You Gotta Want It Badly - 8 Ways to Actually Write

No matter how much we want and love to write, unless we're terribly disciplined or have deadlines (or an editor/agent looming over us), our default activity is not writing. In other words, if we have a spare minute, a break between activities, the rare gift of an unplanned hour, do we write? Or do we fill it in with stuff that "needs to be done"? Or take a much-needed nap? Or call a girlfriend and relax? Or make plans for dinner?

I will write - after I take a shower and get dressed - and after I make the bed - and after I do the dishes.
Why do I delay? Why do those things come before writing?

For one, those other things are calling at my attention, nagging me, so I tell myself that I'll write better if those nags are quieted. But the list of nags must be quite long because there are a lot of times that I never seem to write.

Secondly, I might be afraid of writing. I'm not where I want to be in my project. It's stalled. I want it to be perfect, compelling, and impactful, and I'm afraid it's not. Or it feels hard to get started, so it's much easier to do other things.

And - here's what I'm afraid of the most - maybe I don't want to write badly enough more than I want to take a shower, get dressed, make the bed, and do the dishes.

When I was teenager in Texas, I'd get up in the summer early and go run. The heat, no matter how early in the morning, was oppressive. Step outside, and one hits a wall of heat. Yet, I'd invariably get up and go run in that awful furnace. Why? Because I'd rather do that than deal with my parents when they got up in the morning. Running in the heat was preferable to being around my parents. I would rather run.

So what do we need to create so that writing IS the default activity and it is THE thing we would rather do than anything else?

1. Be aware of what DOES get in the way. Pay attention. Are they always the same things (chores like cleaning the house, work tasks like returning emails, etc.) that you do instead of writing?

2. Understand why you would rather do those things. Are they nagging items? Are they delaying tactics? Are you afraid of something?

3. Just do it. Make writing more of a routine, and it's harder not to do it. Kind of like brushing your teeth. You do it every day. The day you might miss, you run that tongue over your teeth, and you're constantly reminded that you didn't do it that day. So write regularly, and it will be harder to not do it.

4. Set up rewards. Yeah, it might seem childish, but it works. Don't schedule that massage until you've reached your word count goal. Don't eat the piece of chocolate until you finish a page. Your spouse cooks dinner if you write today. Make it so that you WANT to write because of what you get after you're done.

5. Visualize the end of the rainbow. What if you finish that sales page? Wouldn't you feel great to have compelling hot words and phrases (that you can then turn into social media updates) for that sales page? You'd be so far along - farther than you are now. You don't have to see to the end of the ultimate rainbow (an entire finished project), just today's little rainbow.

6. Make writing pleasurable and fun. Don't want to sit at your desk and write? Go outside with your laptop or - gasp - a notebook and pen. Get a chocolate malt and enjoy while you write. Go to the park, the beach, the mountains, a tea room, a cool coffee place.... some place gorgeous and inspiring. However you design the pleasurable and fun aspect, only do those things when you write. So save that chocolate malt only for your writing times.

7. Set concrete goals. It's a lot easier to write with a measurable goal in mind instead of just write until....whenever. And, as soon as you hit that concrete number of words, number of pages, number of minutes, you are done!

8. Think of your writing project as an adventure. Write your ideal client as a character. What outrageous article title can you come up with? How brazen can you be and get away with it?

It's a blend of figuring out what gets in the way as well as thinking about what you could do so that you really want to write - and not do anything else.