I Have Commitment Issues

Hey everyone!

So These Writerly Conundrums has been on a bit of an unexpected hiatus… which is largely my fault >.> But this month we have some things in store for you, and I am looking forward to getting this blog back up and running again.

Now… the main reason this whole hiatus happened is because sometimes, I have commitment issues. I decided I was going to commit to this blog but then I got a little lazy and had the mindset of ‘I’ll add this to my list and get to it later.’ Which, evidently, I didn’t do. Until now.

But that’s not the point of this blog post. Because, ladies, gentlemen and all my fellow writers – We all have commitment issues!

They come in all different forms and sizes. I’m going to run through a couple of them here, and then I will mention the solutions too.

The I’LL DO IT LATER Commitment Issue

Situation: You have your story all planned out. The research has been done. The character profiles are ready to jump out of their mold and come to life on the pages. The world has been built brick by solid brick. But there’s just one issue – you sit at the desk, fingers poised over the keyboard and suddenly…

You remember that you have an essay due next week, the washing machine needs fixing and you need to clean the inside of the car one more time before your best friend visits for the weekend. “I’ll do it later,” you promise, as you shut everything down and head off to do all the other chores.

Solution: Remind yourself that later is going to be just as busy. When it comes to writing, there is no later. There is only NOW. In the mornings try and make a list of things you need to do for the day, and then spend the morning writing for a set period of time – 20 minutes to an hour. Try to avoid writing in the evening because you’ll feel bombarded by all you need to do. Mornings are your writing go-time.

The WRITE ALL THE THINGS Commitment Issue

Situation: Your brain acts like it has just been struck by lightning… all the time! You have about three light bulbs going off at once. Plot bunny after plot bunny are constantly pummeling against the side of your brain and you just want to write them all. However, that’s clearly impossible when your mind is darting from one thing to the next, and in the end you up writing a big fat total of zilch words.

Solution: Notebooks are your medicine! Make sure you always have one by your side, and I mean ALWAYS. You need to write down every single idea – no matter how ridiculous (Greek Gods riding horses on the motorway while chugging back vodka shots, you say?) – they turn out to be. Then when it comes to your writing time, highlight the one idea you’ll be working on. It’s much easier to focus that way and you might even be able to meld some of those plots into your focus novel.

The RESEARCH IS MY BFF Commitment Issue

Situation: You love writing books set in foreign countries or in a fantasy world. But of course, to make this realistic you need to do your research. You need to know what kind of traffic lights they would have. What wood is that made of? And what plants would there be around? Once you’re done with the world though, you need to work on your characters. Give them personalities. Facial features. Now that you’ve done all this… it might be good to research some more. Because if we’re going to make this story realistic we need to look into how brunettes really think… how they move… how they feel being a brunette. LOOK UP EVERY DETAIL POSSIBLE!

Solution: Research is an important part of writing but you also need to know where to draw the line. Otherwise, you’ll never get to the actual writing bit! You need to give yourself a week and a week alone to do all the research your mind can think of. It’s up to you how much you cram into that single week. After that, you have to start writing! If you don’t know a detail you want to know, make something up, highlight it in another colour and then when you go and make edits once the first draft is completed… then you’re free to look it up!

The I WISH I ACTUALLY KNEW HOW TO WRITE Commitment Issue 

Situation: You love reading and you have a shelf of books purely dedicated to your favourite authors. Among the likes of Harry Potter, Shadowhunter books and some good Jane Austen too, are authors like Stephen King and others who have made it. You read the books again and again, loving their writing and wanting to dive into their books. When it comes to writing time you stop at the computer and freeze up. “I wish I knew how to write like them,” you say. “I’ll never be good enough for this.” And then you promptly shut down your computer and put everything away.

Solution: You need to be you! Uniqueness is the best thing about each of those author’s you love, and if you don’t have the power to be yourself through your writing it isn’t going to work either. You need to leave post it note reminders of how well you can write and about being YOU so that when you get down to writing, you can read them and find your own novel forming right at your fingertips.

The WRITER-BLOGGER-READER Commitment Issue

Situation: You write. You blog. You read. So you spend all of your time being productive and acing life. But then you realise that at some point you just continued saying you do all of those things… while actually doing none at all. You take a holiday, and it doesn’t work. Hiatus. Read some light-hearted books. But nothing is catching your eye. What do you do?

Solution: You just start writing a blog post about other people who procrastinate and feel a lot better about yourself. Therefore, in turn, you’ve also started blogging and before you know it, you’re write-read-blog mojo shall have returned.

DISCLAIMER: The last one may just be me speaking to myself. Or not >.>

So how about you? Which one of these do you feel applies to yourself? Were the solutions helpful? Or do you not have any commitment issues at all?

Olivia-Savannah x