And we’re back in action, Arrowheads! 🙂

I apologize again for not getting last week’s post up in time. Thankfully, though, I didn’t go on a full month-long hiatus.

This week, I want to discuss something all of us writers go through, something I’ve been dealing with a lot myself through the last several months of writing my current work in progress, On the Flip Side: 3 Things That Will Hinder You From Writing.

Hindrance 1 | Not Preparing Your Thoughts Before Writing

Now, I know what you may have on the tip of your tongue after reading that heading…

“Allyson! How dare you! I am a proud pantser! I sit down and write as I please, whenever I want, thank you!”

To that, I reply, “good for you, buddy. Just sit tight and let me explain myself, okay?”

There’s nothing wrong with being a panster–otherwise known as writing by the seat of your pants–just like there’s nothing wrong with being a thorough plotter with a 25-page story outline.

What I have found out about myself is that if I sit down to write without having any earthly clue what point I’m supposed to continue the story on from, it often renders my creativity well dry. This has happened both in seasons where I’ve been a pantser, and others where I’ve been a plotter.

How Can We Prevent This from Hindering Our Writing?

If you’re a pantser like I used to be, before you sit down and write, you may want to re-familiarize yourself with your story by going back and reading a few of the preceding scenes to get a better understanding of where you left off at. If you just take off running without familiarizing yourself with where you’ve already traveled, your writing may end up running in circles or unintentionally careening off into left field. Or, worse, you may not write at all.

If you’re a plotter, like I am in my current season of writing, make sure that you have already not only planned out the scene you’re currently working on, but at least two to three more after it. Why? I’ve found my biggest issue with writing On the Flip Side over the past few months was due to the fact that I’d often be writing at a point in the story where the next few scenes hadn’t been outlined yet, and I’d freeze up until I had outlined a few more scenes. I don’t know if all plotters are like this, but it has certainly helped me to know that I have a clear path mapped ahead for my characters to take.

Hindrance 2 | Worrying That Your Writing Won’t Measure Up to Other Authors’ Books

You’ve just finished reading a book. An amazing book. No, wait. A PHENOMENAL book. A book that had characters you want to name your future kids after. A book that gave you ALL THE FEELS and made you emotionally unstable.

Soon after reading the book, you sit down to write. You open your notebook or document, picking back up where you left off, and start to think: This is trash compared to that book I just read. I’ll never write anything as good as that.

Comparing our unedited first drafts to that of a polished, published book is an extremely common, yet toxic and debilitating habit of writers everywhere. Dwelling on these intrusive thoughts will get us absolutely nowhere on our works in progress.

How Can We Prevent This from Hindering Our Writing?

As a chronic over-thinker who is often tempted to compare myself to others, this is hard for me to answer. It’s hard to not let those intrusive, debilitating thoughts affect our creativity. But, we can try to take those thoughts captive as they enter our minds, and re-frame them.

I know, I know. That’s really hard to do. I promise you I don’t do this all the time, but I need to, because the few times I’ve done it, it’s helped.

So when an ugly lie of comparison enters our minds like, “this book will never be as good as [insert author name here]’s book. Her story was PERFECT. Readers will DNF mine two pages in if they’ve already read hers”, we need to do the following:

1) Recognize the thought for what it is: an act of bullying yourself. Beating yourself up with mean comments will never help you thrive as a writer, and it needs to stop.
2) Realize that no one’s book is perfect. Did Jesus write the book? No. Then it’s not perfect. There are flaws in every book except the Bible, and I bet every other author is as hyper-aware of those flaws as you are over the mistakes in your first draft.
3) Don’t allow yourself to bully yourself any further. The next time an ugly thought creeps in, don’t allow the thought to go on for the full sentence. As soon as you recognize negativity, cut it off.

Coincidentally, this method can also be applied to Hindrance 3…

Hindrance 3 | Worrying That Readers Will Hate Your Book

Maybe you’re a published author who has received rave reviews on one or more of your books, or you’re an award-winning writer. Readers fangirl over your characters. Reviewers cry buckets over your previously published work and send you long, emotional messages on social media. Yet, now that you’re writing a new story, with new characters, and a much different plot, you worry that those same readers will hate your new book. Or worse… you feel that you’ve lost that spark you had with your previous work, and will never write anything on that level again.

How Can We Prevent This from Hindering Our Writing?

The same goes for when we’re comparing our current work in progress to someone else’s published book. Let’s work on taking these negative thoughts we have about our own work captive.

Were those other books we published perfect? Were those other stories we spent hours crafting infallible? Hahaha, no. Probably far from it.

And yet, readers love them. Just like some will love this next book, or next contest submission. But, they’ll only love this next work if you have the courage to stand up to those ugly thoughts, write the story, and allow readers a chance at loving it. ❤

So, write the dang book my friend. Write it messily. Write it happily. And if you do that, putting your whole heart into it, readers out there will recognize it and love the story as much as they have your previous works.

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

Since we are all unique, I know these aren’t the only three hindrances that keep us from writing. If you can think of another hindrance, and a possible solution for overcoming that hindrance, feel free to drop your advice in the comments!

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀