By Jennifer Blanchard
Writers are always complaining that they just can’t find enough time in their day to sit down and write. Sure, it’s often difficult to find writing time. You’re busy. Life is crazy. You have priorities that are higher up on your list.
But the mistake most writers make—and especially procrastinating writers—is using the all-or-nothing approach.
What’s the all-or-nothing approach, you ask?
Simply put, it means you do things all the way or not at all.
So, for example, if you feel that you write best when you have an hour or more to dedicate specifically to writing, then unless you can find an hour of writing time in your day, you don’t sit down and write. It’s all or nothing.
Why This Approach Is A Mistake
So why is being an all-or-nothing writer a problem? Because it’s yet another barrier that keeps you from writing. It’s another form of self-sabotage and self-set limitations. It’s another form of procrastination.
Because when it comes down to it, you can get writing done whether you have 10 minutes or 10 hours to spend dedicated to it.
All it requires is you giving up your all-or-nothing approach.
The all-or-nothing approach keeps you from writing. It keeps you from creating. It keeps you procrastinating. It keeps you from reaching your goals.
Real-Life Example
When it comes to exercising regularly, I’m terrible at it. I’m lazy and I find every excuse in the world not to do it (my head hurts, I’m too hungry, I’m tired, I don’t have enough time).
But recently I learned that I was taking an all-or-nothing approach to exercise.
Instead of hopping on the treadmill for 10 minutes whenever I had a chance, I’d tell myself unless I had a solid 30 minutes to dedicate to working out, I wasn’t going to bother.
The all-or-nothing approach is not a good way of looking at things because it causes you not to get writing done.
There are plenty of ways for you to find at least 10 minutes a day to write. You just have to let go of your idea that writing can only happen if you have a large block of time.
Chances are you’ll rarely—if ever—have large blocks of time to dedicate to your writing.
Steps to Letting Go of the All-Or-Nothing Approach
If you’ve been using the all-or-nothing approach for awhile and are ready to let it go, here are some steps you can take:
- Take things one day at a time—Rather than trying to schedule in large blocks of writing time, spend a week writing for as long as you can whenever you can. No more all-or-nothing. No more waiting until you have a solid hour to write. If you find 10 minutes while you’re waiting for dinner to cook, write. If you have two minutes in line at the grocery store, make notes for the story you’re working on. If the kids fall asleep early one night, write.
- Break your writing into manageable pieces—Rather than trying to knock-out large sections of you novel at once, break your project into smaller pieces. Maybe you set a goal of writing one page a day. Easy enough, right?
- Write whenever you have time—Write whenever you get a chance. Don’t try to plan out a large block of writing time. Just write! As often as you can, for as long as you can.
Remember, any time you can find to write is better than not writing at all.
Do you tend to use the all-or-nothing approach? How has this worked against you and your writing?
About the Author: Jennifer Blanchard is founder of Procrastinating Writers. Be sure to follow her on Twitter.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s way easier said than done. My mind doesn’t task-switch that easily. The reason I need a solid block of time is that the first 10-20 minutes are getting myself back into the story. Can’t do it in two minutes.
And for the exercising, yes, some is better than nothing, but prolonged exercise (30-60 mins) activates more of your metabolism than short bursts and is a better workout
So set aside the full time you need for it.
Thanks, Jen! I agree with lapetus999 that it’s hard to jump in and out of your story or a big project if you only have 10 minutes. However, as you say, even getting a couple sentences down is better than none at all. Same with exercise. Again, having more time is better and will allow you to burn more calories but just doing a walk around the block is better than nothing.
I think with any goal, it’s best to start very tiny. Get yourself used to doing something every day by only doing a little bit of it so it won’t seem so intimidating. Writing, exercising, tidying — just spend five or 10 minutes every day. I’m going to try this approach to many of my goals for next year.
I was definitely making this mistake! If I didn’t sit down and write for any prolonged period of time, I felt like I was letting myself down…but then I wouldn’t sit down and write because I’d tell myself I didn’t have the time. Like, I would have an idea for something, or a story would start telling itself in my head, and I wouldn’t write it down, telling myself I’d “remember it later”. Obviously I never did, so I’ve started MAKING myself write when the urge does take me. The more snippets of writing I get down on paper, the more I want to write, and the more time I miraculously find for writing…it’s a delicious upward spiral!
Thank you so much for this blog! This is exactly what I needed to hear, exactly when I needed to hear it. I do this every single day and although I know I’m missing out on valuable writing time because of it, I can’t seem to stop. I’m going to make this a top priority (right in time for the new year!) and start writing whenever I get a minute. I refuse to let my own silly boundaries stand in my way this year.
Very good point, especially about splitting the writing of a novel into manageable chunks. This not only applies to the wordcount for drafting the text, but all the other stages – from initial research to writing the selling synopsis when you finally want to show it to the world. Writing a novel is an enormous task, and one of the things that will help you finish is if you split it into smaller, manageable jobs.