Confession time: I haven't written in a while. I don't know if it's been my depression or the ADHD, but I haven't written in a long time. It's not that I don't love writing or even that I've given up. If anything, I'm more dedicated than I've ever been to be a published author. I just haven't "had the time to write" or "I'm too tired to write" or "I'm not in the mood". AKA, excuses, excuses, excuses.
I think that's why I started this website. I want a place to just sit down and write things that don't count toward a daily word count. It's a place to unwind and feel a little free.
Now I do think you want me to get to the gist of things and tell you about my specific struggles and how things have changed. I'll give you what you want.
Struggle: Writing.
Of course, this is my main struggle. I tell myself every day, I'm going to sit down and write. Then one day turns into two which turns into three and suddenly, it's been a month and I haven't written anything. My books collect figurative dust in my google docs folder and I start to forget my main character's name.
I'm thinking many of you experience this same feeling and if not, well, what are you doing on this blog post??? ANYWAY. I know, for me, I told myself, if I sat down to write, I need to pump out at least 1000 to 2000 words AT LEAST. This mentality just isn't realistic. I tell myself I need to be published by X time. That time comes and goes and I'm nowhere near finishing.
So how do we fix this?
A solution to try: WRITE. I know it's not that simple, but honestly, it is. Instead of telling myself, I need to pump out a million words every day, I've settled for 200 words a day. That's not me saying I ONLY write 200 words a day, but if I can tell myself, "Jason, you only need to write 200 words and then you get a cookie" I'll write those 200 words, I'll get into a grove and suddenly I've written 1600. It's that simple. If 200-word goals still seem like a lot of work for you, then open the word document, write a swear word, any swear word. Write it as many times as you want. Then start adding other words and change it up, and then WOW you're suddenly writing. I don't know how it works, but it does. Don't give yourself a word limit, give yourself the goal of opening your document, and writing fucking nonsense for as long as you want. Your brain will stitch over and you'll be writing in no time! Just be sure to erase all that shit you wrote in the beginning.
2. Struggle: Finding the time to write.
I told myself all the time that I didn't have time to write since I worked 11 hours a day, 5 days a week. Well, can you imagine, I'm writing this blog post at work RIGHT NOW. Huh...looks like I DO have time at work to write.
Now, what about you?
A solution to try: You'll think you don't have time to write and suddenly you'll have time to do other things, like watching a movie, playing a game, READING BLOGS (looking at you right now), and scrolling through Twitter/Facebook. You didn't plan those activities into your day, you just did them. I imagine, if you put your social media, and games away, or even just postponed them for say, 10 minutes, you'd get a lot more writing done. Make an active choice to write a few words anytime you find yourself doing mindless tasks. I'm not saying give those things up completely, just anytime you think you can't find time to write, find small moments. Whether that be your lunch break, voice to text on your ride to work, or when you're home doing something you don't NEED to be doing. Give it a try.
3. Struggle: Not having a deadline.
I struggle with not having deadlines. If no one is asking me about my writing or if I don't have someone telling me when its due, I put it off FOREVER. This one needs less explanation.
A solution to try: If you also struggle with putting this off because you don't have deadlines, try setting your own deadlines. Say, "if I get this book finished by BLANK time, I can get a new tattoo, I can't dye my hair, I can buy that game I really want. etc." If you suck at self-made deadlines, try telling someone you're drafting a book and ask them to check up on you every so often. I recently sent in a submission to How to ADHD on YouTube for her 90-day progress challenge. I now have a deadline to get a bunch of work done in the next 90 days.
Want to set a deadline but don't want to overwhelm yourself? The website Pacemaker.press is a wonderful place to set a deadline and see how much writing you must do each day/week/month to get that stuff done. I have mine set to finish a 70,000-word novel by September 30th of next year. That's where I got my 200 words a day goal. It's a great tool to update and watch the goals change or see how much more you can get done. If you like charts and numbers, it’s fun.
What kind of stuff do you struggle with as a writer? Tell me about them at jasonsalvatore7876@gmail.com !!
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