Write a novel

The ultimate productivity, part 2

I want to make a bet with you: you could be writing right now.

Is it true? Is this writing time going to waste right now?

If so, you may read on. If no, also.

Why aren't you writing right now? Do you have a nagging writer's block, a huge plot hole in your project that threatens to swallow everything, or self-doubt? Or just no motivation?

All of these are something between reasons and excuses.

Do you complain that you don't have enough time to write? Yes? Then why don't you write?

You can work on plot holes. You can shrink them and make them disappear. But in the writing phase, I would advise you to just make a little note and keep writing. You can take care of it in the correction phase.

SELF-DOUBT

Self-doubt is a monster, unlike the other points, because it can kill your novel in the middle of a scene faster than you can get to the end.
Declare war on them! You can write your novel, you've come this far, then you can finish it!

Sometimes it helps to give the first chapter to a potential test reader, have them divide their feedback into positive and negative and only read through the positive feedback. You can deal with the negative feedback in the correction phase.

A very good tip for all doubters is the shadow novel:
Either you pretend that you will never show what you write to anyone. When you've finished it, you can always decide whether it was a trick to fool yourself or not.
I recommend the latter. When you finish your first novel, you're still at the very beginning. Practice makes perfect. Your second novel will be better, your third will be even better. You must decide when the time has come to show your novel to someone. You and you alone.

The extreme version of this is to write the novel white on white or black on black.
But I would recommend this more for short stories.

MOTIVATION

You might want to read my two articles on motivation tips, it might help some people 😉 .

If not, I would encourage you to write even if you have no motivation. In my experience, once you start writing, motivation comes naturally.

If it doesn't, you should start something new.
Are you writing romance? Write a crime novel (whether short story, novella or novel). Do you write thrillers? What do you think of fantasy?
Do you write SciFi? What do you think of YA or NA?
Do you write YA/NA? What do you think of historical novels?
I could go on with this list forever! xD

It can help you tremendously to step out of your comfort zone and explore something new.
Even if you produce the most kitsch on earth, you've learned something new. And maybe what you wrote isn't so bad?

AND NOW: WRITE!