I’ve noticed something on the long flights between London and Los Angeles.
The first couple of hours go very fast.
The last couple of hours go very fast.
But somewhere in the middle you look at your watch and you think, “Oh no! Not another six hours! This is taking forever!”
Many people experience the same thing at the mid-point of a larger project, such as writing a book or a screenplay. It seems like you’ve been working on it forever and yet you have so far to go. You think if you have to keep working on this thing you’ll go stir-crazy. Yes, it's that enervating phenomenon known as:
Mid-point boredom
Just like the mid-flight feeling, if you hang in there, it will pass. Of course halfway over the Atlantic, you don’t have much choice. On a writing project, you do, and too many people bail out in the middle.
It can help to come up with some ways to make that part of your journey more interesting. Even a small thing like changing your writing venue, or using a new pen if you’re writing by hand, or writing at a different time of day can help.
Before you know it, your project will have landed safe and sound.
(Want more tips? Get “Your Writing Coach” (Nicholas Brealey Publishing) and “Focus: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done." Combine their techniques and you’ll feel like Superperson.)
(Superman image copyright DC Comics)
