If you're not getting your writing (or other project) done, here's a simple question:
What's stopping you?
Just name one thing, the main thing.
In my mentoring experience, the top three answers are:
1. I don't have time.
2. I don't know how to get started.
3. I don't know whether anybody will care.
If your answer is one of those three--good news! I have simple answers for each of them.
1. Time: what's one thing you can do less of to have more time for the thing you really want to do? Is it watching TV? Surfing the web? Playing online games? If you can't think of anything, ask a family member or friend, "Is there a way you see me wasting time that I could be using for writing?" Then stand back. Most likely they'll have more than one answer.
2. Getting started: Just start. There is no right place. If you're writing a novel, for instance, and you have a good idea for a particular scene, write that one regardless of where it fits. Then think about what probably happens just before that and write that one. Then think about what probably happens after it, and write that one. Jump around if you feel like it. You can connect the dots later. Yes, you'll be doing some rewriting--so what?
3. Will anybody care? Like a publisher? Who knows? I can only guarantee that if you don't write the thing, for sure nobody will care. The project has to matter to you. If it does, do it. If later others like it, great. If not, go on to the next thing.
Sometimes people say, "Yes, but if I write a book and then nobody wants it, I will have wasted all that time!" Well, what else will you do with the time? Cure cancer? Work as a volunteer in a hospice? Reconstructive surgery? If so, do that. If, on the other hand, you're going to spend that time watching TV or surfing the internet or cleaning compulsively, write instead.
(If your answer is different let me know and I'll see what I can come up with.)
[If you would like support for achieving your writing goals, my Breakthrough Strategy Program may be right for you. Get full details at www.jurgenwolff.com)
