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.