The Number One Sabotage a New Writer Faces Is Resistance

Face each morning’s resistance and sit down to write anyway.

Resistance comes in all forms. Procrastination, fear, sabotage by loved ones, self-sabotage, doubt, lack of esteem. It comes in many disguises the novice doesn’t see coming. To avoid writing, we do laundry, clean our keyboard, check the price of Bitcoin just one more time, look in the fridge for another snack, peek at what’s trending on Twitter, clear notifications from Facebook, take the dog for a walk, the list goes on. You’ll know when you turn from amateur writer to professional when you stare resistance in the face each morning and sit down to write anyway.

In the short term, it’s easier to let your partner or friend sabotage you because they’re dealing with their own resistance. It is easier to take the dog for a walk or go for a run in the park. Everything is easier than sitting down to write on some days. It isn’t the writing part that’s hard; it is the sitting down to write, staying in the chair, and doing the work that’s the real challenge.

If it were easy, everyone would do it.

But if you can get past the resistance part, your long-term writing career will materialize.

Resistance seems to come from outside of ourselves and will tell us anything to keep us from doing our work. But in reality, resistance comes from within — it is self-perpetuated.

How do we stare resistance in the face and do the work of writing anyway?

First off, know that the more resistance we feel about something — writing, painting, developing a book, starting a business — the more important it is to our soul’s evolution. Everyone experiences resistance. If you’re human, you have resistance that arises in you.

According to Steven Pressfield’s book, The War of Art, “Resistance is self-sabotage. But there’s a parallel peril that must also be guarded against: sabotage by others.”

We’ve all encountered sabotage by loved ones.

I’ve experienced this myself. A long time ago, I took a drastic and out of character step and signed up for a writing class. I had been at home with my toddler 24/7, my brain mush.

At the time, my then-husband was pursuing a music career on top of his day job; I was like a single parent, my child attached to me all day and all night, just the two of us. As soon as I signed up for the class, the sabotage began. My now-ex wasn’t supportive and had an affair as soon as I reached for something I’d been putting off until a “better” time came along.

I learned a couple of things, don’t wait for a better time to come along. That is just an excuse. There is no better time to feed your soul than right now.

Start now.

The other thing I learned is that the people closest to you are suffering from their own resistance, which, very probably will be directed at you to prevent you from stepping into your authenticity.

If someone truly loves you, they want you to be happy and self-actualized.

“When a writer begins to overcome her Resistance — in other words, when she actually starts to write — she may find that those close to her begin acting strange. They may become moody or sullen, they may get sick; they may accuse the awakening writer of “changing,” of “not-being the person she was.” The closer these people are to the awakening writer, the more bizarrely they will act and the more emotion they will put behind their actions. They are trying to sabotage her.” — Pressfield

I’m not saying that if you start to write, your partner will cheat on you. But they may resist you “changing.”

Ways to overcome resistance:

#1. Recognize it. When we name something for what it is, we take away its power. There will be resistance. Everyday. I felt resistance this morning. I woke late and tired. I want to be in bed right now. But I sat down and wrote anyway. Is this post any good? I don’t know. All that matters is I sat down and wrote when I didn’t want to and gave it all I had for this session. All that counts is that for this day, for this hour, I overcame resistance.

#2. Call yourself a writer first. Once you call yourself a writer, you identify with being a writer more strongly, and what it feels like to be what you want to be, and what you want your life to look like.

When someone asks what you do, say, I’m a writer.

When you write each day, you embody the identity of a writer. What you do each day is usually a reflection of your identity; the behaviors you choose indicate the type of person you believe you are. This is why it’s important to pay attention to what we tell ourselves — unconsciously or consciously.

When you write each day, you embody the identity of a writer.

Now, I have proof. I’m writing every day, hey, maybe I am a writer.

The more evidence you have of a belief, the more you’ll believe it, reinforcing the habit.

Identifying with the word “writer” is the first step to creating a writing habit that sticks. When we identify with a value we see in ourselves — or we want to see in ourselves — it gives our habits a more significant impact.

Your habits shape your identity, and your identity shapes your habits. — James Clear, Atomic Habits

If you want to be a professional writer and make an income — and this is possible with platforms like this one (even if you’ve never made a dime from writing), having a goal and stating what the goal is, is necessary. But what drives success is setting up a system to support the goal — the habit of writing.

Each time you write a page, you are a writer, and the more pages you write, the stronger your belief gets that you are, indeed, a writer.

#3. Establish a routine. The reason all professional writers have a routine is to beat resistance. A system makes it easier to conquer resistance. If you want better results, then forget about setting goals; focus on your routine or system instead.

My system is as follows:

The system I set up to become a writer

• I let everything else come second. For the first six months of writing, I put everything in my life on the back burner. I decided I would do my one essential task — writing — first thing in the morning. That means I didn’t go through email. I didn’t look at social media. I didn’t text anyone back until I got my writing in.
• I usually write from 7 to 10 am.
• I wear noise-canceling headphones. Good writing requires deep work. Deep work results from uninterrupted thinking for several hours. Deep work is achieved when you only focus on one task at a time. Interruptions, like notifications, email, texts, and people interrupting, interferes with deep work. You’ll get more accomplished if you focus on one thing for a few hours than if you focus on one thing for ten hours with interruptions. Explain to your family that writing requires deep work.
• I sit at the same desk every day — occasionally, I move the desk to a different spot in the room, but I sit at the same desk in the same room.
• I keep my iPhone in the other room on a charging station or turn it off.
• I don’t get up out of my chair for at least an hour and sometimes three except to stretch.
• When I’m not writing, I’m reading or listening to podcasts for content ideas to hack and put my own spin on.
• When an acquaintance at a party or a stranger asks what I do for a living, I respond, “I’m a writer.”

Someone asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when inspiration struck, he answered, “I write only when inspiration strikes,” he replied. “Fortunately, it strikes every morning at 9:00 o’clock sharp.”

That is how professional writers stare down Resistance. With a schedule.

#4. Find a trigger. Rituals are helpful to the writer facing down Resistance and fear. When I take my first sip of espresso from my local coffee house and reach for my noise-canceling headphone, I know it is time to get serious, sit down for a while and get to work.

The ritual gets stronger with each passing day that I sit down to write after the ritual. You are establishing a trigger that helps you get into the mindset of the writer. In terms of resistance, the ritual says, “I will not let it faze me. I will sit down and do my work.”

#5. Share your work publically. Sharing your work, even before you are ready, does a couple of things to combat resistance. It holds you accountable to your readership. If you want to build an audience, you need to show up, and they will notice when you don’t.

And it tells fear, nothing bad will happen to you that you can’t handle when you share your work.

You might get criticism, but who cares. Honest criticism makes you a better writer. When you share your work, you are daring to be great.

Summary

Recognize resistance for what it is, a clever way to stop you from stepping into what gives you meaning and purpose. Challenge resistance and write anyway. Do the work. The more often you stay in the chair to write, the stronger the muscle will be to overcome resistance.

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Jessica is a writer, an online entrepreneur, and a recovering type-A personality. She lives in Los Angeles with her extrovert daughter, two dogs, and two cats.