How to Stop Sabotaging Your Writing Efforts

How to Stop Sabotaging Your Writing Efforts

Self-Sabotage: 5 major types of self-destructive behavior among writers and a cure for each one. You probably know I work with aspiring writers on a professional basis. I love to work with writers who want to learn and grow as they create their manuscripts.

Dreaming Not Doing

Writing should be a spontaneous activity-idea to page-but we dream too long and the idea is lost in the haze

Making Excuses

“Waiting for the Muse” is a Greek myth

Cure

Writers must outline their work

Failure to Revise Drafts

The very best thing we can do is write our entire first draft before going back and revising it.

Setting Unrealistic Goals

Many writers get the wild idea that they are going to finish their manuscript in a week or month. When they discover they are unable to do that again discouraged, they come up with excuses like writer’s block or they give up.

Cure

Write a full first draft

Cure

Self-sabotage is ultimately a blame game. You blame people or circumstances rather than being accountable for your own behavior.

Zoning Out

The classic way for writers to zone out is alcohol or drugs

Cure

The cure is to identify these behaviors and refuse to be seduced by them

Source

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