Writer's Snag

We’ve all heard of writer’s block. I mean, you want to write. You’re sitting in your favorite place. Hot coffee steaming beside you. You open that fresh Word document, and you are completely ready to write the best novel of your life. Then you realize that the only action happening on the page is a blinking cursor.

Well, forget about it! I’m not talking about that.

What I want to discuss today, is writer’s snag. I’ve chosen to call it writer’s snag because this is a different animal compared to writer’s block, and so it would make sense to give it a different name. For me, writer’s snag is when you want to write. You are excited to write. You know exactly what you want to put on that page.

But you are too busy. A great example is this short and sweet blog post this week.

I have to admit, that this can be a troublesome time in any writer’s life. I would even argue that it is more of a nuisance than writer’s block. Kids, family, work. They all seem to get in the way sometimes. I am not immune to this phenomenon, and neither are you.

Case in point: It’s tax season. I’m an accountant.

I’m telling you, it’s rough. I have this great idea for a contemporary fantasy. It began to blossom around the Christmas holiday. I was off work more than I normally was, and got myself spoiled and was able to write way more that I normally do in a week. Next thing you know, the beginning of the year rolled over and I’m drowning in work-related craziness.

I have this great idea, and I can’t even write about it!

But what we are going to do, is breathe. Just breathe. It’s fine, and there is no way we are going to let writer’s snag keep you from producing that bestseller. I have developed a few pointers in order to allow you make the most of your time when you are suffering from writer’s snag.

1.       Make Every Small Moment Matter – I know we all say that we are so busy we can’t do anything. But let’s be real for just moment. Are you really? Can you shave ten minutes off of lunch? Do you really need that long in the restroom? The truth is, there are tiny bits of time that you have throughout the day. You just have to capture them in small quantities. 100 words may only be 100 words, but if you write them 1,000 times you have a novel.

2.       Think Outside the Box – This should be the most obvious. If you’re a writer, then you are in the best scenario you could imagine. There is a problem that your character (you) has to solve. So, think outside the box and make time. I spend my mornings writing, since it is too busy to do it at work. Nab a few lines while your child is napping, or stay up later after they go to bed. I have to get up a bit earlier, and I’m not fully functional, but it is slowly getting written. Even a small bit at a time counts in the long run.

3.       Suck it Up, Buttercup – This may be the Army coming out in me, or possibly the father. But I grew up in a time where if you wanted to do something, you went out and did it. It isn’t easy, but you have to think about the future and what you want to accomplish. Sometimes there won’t always be that perfect time. Got get it! Go write one damn word a day if that is all you can do because guess what? If you do that 100,000 times, then you have a novel.

And there you have it. Now get out there and defeat writer’s snag forever!