I swear, the hardest thing about being a writer is starting writing. 800 words so far this morning on the new story, and I like them, but lord, the number of things I found to do before I actually started writing was ridiculous.
YMMV, but for me, it’s all about that moment when I finally make myself open the file and start to work. My avoidance behavior is EPIC. I have composed an entire cookbook, spanning a year of work, mostly to avoid opening the file with my novel.
In other completely unrelated news, heading to my third therapy appointment shortly (still a little startled that it’s covered by my HMO insurance and just a $20 co-pay each time), where I hope to focus the conversation on my work habits.
I think that procrastination is just a sign that my brain is not ready to do something. I can only speak firsthand of writing mathematics, but I have more than once waited months or even years to write something up. It has always (yes, always) turned out that there was some subtle thing that I did not yet understand during that time. Once my brain, working in background, had solved the issue, the writing became straightforward and easy. Using “will-power to start too soon has only led to frustration. I eventually learned not to chide myself for this pattern of work.
Sorry…right hand quotation mark left out: “will-power”