[Aliventures newsletter] Three Powerful Ways to Get Started on That Writing Project You've Been Putting Off 📖

Published: Fri, 04/10/20

Hello!

Have you been waiting for a while to start, or restart, a writing project?

Back in late February, I was really looking forward to getting lots done on my novel and blog once my husband handed in his PhD corrections towards the end of March.

And then, of course, coronovirus threw my plans – and an awful lot of people's plans! – into chaos.

It's been hard not to have that time I'd been eagerly anticipating. But I still want to write, and I know you might well want to keep writing too.

That's why, today, I've dusted off and rewritten an old newsletter on how to get started (or restarted) on a project that you've been putting off.

Three Powerful Ways to Get Started on That Writing Project You've Been Putting Off

Have you got a writing project in mind that you never quite get round to starting?

Perhaps it's something big, like launching a blog, or writing a whole book. It doesn't have to be, though: even small projects (like a short story or a guest post) can feel overwhelmingly hard to begin.

You might have been waiting for the right time to start – a clear weekend, perhaps, or the end of some other project.

But now that weekend retreat you'd planned or that time you were going to get while the kids were in school has been swept away by coronovirus.

So often as writers, even in normal circumstances, we can't wait for the "right" time to begin. We need to just start.

And yet I know how hard it can be to begin something new. Just sitting down and putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, can felike a huge effort.

So, here are three great ways to actually start that project.

Note: Of course, it's also fine to take a proper break from writing, guilt-free! These tips are for you if you want to get back into writing after your break, or if you do want to write but you're struggling to get going.

#1: Make a Plan

If you've not already done so, planning is always a good place to begin. Perhaps you want to write a novel, and you have a couple of characters and a situation ... but you've not yet begun writing. You're probably stuck because you have no plan – you don't know what's going to actually happen in the story.

Or maybe you want to start a blog, but you don't have a very clear idea of what you'll be writing about. You could come up with a bunch of ideas and come up with titles and brief outlines for your first few posts.

Your plan doesn't necessarily need to be a linear outline (A->B->C). Instead, you might prefer to mindmap, or to simply write stream-of-consciousness notes that you later shape into something more coherent. Begin in whatever way feels comfortable (and ideally, enjoyable!) for you.

#2: Set Aside a Time to Begin

Right now, your calendar is probably looking pretty different from usual. You might have much more blank space than you normally would ... or you might be hectically busy juggling working from home and taking care of kids.

Whether you've got lots of time on your hands or very little, pick a time and day when you're going to make a start on your new project. If you can set aside an hour, that's great; if not, 15 or 20 minutes is enough.

One of the dangers of having plenty of time available in which you could write is that you end up never quite feeling ready. By looking ahead (even if your calendar is strangely blank right now), you can make a clear commitment about when exactly you will get started.

#3: Write Alongside Someone Else

If you have any friends who also write, can you write together? Depending on where you are in the world, you might well not be able to get together in person right now. (Here in the UK, we're still in lockdown.) But you could do a video call, or simply text them when you're starting and finishing your writing session.

If that doesn't work for you, how about finding a friend or group who you can check in with weekly? I'm doing this with a handful of colleagues – we're all working on our projects when we get time during the week, and checking in on Mondays to find out how everyone got on.

There are absolutely loads of writing-related groups and forums out there, if you don't have any friends who are writers. But I'd encourage you to ask around, too: you might be surprised just how many would-be writers are out there, waiting for someone to give them a little nudge into starting.

If coronovirus has thrown all your plans into confusion, I can absolutely sympathise. I've found it tough to accept that all the writing time I'd been anticipating just isn't happening now.

But there's rarely a "perfect" moment to sit down and begin something new. So, seize a non-perfect moment instead ... because once you've begun, you'll hopefully find it's easier than you expected to keep going.

Happy writing,

Ali

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