When I say you’re making a big deal out of writing it, this is what I mean:
I just finished a 21-day vegan detox. The first two times I tried it, I failed. Didn’t get past the first week. Looking back, it’s because I made a huge fucking deal about it. Almost everyone I bumped into, I told them about it. Leading up to the starting date, I meal planned like crazy and researched all kinds of recipes and whatnot. I even made a recording on my phone to play for myself whenever it got tough.
All ‘dat, and it still didn’t work.
The third go round, I didn’t do any of that. This isn’t to say that all of those were bad, because they weren’t. They just weren’t for me. None of those things were in my personality. I’ve never been the type to tell people what I was up to. Only a very, very few. Usually my partner, maybe my mom, and whoever else is directly involved. That’s it. And I’m not much of a planner. Daily to-do lists, yeah, but so far out in advance, down to the tee, just not me.
Whenever you take on a new project–in this case, writing a book–don’t make a big deal out of it. Consider how you successfully do anything else. Note: I ain’t just talking about any kind of undertaking, but ones that you actually start and finish. It can be doing the laundry (which I ain’t too good at. Lord knows it takes me two weeks for one load). When do you decide to get it done? Is it spontaneous or do you plan what time you’re going to knock it out? Do you tackle it all at one time or do you break it up?
Like I said up top, creating to-do lists everyday works for me. I don’t write down what time I’ll do what, I just make a list of everything I want and need to do before I lay me down to sleep. Writing is always on that list. Personally, I have several specific writing tasks on there. I write best either early in the morning or after midnight. Sometimes I can pull it off in the middle of the day, but only if I’m at a cafe or bookstore or something.
Feelings and intuition play a huge role in this!
I like to write early in the morning and I also like to run early in the morning. Sometimes I can knock out both. Other times, I know that if I go running, I ain’t gon’ feel like writing afterwards or vice versa. And if I don’t write in the morning, then I know I best’a take my nap, so that I’ll have the energy to write through the moon hours. And if the day passes and I don’t get around to it, so be it. I don’t beat myself up about it (and you shouldn’t either).
Just do it! Feel your way through the process. Around Day 11 of the vegan detox, I started opening up more about it. Instead of venting about it, I specifically asked for support in it because it was getting hard. When my taste buds started getting bored, then I started researching recipes. Most importantly, I remembered that I technically didn’t have to do it. I could very well have eaten whatever the fuck I wanted to. I took it moment by moment. Everything I put in my mouth was a deliberate choice.
You can write or you cannot. But you should choose. If you have an opportunity to write, or if you alarm reminds you that it’s time, choose and be honest in your response. If you find yourself with more excuses than words written, then writing your book may be an interest versus an intention right now. And that’s cool too.
Oh yeah, when I don’t feel like writing, I still refer to writing gauge before just throwing in the pen for the night. Learn how the writing gauge works here.