Getting started is the hardest part

If you’re reading this, you probably have a writing or creative project in your head that you can’t dig out. Or perhaps you started it… but it’s been withering on your hard drive for a year (or more).

And as for the struggle to sit down and do the damn work… You know how it feels to constantly have your plans and intentions to write derailed, with the cherry on top being the guilt and anxiety and overwhelm that follow.

I’ve worked with dozens of writers and authors, and they all tell me the same thing over and over again: they want to write more, but something’s getting in the way. Their good intention dissolve and they’re left feeling frustrated and unfulfilled.

They know they can write more, and better — but somehow, they don’t do it.

There’s always something less painful to do instead.

As I sat down to write this message to you, I had to physically restrain myself from abandoning my writing and going to clean out the chicken coop instead.

The Blank Page of Doom used to scupper me every single time I sat down to write.

I know, from talking to oodles of would-be writers over the years, that those first few words probably scupper you too. We all struggle to get started. We all fight to find time to write.

I write for a living and I still struggle to get started — not only that, but I often battle to complete the projects I started.

WHY?

The reason is simple: I didn’t have a practice and I didn’t have accountability. So instead, I got swept away and into something irrelevant.

Is the Blank Page of Doom your nemesis, too? You’ll know you’re stuck if any of this sounds familiar:

• As soon as you sit down to write, you reach for some digital candy — Instagram, TikTok, whatever — and get sucked into social media.
• You have no idea how or where to start — so you don’t start at all.
• You promise yourself you’ll write “one day”, but we all know one day never comes.
• You think you need big blocks of time booked out to make any real progress on your writing, so you never write anything.
• You keep finding other shit to do — like tiling the bathroom, rearranging your kitchen cupboards, and colour-coding your wardrobe — rather than actually writing.
• You struggle to make progress because you seem to have a pathological need to edit while you write — over and over and over again.
• You’re so busy and your schedule is so full that you can’t seem to fit writing in anywhere.
• You self-sabotage like a champ: lost files, sleepless nights, and inviting in distractions.
• You’re paralysed by the fear that your writing won’t be any good — that people will mock you — and the belief that it has to be perfect first time.
• You feel guilty and anxious because you need to write those emails, articles, or sales pieces — not to mention that book you’ve been desperate to write for years.
• Stress and overwhelm are taking over because you keep putting off writing until the last minute — so you’re always scrambling to catch up and you never feel like you’re ahead of the game.
• Research takes over: it’s easy to convince ourselves that research is crucial (and it is) but over-researching is a classic procrastination activity that stops us from actually writing.
• You spend a lot of time making timetables and schedules… but little time writing (remember the days of exams and beautifully decorated revision timetables? I do…)

I’m gonna let you into a secret: I do all of this stuff too — and so do many, many other writers.

You’re not alone.

But you don’t have to let these obstacles destroy your writing plans. You can overcome all of this nonsense and make real progress with your writing.

How?

With two simple changes to your day: a proven strategy that I know works — not just because it works for me and my clients, but because it’s backed up by neuroscience and psychology.

1. Make it a practice
2. Back it up with accountability