In an effort to make myself write more I listed my writing excuses and then tried to debunk them.
I have this list posted everywhere and I think it has helped.
If you are having trouble being consistent with your writing maybe you should make your own list.
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Why don’t I write every day,
what is holding me back from this dream
that I have and that I think about everyday
but I don’t actually commit myself to doing?
Fear of doing it wrong
So what if I do it wrong, I need to do it in order to learn how to do it right.
Fear of doing it and having to redo it
If I do it that’s something to be proud of because, even if it is wrong, I still have accomplished writing a novel. And if it’s wrong I will want to redo it and make it right and publish something good and then be proud of that.
Not knowing what I am doing
I don’t know what I’m doing at all at this point, I am just guessing and researching, many people have done this and became successful, I just have to keep going.
Getting half way through and realizing that I have been doing it wrong the whole time
Getting half way through is better than getting all the way through while doing it wrong. Just get through it.
Not knowing where to start
I don’t know where to start so I just don’t start, I keep putting it off or starting over and over, I have to go beyond the start and just continue then I will learn where to start the next time.
Not knowing what direction to go next
A lot of writers don’t know what direction to go next but they keep going and that is why they are successful. Just keep going and thinking about what to do next and it will come.
Fear of writing badly
I will write badly and I will edit and it may still be bad but I will learn more the more I write and eventually it will get better. Or maybe I am a good writer and this is an irrational fear, I just need to brush up on my writing skills that I learned a long time ago.
What people might think of me
What will people think of me when they read what I write, it’s kind of like letting them read my diary. I open myself up and let them know more about me and my world and thoughts if they were to read my writing. It makes me vulnerable and I don’t like that. That is why I keep to myself and only say what I think is important when it needs to be said. Letting people read my writing is like telling them everything. So tell them everything and if they don’t like it they don’t have to read anymore.
Being judged
People already judge me, I am different and weird, but who cares what people think of me. Maybe having them read my writing will help them to understand me better.
I’m lazy and I don’t really want to do anything
It takes a lot of effort to do something besides the bare minimum and I feel like I’ve given up on making any effort or maybe I just was never taught to try to achieve anything or that it’s worth it. But it is.
I don’t write every day so I forget where I left off which makes it hard to just start back up easily
I have to write every day and it will make it easier to keep going instead of having to start over in a way. I will remember what to write next and I will constantly be thinking about what I want to write next even when I am not writing.
Writing crap and wasting my time
If it’s crap so what, that’s what editing is for, polish the crap and make it shine. Just get it out and fix it later.
I will have to sit and think instead of staring at a TV and not have to think
It’s a lot of work to think and I feel like I haven’t done that in a while but it feels good to do it after it’s done. Watching TV all night or wasting time online does not give me the same good feeling, the feeling of accomplishment.
It’s a long process; writing, editing, publishing, promoting and I have no knowledge of any of it because I’ve never done it
I will gain that knowledge once I do it, research it and learn more about the industry. I have already learned so much more than I did before I started. And I will learn much more as I do more. Plenty of successful authors have had to start from nowhere and learn on their own.
Writing
