How I Trick Myself into Getting to Work—Part II

Jessica Soffer

You do this. You do the opposite of what you usually do. You stand up if you usually sit down. You play music with lyrics if you usually write in silence. You write in the dark or in public or in a notebook if you usually write in a bright room in the corner of your house on the computer. You edit while you’re writing, every single line, if you usually let it all come out and then reign it in. Or vice versa. You rattle your routine, give it the cold shoulder, worse, so you can’t settle in and feel like you’re actually writing because you’re not, of course you’re not. It doesn’t count. YOU ARE. NOT. REALLY. WRITING. Now go, don’t write. Go.