Great news! We can trick ourselves into succeeding at our goals. Below are suggestions. Adopt a few and make them rules, because we all follow our own rules: we lock our doors, brush our teeth, feed our pets, etc. Set them in concrete then adopt more.
- BIC… (Butt in Chair). Oh, how we can avoid that seat behind our keyboard. We clean the pantry, shop online, wash the car, or if desperate enough, fold the dirty laundry. Nothing but nothing will happen until you put your bottom in the chair. You can’t edit an empty page. If necessary, use a clock like you would for a child’s time out. And no getting sneaky. No re-arranging your desk or making paper clip chains. That’s where Rule #2 comes in.
- Touch your work in progress every day. Even if you read the last few pages or look for sneaky adverbs. Don’t read what you wrote on your phone unless you create it there. The magic happens when we add or edit.
- Accept that the muse is dead. Sorry folks. Ding. Dong. Dead. Thinking, “I’m not in the mood to write,” is waiting for a dead muse. Call it what it is, procrastination. Days we are totally inspired to write are bonus days, not the norm. If your undesired mood (anger, grief, etc.) is strong, you may not want to change the tone of your work in progress. Instead, write what you are feeling. It could turn into an article or essay.
- Inspire yourself. As a psychotherapist, thousands of times I taught the valuable lesson that the brain cannot accept a negative. Oh, so you want me to prove it. Okay. Don’t think about a banana. See? Gotcha. Negatives program us to fail. Like: “I won’t procrastinate.” Better to say, “I’ll get it done.” A sneaky one is: “I try my hardest.” Try is a failure word. The brain bonds it to fail. Like Salt/Pepper, Black/White.” Better to say, “I give my best.”
- Darts in the dark. Most of us have an imaginary line that we think will pop up and tell us when we are ready to enter a contest, write a proposal, make an appointment with an agent or submit an article. There is no line. The time is now. They may not turn out. But they might. The answer to an unasked question is always no. You may not get an acceptance, but you might have an editor return your work with suggestions.
- Become a Weeble Writer. (Remember, “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down?”) Stephen King, who using a borrowed typewriter was rejected 30 times. Kathryn Stockett saw 60 rejections before The Help was accepted. Google a list, read one a day. Ah….no spending hours on this. Touch your work, remember?
- Imbed the craft. Sharpen one writing tip a day. Like: point of view, scene, and structure, dialogue tags. Even 15 minutes makes a difference.
- Set goals. Small, measurable, attainable goals. Write them down with a date. If the bar is too high, we don’t even bother. You want to look back later and say, “Wow. I did that!”
- Don’t despise small beginnings. Watch out for weasel words when you talk about your writing. “I just write…I dabble with…” Your brain is listening and you are telling yourself, and others, that you have limits. You’re discounting and disqualifying yourself. Putting a lid on your growth.
- And finally. Let go of outcomes. It is amazing how many times in life I have applied the words to Billy Joel’s song,” For the Longest Time.” Like before I hit send. And most recently when I mailed copies of my novel to enter a contest and a review board. I think of the lyrics, “I don’t care what consequence it brings; I have been a fool for lesser things.”
I’m called to write. You are too or you wouldn’t be reading this. That is not a lesser thing. Words have power. Story arcs entertain, thrill, educate, incite, and motivate us.
Don’t let lazy mind tricks defeat you. Activate your inner Ninja.
About the Author
A licensed therapist, Deborah McCormick Maxey retired from her counseling practice in 2020 to joyfully invest her energy in writing Christian fiction, devotions, and her website that focuses on miracles.