How to Beat Procrastination, Writer's Block and Burn-Out
by Kara Lennox

Procrastination, writer's block, and burn-out.  These are words that strike fear in a writer's heart.

How many writers feel they've experienced at least one of these unpleasant conditions?

Anyone who hasn't--either you haven't been writing long enough, or I want to know your secret.

Fact is, anyone who is in this business for a length of time, whether you're published or not--if you do more than dabble, at some point you're going to face not being able to write.

The first two problems I mentioned--procrastination, and writer's block, are, I believe, different levels of the same problem.  The third, burn-out, is more serious.  So rather than tackle it up front, I'll save it to last, because I am, after all, a master procrastinator.

So let's talk about procrastination first.  How many of you out there have gotten under two minutes in minesweeper? How many have racked up more than $5,000 in debt playing solitaire?  I really think the person who invented computer games should be shot.  I am here to tell you they are evil, EVIL.  I can easily waste hours in the morning playing "just one more game."  Or obsessively checking my ranking on Amazon.  Or reading industry newsletters that arrive by the ton in my e-mail box.  Or just surfing the web in the guise of "research."

Then there's television.  If you only have three evenings a week to write, is it really necessary to spend one of them watching Survivor?  Or Forensic Files?  (Research, you know.)

Or maybe your avoidance activities involve something that seems more wholesome and easily defensible--like family activities, housework, volunteer obligations.  Have you ever said to yourself, "Once the kids are back in school, then I'll finish that book."?  But you don't.  It's very easy to put your writing on the back burner because you "put your family first."

I'm not suggesting you neglect your family.  And if you really in your heart believe that your family's needs should always come ahead of your own, that's your business.  But if you're using family obligations or cleaning the oven as an excuse not to write, because you don't really want to go in there and face that blank computer screen, I have some strategies for you. 

Procrastination happens when you have a story to write, but you keep finding delays for getting it started or moving forward on it.

According to Alan Lakein, author of HOW TO GET CONTROL OF YOUR TIME AND YOUR LIFE, procrastination most often occurs when the task at hand is overwhelming or the task is unpleasant.

Writing a book is a large, unwieldy task that's likely to take weeks or months.  When we think about all those pages we have to spit out of our brains, all the painstaking research and editing, and the effort it will take to sell it, we're easily overwhelmed.  Second, writing is hard work!  Sitting in front of the computer sweating blood is just not always real fun.  Particularly when we're in the saggy middle of a story and our characters have suddenly gone mute and our muse is on vacation and the sentences we're putting down sound like something a fourth-grader would write--it's not just hard, it's demoralizing.  No writer is eager to face that.  It's unpleasant.

So, writing a book is practically a recipe for procrastination.

And no one is making us write.  Oh, sure, we might have deadlines.  We might have critique partners who are expecting to see pages at some point.  We might need the last half of that advance to pay next month's rent.  But no boss is glaring over our shoulders, no one is paying us by the hour, there's no timeclock.  It's so easy to tell ourselves that we don't have to write right this second, that we can do it later, when we're feeling more creative, when the house is quieter, when the kids are gone away to college, or after we move into the rest home.

So, here's my first strategy for beating procrastination:

1.     Break the task down into manageable chunks, and make them less unpleasant.

When I write a book, I break it down into 10 page sections.  I can easily write 10 pages in a day.  I can almost always get it done before lunch.  But I don't stop there.  I give myself permission to write 10 BAD pages.  When I'm not feeling brilliant, when nothing inspires me, when I hate the book (as I almost always do at some point during its creation) I just tell myself it doesn't matter what I write, just so it's 10 pages long and it more or less moves the story forward along the lines of my synopsis.

It's much less intimidating if you tell yourself the pages don't have to be good.  And sometimes, they aren't.  Sometimes they're clunky and ponderous and boring.  But you can always make them better.  The good news is, often those pages that seem so awful as you're writing them turn out not so bad.

If the concept of 10 pages overwhelms you, cut it down to five, or three, or one.  One page a day will lead to a full-sized novel in a year or less.  Or, give yourself a time limit.  Tell yourself you only have to work for one hour on your writing.  Or thirty minutes.  Or five minutes.  More often than not, five minutes into your writing you're wondering why you were afraid to start.  You're having fun.

2.     Remind yourself why you wanted to write this book in the first place.

Make a list of all the benefits that might or will come to you when you finish the book.  Whether it's money, or making a contest deadline, or getting "The Call," make a list and post it somewhere you'll see if often.  Visualize typing "The End."  See yourself wearing that pink "First Sale" ribbon at the national conference, or seeing your name on a best-seller list.

3.     Offer yourself a reward. 

Let yourself have a small treat if you finish your page quota.  I bribe myself with web-surfing, e-mail, reading, watching a mindless decorating show, even a second cup of coffee can be an effective bribe.  Just be sure to put a limit on the reward so you don't waste the rest of the day channel-surfing.  In desperate times, I've been known to set a pile of candy corn or Sugar Babies by my computer and eat one after every page.  (That's an easy way to gain weight, though, so I keep the treats small.)

Are you a perfectionist?  Is it hard for you to write because with each sentence, you stop, go back, analyze it, criticize it, edit it, and ultimately erase it?  This is a slightly different form of procrastination, and it has a different cure.

In this instance, you have to get rid of the editor on your shoulder that's stopping you from moving forward.

4.     Turn off your computer screen. 

Yes, that's right.  Type blind.  Then you can't possibly go backward, you can only go forward.  Type as fast as you can, being careful to keep your fingers on the right keys, and don't stop--because you'll forget where you are.  This is stream-of-consciousness writing, and the results are sometimes bad, sometimes amusing, and sometimes nonsensical.  But sometimes they're way better than you ever guessed they could be.  Just try it some time and see how very quickly you write.

The editor on your shoulder can't criticize what she can't see.

5. Remember these comforting affirmations for perfectionists:

Don't get it right, get it written.

I can always rewrite.

I don't have to show this to anyone until it's ready.

This book will get done.

Books get written one page at a time.

(More on affirmations later)

However you have to trick yourself to get started and move forward, do it. Starting is the hardest part.  If you can just trick yourself into opening your file and typing those first few words, you can likely keep going.

WRITER'S BLOCK

Writer's block is a more serious form of avoidance.  Rather than clinging to the comforting thought that you would write if you had the time, with writer's block, you sit in front of the computer, your hands on the keys, and you just CAN'T write.

When you're suffering from writer's block, you may experience a host of physical symptoms--

An overwhelming urge to eat. 

An overwhelming urge to sleep. 

Sweaty palms and heart palpitations when you look at the blank computer screen. 

Actual nausea as a deadline looms.

Most often, though, writer's block masks itself with psychological symptoms:

The urge to do more research than is necessary.

The sudden belief that you don't want to be a writer anyway, that it's a stupid idea

The sudden belief that this particular idea is terrible and you should start another book

True writer's block, in my opinion, has one cause and one cause only--fear.  As writers, our lives are filled with fear.  And I mean, writers at any level.  Whether you're contemplating your first book or you've written 300, fear is a constant companion.  I once heard a New York Times bestselling author say that the reason she write so many books, even though no one is holding a gun to her head, is that she's afraid her success will end tomorrow.  She's literally afraid to stop.

Here is a list of the fears some of us lesser mortals have to deal with:

1.      You won't be able to finish the book.

2.      If you do finish it, no editor will read it.

3.      If an editor or agent reads it, he or she will reject you.

4.      Your mother will be drum you out of the family because you write sex scenes.

5.      Your book will be so good, you'll get published and earn more money than your spouse, causing him to divorce you.

6.      Your critique partners will be jealous and hate you if you sell.

7.      This book won't be as good at the last one.

8.      You've run out of good ideas, and this one sucks lemons.

9.      The book will have poor sales figures.

10. You'll get bad reviews.

11. You'll do badly in a contest.

12. Your critique partners will say nasty things about it.

13. You'll suffer eye strain and carpal tunnel syndrome.

14. You'll never be able to put the story on paper as clearly and brilliantly as you see it in your head.

15. Not knowing what comes next--and the fear that whatever you come up with, it's the wrong thing, or at least not the best thing.

The list goes on and on.  Is it any wonder we get paralyzed at the mere thought of putting ourselves on paper?

You can never completely banish fear.  You CAN function alongside fear. You just have to learn how to recognize its sneaky symptoms, stuff it into the back corner of your mind, and keep going even if you're afraid.

Here are some strategies for getting over less serious cases of writer's block, those days when you're staring at the screen, positive you have nothing to say:

1.     Read over the last thing you wrote.  Edit it, add, subtract, then move ahead.  This gets you back into the story--priming the pump.  I usually end up one or two pages ahead just from reading over a chapter and enhancing it.

2.     Give yourself permission to write badly.  You can always rewrite, delete, never show it to anyone.  Expecting yourself to get it down perfectly on the page the first time is a major cause of writer's paralysis.

3.     Set yourself a modest page goal.  If you've never written more than three pages in one day, don't tell yourself you should be writing 10.  Start with one bad page per day. As long as you're moving forward, even at a snail's pace, don't punish yourself.

4.     Move to a different location, using a laptop or even pen and notebook.  Shaking up your physical situation sometimes shakes loose ideas.

5.     Try writing at a different time of day.  Maybe it's that you're trying to defy your biological clock.  Some people are crack-of-dawn writers.  Others are night owls.  Others squeeze their writing time into their day, 15 minutes at a time.  Play around until something works for you.

6.     Try working on a different project.  I often have two projects going at the same time, although pay attention if this becomes a pattern for you--that you never finish anything.  Sometimes you feel like stopping because it gets hard!  The middle of a book is hard!  You have to persevere.

7.     Stop and examine your story.  Perhaps you haven't done enough pre-writing.  Sometimes it's impossible to move forward if you just don't know what comes next.  It's easier to push forward if you have a road map.  You might find this concept difficult if you're a "pantser" (one who writes by the seat of her pants, rather than meticulously planning out the story first).  But even if you don't want to write a synopsis before you write the book, you can jot down some notes about where the story is going, what your characters have to learn, the ending.  Even doing more work on your characters might help you figure out where to go.

8.   Don't force yourself to show pages to your critique partner if the criticism is stymieing you. Constant criticism, even by well-meaning writer-friends, can leave you feeling inadequate as a writer.

9.   Exercise.  Sometimes a brisk walk can get your blood flowing to your brain and jostle ideas loose.  And of course, regular aerobic exercise is good for your all-over health.  You might be surprised how regular exercise can boost your creativity.

10.  Repeat affirmations.  If you constantly tell yourself writing is hard, it's torture, you'll never finish, you're not creative, pretty soon you'll start to believe it.  Replace those negative statements with positive ones:

Writing is easy and fun for me.

Finishing this book is easy.

My creativity knows no limits.

I have a distinctive voice that people enjoy reading.

I can easily write X number of pages a day.

I respond well to constructive criticism, and I use it to improve my writing.

My writing improves every day.

I love to get started writing in the morning.

Just make sure your affirmations are positive, active, in present tense.  Say them out loud.  Say them in front of the mirror.  Put a lot of feeling into them, even if you don't believe them at first.  If your subconscious mind hears them often enough, it will start to believe them, and soon your actions will follow your beliefs.

BURN-OUT

Burn-out is a more serious problem.  When you no longer get any pleasure from writing, when no book idea is exciting to you, when you're having to force yourself day after day, when you have nothing in your idea bank, when you hate every idea you come up with--that's burn-out.  And it can end your career if you don't take steps to escape from it.

Burn-out can also lead to depression.  Or perhaps the depression causes the burn-out.  Regardless, if you ever find that not only are you not getting any pleasure from writing, but you're not getting pleasure from anything, you need to seek professional help.  There is a proven correlation between creativity and mental illness, so don't neglect your psyche.  Know the warning signs of depression and substance abuse.

One word of caution: Anti-depressant drugs can be a life saver, but they can also have unintended side effects on your creativity.

I suffered from burn-out and depression in the mid-90s, when I was writing for Silhouette.  At that time, all of the lines were pulling in, becoming more uniform. My slightly oddball books were not selling as consistently well as my editors had hoped, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to write the sort of books that would sell, and that meant brides, cowboys and babies.  But the more I tried to shoehorn myself into a "formula" that wasn't working for me, the less editors wanted to buy my books.  The more rejections I piled up, the more anxious I got.  The more anxious I got, the more I rushed through the creative process, totally writing to the market but neglecting to inject any freshness or originality into my work.  I also became increasingly angry over the situation, taking it personally, when really I was bringing it on myself.

And the very worst thing you can do for yourself in this situation is force yourself to keep writing whatever it is that's no fun anymore.  Like any other work, writing requires that you take a vacation now and then.  If you spend every waking hour in your office, at your keyboard, you're going to run out of things to write about.  Your creativity is not a bottomless well.  You have to replenish the well from time to time if you want to continue to draw from it.

This means you have to live life.

It was only after I took a step back and acknowledged that my old approach wasn't working that I began to improve the situation.  I had to let go of the notion that I would ever sell to Silhouette again.  I started to think of myself as unpublished.  And that gave me a certain freedom to write anything I wanted.

And I did.  I wrote two straight mysteries.  I wrote screenplays.  I wrote big, sprawling romances that broke all the rules and would never, ever sell. I wrote a proposal for a nonfiction book.

I also cultivated some interests outside of writing.  I started spending more time with non-writing friends.  I took up hobbies.  I read non-romance novels and nonfiction books.  I went to the movies.  I watched the History Channel.

And I rediscovered the reason I'd become a writer in the first place.  I also learned an important lesson:  I would never, ever again write something I wasn't passionate about.

When I did sell again, I was lucky to have an editor who encouraged me to stretch and to use those good old reliable romance hooks as a creative challenge, rather than as something that stifled me.  I embraced cowboys, brides and babies rather than resenting them.

Here are some suggestions for dealing with the symptoms of burn-out:

1.           Take time off.  Give yourself at least 2 weeks of vacation (six months is better), when you promise yourself you will not even think about writing, or beat yourself up for not writing.  If an idea for a story comes to you, jot it down quickly and put it away.  Don't start writing.  By not allowing yourself to write, you might find yourself anxious to get back to it once the two weeks are up.

2.           Cultivate new interests.  Find a new hobby, join a new club, get out and meet your neighbors, volunteer, get a part-time job.  Read books you wouldn't normally pick up.  Fill the well.

3.           Let your dreams work for you.  If your waking mind refuses to be creative, see if your unconscious can fill the void.  This is particularly useful if you're uninspired, if the idea file is empty. Just before you go to bed, you program yourself to have a dream that will inspire a new story. State your intention, out loud, then go to sleep.  You may have a dream during the night that suggest a new story to write.  Or you may find ideas popping into your head a short while after you wake up.  This technique also works well for solving plot problems.  If you've written yourself into a corner, let your subconscious mind come up with a way out of the trap.  It's like programming a VCR to pick up ideas for you out of the universe, and it's better than a magic wand.

4.           Learn to meditate. There are lots of different methods, I won't go into them, but the health benefits are well documented.  Meditation can lower blood pressure, lower your heart rate, boost your immune system, and generally reduce stress.  It's also a place for inspiration.  Sometimes wonderful ideas will come to you while you're meditating.  The practice also helps quiet anxiety, which might be preventing you from writing.

5.          Keep a journal. Explore your own emotions.  It's very freeing to know you don't have to show it to anyone.  Many writers swear by the Artist's Way "morning pages" (three pages of anything every morning, just to get you warmed up).

6.           Whatever you do, don't keep writing if it's torture.  Life is too short.  Find something you do love, a different outlet for your creativity.  Our creative minds are a rare gift, but we can't afford to take them for granted or abuse them.  Things can and do go wrong with the creative process, which is a delicate and mysterious thing.  I hope the suggestions I've given will increase your productivity.  But mostly I hope that you'll find more pleasure in writing and rediscover the joy your own creativity can bring you.