How to Beat Procrastination and Write Your Novel

Mar 11

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Would you be more productive and less likely to procrastinate if you had better time management skills?

If you say yes, you’re not alone. Most of us feel that way. As a book coach, one of my clients’ top struggles is how often they procrastinate when they “should” be writing.

But what if I told you that procrastination and time management issues aren’t really the cause of low writing productivity?

What if I told you procrastination wasn’t the issue at all?

Did your eyebrows go up? My clients often do, especially when I tell them the truth: Procrastination is trying to help you.

Procrastination is your body’s attempt to solve the problem it’s facing—the blank page, the scene you have to rewrite, the outline you’re supposed to be working on, the heap of words you need to revise, the query and synopsis that need to be drafted, or story idea you’ve romanced writing but have never actually typed a word of.

Even though those tasks may seem daunting, they aren’t what’s really triggering your procrastination or your poor time management.

So what is the trigger?

Stress.

Or perceived stress. To the mind-body, it’s one in the same. To writers, writing is often stressful, especially when we focus on outcomes we can’t control (like who will like what I write, what will people think, is it even worth it, what if I never get published, who am I to write about this topic, it’s probably a dumb idea anyway) and scarcity (lack of time, authority, ability, status, know-how, skills, talent, creativity, authenticity). We could go on and on here.

Sometimes, those stressful thoughts don’t even register. They remain subconscious (but just as harmful) until we slow down and pull them into the light. We’ll talk about that in a second.

Procrastination is one mechanism your body can use effectively and efficiently to temporarily reduce your stress levels. But it comes with a big cost:

“...procrastination is an emotion focused coping habit and it’s a problem of self-regulation in the same way that eating the second row of cookies in the bag isn’t going to make you feel better. Putting off these things isn’t going to make you feel better. We have the naive belief that this is what we need right now. Present self believes he or she will benefit. Future self pays the price.” Dr. Tim Pyschyl, author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change.

If you are caught up in procrastination and not writing your book or doing the work to reach your publishing dreams AND you are beating yourself up about it, please hear me: there is nothing wrong with you, writer. You are not lazy, weak, or ill-equipped to do this work.

You are a human, and procrastination, which is just one form of resistance, is a natural response to difficult and uncertain situations.

Don’t beat yourself up for your biology, but do investigate because feelings are not facts. I know, I say this a lot because it’s true, and I have to be reminded of it because my feelings are powerful.

“My current motivational state does not need to match my intention in order to act.” Timothy A. Pychyl, Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

I invite you to pop the hood and investigate what’s really going on underneath your lack of progress.

First and foremost, remember that not all delay is procrastination. Sometimes, there are very legitimate reasons for putting off our writing: the kids get sick, we get sick, something unforeseen and terrible happens, and we go on vacation. You know, we live this messy life. My point is don’t beat yourself up when rejiggering your priorities is unavoidable, and the writing falls to the bottom rung.

But when lack of progress isn’t related to life outcomes you can’t control, then you need to do some digging and examine what the tape that’s playing inside your head is saying.

Ways to do that: Write about it. Get it outside of you. Be honest about it. Only when we are willing to face the fear can we move past it.

As I said to one of my clients on our group coaching call who’d been what I like to call “cozy stuck” in character development, worldbuilding, and organizational woes when they were supposed to turn in a scene for review, “What will it hurt you to try?”

What if you get it wrong? So what? You’ll fix it. That’s what we do. We can’t be perfect, and perfect won’t protect us from pain, though our egos beg to differ.

So, figure out what’s holding you back. Please. No one can write this but you.

“Life always begins with one step outside of your comfort zone.”

― Shannon L. Alder

As writers, we often face resistance to doing our creative work. It’s a normal part of the process–having doubt, feeling unsteady–but if resistance keeps us stuck for too long, we must do something about it.

We need to go deeper and ask what this is really about.

I have a simple process I use with my clients. It begins with cultivating awareness of what our brain wants us to believe to stay safe.

We look at those beliefs to determine if they are true and serve us. If they don’t serve us as we want them to, we must rewrite them and take ownership of our decisions and the consequences of our actions. Writing a novel is an inside job.

If you are dealing with resistance, avoiding the blank page or avoiding the edit, or have been in an endless research and pre-writing cycle, try this process by answering these questions and see what comes up.

Ask yourself:

What do I ultimately want?
Why do I believe I can’t have it?
What are the “but” statements that come up when I think about what I desire?

Now slow down and consider if fear is hiding inside that “but” statement. Recognize that fear is a natural response to uncertainty and ask how the “but” statement keeps you safe.

Then, dig for the truth.

Are you absolutely sure that whatever “but” statement you came up with is going to happen?

Are you absolutely certain that you can’t write a novel in the twenty spare minutes you have at night?

Are you absolutely certain that you’ll be mercilessly judged if anyone reads your writing?

Are you sure that if you start revising your book, your changes won’t really matter and that it will still be a mess?

Are you absolutely sure that you’ll never be able to fix your first draft?

Do you have a crystal ball?

No.

Me neither.

There’s a good chance that whatever you fear will happen won’t come to fruition, and by leaning into resistance tactics like procrastination or perfectionism, you’ll never have to find out. You won’t have to risk it. You’ll be safe … which the mind-body thinks is good. High-five, self! Dodged another one.

But your higher self, the conscious, self-aware you, knows that you’ll still be here, still stuck with a desire you haven’t moved on from, and I don’t think you want that.

You wouldn’t be reading this if you wanted to stay where you are.

You need to convince your mind-body that you are already safe to do this work. If your “but” statement isn’t true, ask yourself what you need to learn to believe instead to be able to take action toward your goals.

Put this belief into practice by doing, because taking action is how we cultivate confidence. Let this belief (that you probably don’t believe a word of yet) become your daily affirmation. Say it to yourself a million times a day as you continue to take action to achieve your goals.

Act your way forward.

So, writer friend, remind yourself that feeling resistance or fear is a natural response to uncertainty. But feelings are not facts. You are safe to begin and continue, even if the outcome is unknown.

Resistance always comes before growth; the bigger the resistance you feel, the greater the growth you are about to experience!

You can do this.

Download the Write Mindset: Face Writing Fears and Move Past Creative Blocks