Feeling Stuck as a Writer? Remember These Words: Progress Begets Progress
“An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force.” — Sir Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion
The hardest thing in the world is to start.
To type that first word on the blank screen.
To roll out of bed — the gravity of my bed is somehow ten times greater than the earth’s!
It takes a ton of effort to go from rest to movement.
Maybe you’re procrastinating now, your butt superglued to the chair, your posture slumped.
How can you go from that to this:
Choo! Choo!
Ever ride a train? Or look closely at one go by from your car? Or even watch Thomas the Train Engine? It takes MASSIVE ENERGY to get those gears turning. In the old days it took men shoveling mountains of coal into the furnace to generate just the tiniest bit of speed.
But when the train inches forward and then moves forward another inch, it isn’t just the men or the coal or the electricity driving movement. It’s momentum.
Motion begets motion. Progress begets progress. Now you’re not only moving faster, you’re moving fast enough where it’ll take energy to stop.
The question you should be asking is, what’s the easiest thing I can do to generate a little momentum?
Suggestions
Writing anything is a big task.
To complete an article or an essay or a story might not even be something you can do in one WEEK, much less one sitting.
So you’re sitting at your computer completely overwhelmed.
Do this instead:
- Read first. Read those who inspire you. Read your favorite book. Lose yourself in another world and immerse yourself in the words of a master of language. This always fills me with a fire — it makes me want to try my hand at creative expression, too.
- Start with a quote. If you’re writing on Medium (which is a safe bet) and you’re feeling stuck, find a great quote. Look up the top 100 greatest quotes and pick one you like and riff.
- Look at a picture. A picture is worth a thousand words. Go to the Unsplash page and see what comes up. Write a reflection on an image that stirs some feeling in you, some emotion.
What I’m saying is, look for that spark. Look for the thing that will drive an inch of movement. Progress just 0.1%.
Ride that progress as long as you can.
If you can write twenty pages or two pages, go for it, either is great. If you can write half an article or write three, awesome.
Just try to move forward.
Progress.
Progress will beget progress.
And not only will you not be stuck anymore but you will go further than you thought you could.
Today is already almost half over — set your wheels in motion. Make the most of it.
