somebody kick me

doeraymee

doeraymee

Have an article due, not til the end of November, but want to have it done by the end of Oct because I want to concentrate on the novel during NaNo month. Research is all done (basically) so I just have to write the thing. Every day for three days now I have opened the file, stared at it, and closed it again, several times each day. Just can't get started. Help! Somebody KICK ME.

Jay Mandal

I'm afraid my legs aren't quite that long!

Just remember: you don't have to start at the beginning.

Try thinking laterally.

TaffetaPunk

*THWACK*  There ya go :o)

Stan2

Claudia gives you an answer in stereo! STAY away from Talkback or you will never write the article. Then when you have written it, come on Talback as a reward. Come to think if I need to write ...

Carol

Write any part of it that is there in your head.

Highland Midge

I would love to be able to say 'I have an article due'! Tell yourself you're lucky someone wants your writing, then get it out of the way.
(That do as a kick?)

boredrobots

Maybe if we were all really mean to doeraymee then staying off Talkback wouldn’t be an issue. Not that I could bring myself to be mean to such a lovely person but I’m sure there is someone out there who could “help”?

doeraymee

Thanks everybody. I started an opening paragraph last night and it's pure garbage. So I had better go to the rescue.

Alik

I have a week off work in a couple of weeks, with nothing planned except a lunch with my mother and hopefully getting down to lots of writing/research for novels I'm planning. Have a couple floating round in my head and not sure which one to concentrate my efforts on. 

Thanks Jay for that useful advice about not necessarily having to start at the beginning - that may assist the decision and creative process!

doeraymee

ok. it's coming. it's coming. Slowly and painfully. But it's starting...
For a few panicked hours there, I thought I'd totally lost my (feeble) ability to write. ACK!!

dorothyd

I finished my assignment on Elizabeth I last night, and realised I had written that in chunks, moved the third paragraph down to become the closing one, as it had a great last line. (Even writing essays I think articles!) and found the method worked well. I wrote of her individual achievements, spent a paragraph saying I would not discuss her private affairs (!) and then went on from there.  Writing in chunks certainly worked.

doeraymee

YAY! I'm done! just typed the last sentence a few minutes ago. Phew. Thanks for all the encouragement. Now I can relax ...

doeraymee

Thanks Claudia. NaNo is National Novel Writing Month. There are some other threads on the board about it. There's a website where you can sign up and promise to complete 50,000 words of a novel in one month. You basically put your life on hold for a month and focus on this project. I have no intention of writing that much but I find the artificial deadline (even if I don't intend to meet it) helps give me that external kick in the butt that I always seem to need.