Pushing Your Way To Production ©
By Leslie King

There are a lot of reasons why many of us don't write as much as we should: Our 'real' jobs keep us too busy. Our kids take up all of our 'free' time. Our computers have attitude problems and seem to crash the moment we sit down to create. But under all of the outward excuses, there may be a far more simple and truthful explanation - we are afraid.

Now, I can hear you scoffing and snorting. You're afraid of NOTHING! You LOVE to write. You'd give ANYTHING to have more hours in the day with which to accomplish this feat. And I am sure that all of this is true. But that doesn't keep you from getting a bit sweaty-palmed at the thought of facing a blank screen, does it? Why? There are a million different reasons, and every single one of us has different issues to cope with. Maybe you've started ten books but never gone past the third chapter with any of them. Maybe you have an elementary school-engrained fear of poor grammar usage that you just can't get over. Or maybe you have lost the confidence you once had in your abilities!

I often look back on the days when I first began writing with an intense longing that borders on obsession. Way back before critique groups and contests, query letters and plot construction, rewrites and rejections. When phrases like 'show don't tell' and 'active voice versus passive voice' had never reached my virgin ears. Back in the days when I didn't write like I was SUPPOSED to write, but rather, how I WANTED to. But most importantly, before I made the troublesome acquaintance of that bothersome specter known as The Internal Editor. You know the guy - the fellow that shouts out "Grab a thesaurus, Bonehead! You used that word two sentences ago!" or "You call that crap, internal conflict? I suffer more angst when I break a nail!"

So, how do we shut the little demon up, and carry on with our words? There are a ton of suggested exercises to squelch him out, or at least declare a truce with him so that you can finish a first draft before he shares his opinion, but the problem with most of those writing tips, is that they are much easier to recommend than to actually implement. My suggestion? Write something you don't care about.

Yes, I know, it sounds crazy, but if you just give it a shot, I really believe it helps. Set aside 15 to 30 minutes in your day. You don't have to be at your pc or word processor - in fact, I like to use a pad and pen just to escape the intimidation factor of modern electronics. Using a *'starter sentence'* write a short story, poem, letter, essay - anything so long as it is something totally apart from what you are 'really' working on. It can be as short as a couple hundred words or as long as one thousand. The length really doesn't matter. What makes this exercise useful is that it fools your psyche. The nasty little editor may poke his head in, but after he sees that you are working on something totally meaningless, he will leave you alone. In his eyes, if it isn't something 'publish-worthy' then it isn't worth his time. He'll desist and go back to nit picking other things - such as the 10 pounds that your rear end could do without, or the 3 inches of dust piled up on your end tables.

I know that time is a precious commodity, many of us will initially agree with the 'IE.' Our lives are way too busy to spend time doodling drivel that will never see the light of day. We don't have enough time to write as it is, when we do have a few spare minutes we NEED to work on our main projects. But look at it this way - if you spend 20 minutes a day for one month doing this, and it allows you to get into the habit of writing freely, isn't it worth it in the long run?

* Create a stack of starter sentences. Using a 50 pack of plain index cards, take an afternoon and write one simple sentence on each of them. Don't think and brood over the words - they don't have to be golden apples from the mouth of God. In fact, it's better if they aren't. Try to keep them short and broad. Things like:

"I got a call from my mother today."
"He saw a dog running down the street."
"She dreaded the coming confrontation."

These leave an endless amount of possibilities and will give your imagination a little nudge to wake it from its drudgery-induced coma. Just remember, your Internal Editor isn't totally a bad guy - sometimes he knows what he's talking about. That is why we have white-out and the delete button. But the true trick to writing is getting out that rough draft. Once that is complete, invite the IE over for a little whipping party. Let him criticize your words to his heart's content. Just remember to keep the door barred until then!

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