Starting is the Hardest Part

I have a magnet on my fridge that I bought in a stationery store (tangent: I LOVE stationery. I love writing letters. The world needs more stationery stores). It is probably one of the truest magnets I have on my fridge. True, I am fond of my “Hell is other people” magnet and my Odysseo Cavalia magnets. But this one is simple and it stands out because it’s something that has crippled me my entire life.

When I have writing to do, I can be really horrible about it. If I’m not in the groove, I leave it. I will do all the social media things an author should do, I’ll look for more research for my non-fiction. I even clean the house.

Starting is the hardest part. But when I honestly sit down, open the file, and hide all the other stuff I have been working on?

I’m gold. I’m in the groove. The black text on a white background just suddenly makes it clear that I should be writing. It doesn’t even matter which platform I am writing on. Seeing where I left off, what I need to do, keeping in mind that my goal is have a book of my own, with a cover and a spine I can grip, clean pages and ready to be read–that is all I need.

I just need to make that active choice to stop dilly-dallying and get to work.

Why is starting so hard? When, not two minutes into working on a project, I have the feeling that I’m complete? That I’ve got this. That my characters, they want their stories told. We are all in it to win it.

So why is starting so hard? I don’t know. But more a more disciplined writing practice never hurt. Open the document. Remove the distractions. And type a word…and then another…

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