me getting in the flow of writing again and then adding a whole other piece.
The ideas are endless! Or maybe when you feel bad about procrastinating or when you realize deep down you want to get it done, you find the comfort to let go of what you’re currently doing to give that piece of writing another look. Practice something, a method, and see what works 🙂
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Dang it, I read this hoping for some sort of miracle cure to my procrastination that didn’t involve me taking responsibility for my own actions and schedule, and here you hit me with those nasty words “self discipline”! 😂 I’m regrettably one of those writers that can slam out entire, brilliant chapters in barely two days before wandering off and leaving my plot high and dry. All my attempts to get back into the swing of things involve me rereading what I’ve already written and going, “Wow, I’m pretty good. I ought to finish this before I turn 60.” Then I waltz off into the sunset. It’s not even the inspiration, it’s the motivation I need to work on. The goalposts of “write this many chapters” or “this many words” has never worked for me, because it feels too confining or strenuous (what if what I write is really good, but falls short of the requirement I’ve set for myself? Cue waves of guilt and self-loathing) so I shoot for reaching a certain point in my story, be it a plot twist or a character introduction/development. That way I can get myself excited about hitting that milestone, which both keeps me motivated and gets me wrapped up in my own story so it doesn’t sound too distant or forced. Maybe after taking your advice into account I’ll be able to finish up the novel I’m working on before I do, in fact, turn 60.
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I can definitely relate to this. I think my writing style and habits have changed a little but I’m trying to be a little more consistent even though I definitely do what you’re talking about sometimes where you get super pumped, type out thousands of words like its nothing and then -oh! Would you look at that pretty bird outside….I wonder what I’m going to have for lunch… CUE THE DISTRACTIONS. Admittedly though, sometimes I think I WANT to be distracted because its hard getting back into the writing mode again. I personally found that making word goals helps me but I’m sure its not for everyone. Whatever keeps everyone creative and moving forward. It can be different for all sorts of people. It can be to rigorous or squelch creativity for some people to set number goals but setting goals, like you were talking about, that aren’t numbers but specific points in your story you want to reach are wonderful too!
I’ve been wanting to make a little list of non-number oriented motivations to write and reaching the plot twist or a specific scene in your book is a great one!
But unfortunately, as I’m sure so many writers are aware of, there is no magical fix. Alas, I’m still waiting for a magical flavor called “Motivation” to be added to the Starbucks coffee menu. Maybe someday….
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Is that just some eternal writer’s curse we all share? Inspiration is a fickle beast. Sometimes I have it, but I don’t know for what. Other days I can only write certain things. Then there are those other OTHER days where I’ve got nothing at all. My motivation method came about because I would get really pumped to write a certain conversation or interaction, but then remember I had to write all the way up to it, too, and couldn’t just skip ahead. I don’t like to write things out of order, as it disrupts my train of thought, and heaven knows that’s fragile enough as it is. I’ll keep an eye out in case you ever do put that list together. And if I invent a magic cure for writers’ cold feet I’ll let you know!
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