Whether it’s your mornings, lunch hours, late nights — whenever it is that you find time to write — you’re confronting an empty bucket and the intention to fill it with words. And, you’re probably going to pressure yourself further to ensure those words have substance (ugh!).

Maybe you finished a chapter at your last session. Maybe a scene. Maybe just a paragraph. But you probably ended on something that felt like “a good stopping point.” I find this sense of closure as satisfying as the next person. But the word closure isn’t really a word associated with those things we tend to seek in the creative process: flow, openness, stream-of-consciousness, brainstorms… So where does closure have any business before you’ve stamped “The End” on something?

I’m not here to convince anyone that pausing mid-sentence until your next writing session is the best idea (though it might be for some!)… but I personally rely on a gentler approach that has been combating my writer’s block for years.

It’s this:

I wrap up my most recent thought, be it scene or paragraph or chapter — but, crucially — I stop while I still have momentum. I stop while my brain is leaping to the next chapter or scene. I stop when I recognize that I have the momentum to start the next slice of story, but perhaps not the full picture of how to complete it.

That doesn’t mean I close my laptop and walk away. No. That sounds like a recipe for an anxious day or a sleepless night.

Instead? I finish my paragraph and then type out bullet points that sound like a little kid sharing a breathless story about something that happened at school that day:

– And then she goes to the place
– And then she does this
– And, surprise! he’s also there!
– But he doesn’t know X yet
– And she drops the news
– And then they argue “How come you never told me?” (and kiss, maybe???)
– But they don’t know the bad guy is hiding nearby
– Or is he? It could also be X that’s there instead

I stop writing when I have enough excitement and momentum about the next chunk to carry me through at least a few bullet points. These become a great launch pad for the next session… And the best part? Having spent some time away from these exuberant, half-formed ideas, I return to the keys with some very strong opinions about them — good or bad — and my passionate reaction draws me helplessly back into the story.

It’s a lot more sustainable (and fun!) to react to your story than to constantly rely on it reacting to you.

These bullet points make sitting down to the page far less daunting. With them in place you’ve already gotten the ball rolling before you even type a word.

Photo by Min An: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-using-typewriter-1448709/