what is willpower? we just don't know

[fahye]

Whatever it is, I seem to be labouring under the delusion that I can replace it with white wine, the Of Monsters & Men album, and long periods of staring with ever-plummeting optimism at an unfinished story.

DEAR SELF: YOU'RE ONLY A WRITER IF YOU WRITE

I'm still not very good at the idea of first drafts; I've never really overhauled a story, once written, on any level more than sentence-tweaking or the occasional added paragraph. I can't get over my tendency to fret and stall because what if I don't get it right, what if it can't be fixed?

Plus, nothing pulls me out of the writing process faster than the conviction that I'm Writing Poorly.

Anybody got any non-alcohol-related advice for ways to shut up the inner critic for long enough to churn out the necessary words?

Comments

[ashen_key]

(Helpfully), I tend to repeat "DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT, DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT" with a side of "IF IT'S CRAP, IT'LL BE AWESOME TO DELETE". Or "ID!FIC, DOESN'T MATTER, JUST WRITING WORDS"

(I tend to capslock a lot at myself in my head when frustrated)

I also go a bit 'I can fling it at my beta and she can point out my mistakes' while I'm writing. It helps knowing that SOMEONE ELSE will help point out the mistakes, so it can relax my brain enough to write.

So, mostly Lies-To-Self? Semi-believe them long enough. It...doesn't always work, particularly if I hit the 'crap, this doesn't work, I have to overhaul what I've written so far' point (gah, Peggy Carter/Natasha Romanoff fic, will you just bloody cooperate with meeee). But it works well enough a lot of the time.

[fahye]

My current problem is AUGH DEADLINE with a side order of PUBLISHED ANTHOLOGY.

Lies to self, lies to self.

[surexit]

I write in exactly, exactly the same way. No massive overhauling, crippling fear of Writing Poorly. :( I HAVE NO SOLUTIONS, but I wish I did! I'm trying to train myself out of it by writing lots of little things without really editing or overthinking, but I don't know if it'll really help. And it obviously won't help you right now, with a deadline etc. :(

[qian]

Small font! Then you can't see the terribleness of what you have just written, and can just forge on. Good luck!

[fahye]

Ooh, there's a nice practical alternative to blindfolding myself! One that will maintain my ability to see the keyboard, no less. I might try that one tonight.

[littledust]

1) Change the font to something like Dingbats! No rereading, just typing!

2) The more you make yourself Just Write, the easier it will become to crank out WORDS and make sense of them later.

3) Honestly, the difference between words that flowed easily from my fingertips and words I had to dredge out of the depths of my brain is so small as to be negligible. When I reread things that were a misery to write yesterday, I remember how exhausting it was, but the words read well enough. Sometimes I don't even need to tweak them!

[skygiants]

I just try and chant "ZERO DRAFT, ZERO DRAFT, ZERO DRAFT" to myself loudly. Sometimes it doesn't work, but occasionally it does!