Today’s question comes from Rachel and it’s a good one. You can definitely feel her angst and, boy, can I relate.

I just feel so stuck. Why is writing so stupidly hard now?

I’ve never written an editable book before, so I keep second guessing myself. “This isn’t working. But nothing else ever worked either…” and then three hours later I’ve watched enough YouTube to rot four brains and done nothing other than contemplate the difficulty.

I feel like I should just start, but how can I begin when opening the doc initiates a staring contest with Dread?

Thanks for listening.

No need to reply.

Who hasn’t fallen head first into the trap that is second-guessing? I don’t know a single author who avoids it altogether.

We second guess our story and our skill level. We question the decisions we’ve made and the words we’ve chosen. If it can be doubted, a writer finds a way to make it happen. It comes with having an active internal life and it’s absolutely normal. For so many reasons:

  1. We’re comparing our first drafts to the finished products of other authors.
  2. We’re underestimating just how bad a first draft can be and still be edited to a shine.
  3. We’re assuming that every writing session SHOULD add words or content to our story.
  4. We’re unconvinced that our talent or skill level can produce a good story.
  5. We’re operating from a place of exhaustion.

While each of our reasons may require some reassessing and truth grasping, let me say this:

One of the most important skills an author must master is turning off the noise. This skill is not only necessary now, but it will be necessary for as long as we’re penning tales for public consumption.

Some of the noise comes from inside our heads and some comes from outside.

Turning off the internet while you’re working is step one. That hurts, I know. But how is anyone supposed to be comfortable fumbling through a rough draft while other authors are showing off their finished, for-sale products on social media? It’s impossible.

Our writing time is only as sacred as we allow it to be. If we’re inviting Youtube videos and the accomplishments of others to hang out while we attempt to be brilliant, we’ll continuously feel inadequate. It’s hard enough to shut out all the things we did and saw and rocked out to yesterday, much less push through the noise we’re inviting into our writing caves today.

It takes discipline. And perhaps, just maybe, that’s the takeaway from these current writing sessions. That nothing will make it on the page without this first simple, very difficult action: decide your writing time is too precious to share with even a single distraction.

Once you’ve done that, you know what to do next, Rachel. You said so yourself: you just start.

I don’t know what state your story is in, but here’s what I’d suggest:  

  1. Read back the most recent chapter or scene you’ve written and then
  2. Brainstorm a list of your next few scenes (or next scene if you can only see that far ahead) and then
  3. Set a timer for twenty minutes and JUST WRITE.
  4. Take a five minute break to refill your drink and go again. Twenty minutes with no editing, no second guessing. Just get words on the page and then
  5. Do it again.

Three sprints like this will net you an hour of focused writing. Not necessarily GOOD writing, but that’s not the goal of a draft. The goal is to get the story out of your head and onto the page. GOOD is the goal of editing and that’s for later.  

If you’re trying to rebuild your writing stamina, this may be as far as you get the first day and that’s okay. In fact, it’s amazing. If you want to go back and review what you’ve written, do it now or before you start your next session, but while you’re drafting I suggest allowing yourself to only reread your most recent scenes and chapters. Rereading EVERYTHING every time you sit down to write will slow your momentum and suck out your soul. Trust me.

Right now you’re drafting. And drafting is best done at a sprint.

I hope that helped, Rachel. Anyone else struggle with doubts and outside noise? Any advice from the trenches?

Shannon Dittemore is an author and speaker. Her books include the Angel Eyes trilogy, a supernatural foray into the realm of angels and demons, as well as the fantastical adventure novel Winter, White and Wicked. Its sequel, Rebel, Brave and Brutal is due out January 10, 2023.

Shannon’s stories feature strong female leads grappling with fear and faith as they venture into the wilds of the unknown. She’s often wondered if she’s writing her own quest for bravery again and again.

It’s a choice she values highly. Bravery. And she’s never more inspired than when young people ball up their fist and punch fear in the face.

To that end, Shannon takes great joy in working with young writers, both in person and online at Go Teen Writers, an instructional blog recognized by Writer’s Digest four years running as a “101 Best Websites for Writers” selection.

For more about Shannon and her books, please visit her websiteInstagramFacebookTwitter, and Pinterest.