I Hate to Write, But I Love to Have Written

In thinking about topic for this blog entry, I realized I was once again procrastinating by surfing the web, playing with our dogs, looking out the window – anything to avoid writing.  This routine is all too familiar to me.  With every writing project, small or large, I go through an “I hate to write” phase where I struggle to find my inspiration and my drive for writing.  Eventually, I do, and after a while, the writing takes on a life of its own.  When that happens, I realize I have transitioned over to the “I love to have written” phase, which is a lovely place to be.

So, what do I do to move past “I hate to write” to “I love to have written”?  Writers are like fly fisherman.  We cast our line about to find right hook, the right angle or the right inspiration.  Some writers are very efficient about this.  They read the newspaper and find a dozen ideas, and they’re off and running.  For me, sometimes it takes longer.  Finding my inspiration is not something I can time nor do I find it in the same place.  I’ve learned to be patient, to give myself permission to have false starts, to pace around my office, to walk the dogs – all the while thinking about the project.

The key is to start writing. Don’t worry if you feel like your writing junk or your having a lot of false starts.  Those false starts can be the foundation of some truly inspirational ideas. I use a “words” document, which is just a holding document for sentences or paragraphs I’ve written but I’m sure I want to use. Very often, I will go back and rework those phrases and sentences and insert them back into the document.

Another technique I use is to read over what I’ve written the day before first thing the next morning and do any needed polishing and editing.  By the time I have reached the end of the document, I am back in the groove and ready to write.  By going with the ebb and tide of my own writing cycle and knowing that it is just part of the process, I gradually and methodically forge ahead – sometimes slowing, sometimes with joyful speed.  Before I know it, I have moved on to “I love to have written” phase, and once again realize why I enjoy writing so much.  It’s the feeling I get of a job well done.

Please feel free to contact me if you are stuck in “I hate to write” and need some encouragement.  Sometimes, just a word from someone who knows what you’re going through is all that is needed to break through and get the words and ideas flowing once again.