When I sit down even to think about typing some words for a book, I get a visual picture of failure before I even start to type. It usually looks like a picture of me waking up on Day 2 and forgetting where I was going with Day 1’s efforts and no longer caring AT ALL about the character or storyline I had already begun.
That imagination stops me dead in my tracks each time. It’s non-voluntary, which makes it seem more authentic and legitimate. It takes lots of practice and painstaking awareness to pause a thought and examine it before assuming it should receive your attention and belief.
What Stops You From Writing?
I asked the question on Twitter:
<Who here has tried writing a book? What’s your biggest obstacle?
— Daniel Dessinger (@danieldessinger) February 17, 2019
I got all kinds of answers:
- dialogue
- computer games
- dedicating time
- explaining the Why and not just the How
- baby
- outlining
- breaking down big ideas into smaller ones
- the actual book format to writing
- every part of it
As I said before, my biggest obstacle is getting psyched out by the mental image of myself forgetting where the previous day’s writing was headed or why it still matters.
Every day feels like Day 1. It’s hard to write a book if you’re the girl in 50 First Dates.
But I’m not stopping there. Neither should you.