Having a forward-moving rhythm

 

One of the things that helped me overcome the so-called problem of Writer’s Block was an idea I found in a book wittily entitled Around the Writer’sBlock. The author is Rosanne Bane.

 As with so many books on writing, one particular thing sticks with you. Bane sees Writer’s Block as a procrastination problem. It’s dealing with procrastination that’s important.

She talks about Process Time and Product Time. Process Time is basically about play, doing something creative you wouldn’t normally do. She suggested juggling as one possibility. Since I’d tried to learn to juggle some years ago I had another go at it. This Process Time is intended to get your brain up and running before you start working. (I’m no doubt simplifying here, but it is three and a half years since I read the book.)

 Once you’ve done your allotted amount of playing, stimulating the brain into working on something that is fun, you move to Product Time. As you might expect, this is when you do the creative work on your particular project. In my case it was aiming to complete the full draft of The Counterfeit Queen, as well as making lots of notes as I went along.

 The Process should overcome your procrastination by giving your brain something fun to do. Once the brain is into that ‘play’ mood, it will be ready to do the more complex creative process of working on your product.

 It probably takes a few weeks to really settle into a routine, but I found it did work for me. Check out my original Excel file below. 

 Using an Excel sheet, I write the date on each successive line. As I work on the book each day, I make a brief note about what I've done, as well as any other relevant comments. Somehow this instils in the brain the idea that it’s good to keep moving forward each day. The amount of work isn’t necessarily important.

I used Bane's layout for some weeks before simplifying it for my own purposes. It still works well. 

 There are days when nothing gets done: I might be away from my computer and notes, as has happened over the last couple of days. Something more important than writing may come up, such as a crisis in the family. Or it may be a Sunday, when I don’t tend to work at writing. I still aim to keep the dates consistent, rather than only noting the days when work is done.

 It's surprising that a simple line reminding me of each step forward makes an ongoing difference to my sense of progress.