Is it better to force yourself to write or give up and do something non-writing related.

[jonxihama]

I'm in the middle of revising queries and synopses and find myself staring at a blinking cursor for 1-2 hours. Part of me thinks it'd be a better use of time to do something non-writing related than stare at a blank document. Thoughts?

 

[Helix]

Set a timer for 5 minutes and start work.

If you're still stuck at the end of that period, go off and do something else.

It's only 5 minutes.

 

[jonxihama]

Set a timer for 5 minutes and start work.

I tried this suggestion and it turned out I was just being lazy. Thanks!

 

[Maryn]

I was about to write something similar, only 30 minutes. I'm such a meanie!

Forcing yourself to write for a doable amount of time gets you words on a page. Maybe poorly executed, but something you can edit, revise, even rewrite entirely. That blank page is just blank.

 

[jonxihama]

I was about to write something similar, only 30 minutes.

I usually set 25 minutes timers then take 5 minutes breaks and lather, rinse, repeat. Hasn't worked the past couples days, but turned I just needed to sprint for 5 minutes instead of 25.

 

[AnnieColleen]

I tried this suggestion and it turned out I was just being lazy. Thanks!

If I can offer a possible reframe: you were encountering some form of resistance that made avoidance easier than writing. Setting the time limit helped you push past whatever that particular resistance was.

(“Lazy” is a hot button for me… As with anything, salt to taste and disregard if this framing doesn’t work for you.)

 

[iwriteforfood]

I have been a musician for more than 20 years, but a serious musician for only about four (so I still have a long way to go!). As a writer, I'm much less experienced, so this may not translate to writer's block...

First, if I'm working on a deadline, then I force myself to do it, no excuses.

If no deadline, I put it aside and focus on something (still within the realm of getting better as a musician) that gives me joy. I may put it aside for a day, week, month, even a year as I focus on these other aspects of music. If the project is important to me, I'll come back to it... and I do. What is essential is that I don't begin to hate practicing music (or in this case, writing).

My thought would be - Don't lose your joy! Is there a story/style of writing that you've been toying with but never had the time to try? Do that for a while, make it fun again. And if it is something that is non-writing related (which I think is fine), I'd recommend that it be something that is not a time-waster. I wouldn't want to start creating bad habits that I'd have to break later.

If this project is important, you'll come back to it.

 

[ReadTread]

I'm in the middle of revising queries and synopses and find myself staring at a blinking cursor for 1-2 hours. Part of me thinks it'd be a better use of time to do something non-writing related than stare at a blank document. Thoughts?

Oh yes! I tend to stick with the blank page for a looong time, but it seldom works for me. I learned that I can be "writing" when I'm not writing! Some of my best "writing" happens when I'm walking with dog, in a really hot bath, driving, or cleaning the house. For a while, I thought that was strange or 'cheating', then I listened to a bunch of vlogs where real authors experienced the same thing.

Another thing is to pretend to make yourself work on something really boring like budgeting or paying off bills. After a few minutes, the temptation to write sometimes kicks in!

 

[Infinimata]

Self-pacing is one of those skills writers have to learn on their own. Some people benefit from the pomodoro model; some just sit down and power through things when they have the right music on. It helps to experiment and document what you find.

I'm finding that on days when I tell myself "I don't want to write!", I say to myself, "Okay, just sit down and write one sentence." So I write the one sentence, and then 99% of the time, I'm writing the next one more or less automatically, and the next one, and by that point my resistance has vanished.

 

[lorna_w]

Sometimes I go and write something else. An email, a page of journal, and then click over to the main project. For me, just the act of typing along for a while means when I start typing on the project, it works.

Also, skip forward to a more interesting scene to get going. Then slot it back in where it belongs later.