Allow Yourself to Write

Quick! There’s a due date careening toward you and you’ve got to write something or else. And you’ve heard it said that you need to allow yourself to write.

OK, so, start writing. But, wait! Where’s your outline? Can’t write without one of those! OK, start outlining–Whoops, you don’t have a topic. No problem. Start brainstorming. No ideas? Fine, why not get some goals written down? Exhausted already? Hey, where are you going…?

Writing is a Process

Writing is a process, as you’ve heard a million times and experienced at least as many. In an ideal world, we would each develop a checklist of steps, and for each piece we write, go down the line, ticking them off as we go. Everything is tidy, sequential, in order.

But life–and writing–is anything but tidy and sequential. What happens when another project has run long and there’s no time to outline? What if the deadline got moved forward and you’re only part way through developing the perfect topic with the perfect themes and metaphors?

I guess that means nothing gets written. After all, there’s a checklist that defines how things must get done. If you haven’t finished Step 1, there is no proceeding to Step 2. Right?

I’m sure on some level you know this, but there is no checklist beyond what you have created for yourself. No one is standing over your shoulder, poking and prodding you to make sure you do things the “right way.” Sometimes the right way is the wrong way and vice versa–did I mention writing isn’t a tidy process?

What’s Holding You Back?

The thing holding you back isn’t time constraints, writer’s block, or competing priorities. The problem is that you aren’t allowing yourself to write. Allowance is about giving yourself permission to write, even if every turn of phrase hasn’t been pre-decided and planned to the nth degree.

Sometimes the best writing “bubbles up” from somewhere inside of you, as if of its own accord. You sit down to write, not knowing what will appear on the page before you, and by the time you get up, you’re looking at something beautiful (or at least, a draft of something beautiful).

You’re probably thinking “easy for you to say. The Muse rarely strikes me.” This is not about the Muse. You’ve probably heard the famous Thomas  Edison quote “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Apart from the fact that Edison never actually spoke those words (sorry to spoil your day), it’s a pretty powerful message about the true nature of creativity. Allowance isn’t just about writing without a meticulous plan, it’s about letting yourself write on those days when the Muse is on vacation.

No Demands. Just Sit Down and Write.

Just sit down and write. Scary, I know.

Don’t demand the words appear. Be gentle yet firm, asking the words to flow. Take breaks as needed. If you don’t like the direction things are headed in, backtrack and start afresh. Nobody is looking over your shoulder as you do this. Promise.

I do this all the time. There’s nothing better than sitting down to write with a bunch of ideas at the ready, essentially transcribing directly from your imagination. It feels great. But this is rare, and writing, even creative writing, is work. Work means getting the job done even when it doesn’t feel as good.

What I do is pick a topic, any topic. It helps if the topic is relevant, but sometimes you will surprise yourself. Then I just start writing and see where things go. Yes, it’s that simple.

Is this a foolproof recipe for a great first draft? NO. But it is a foolproof way to get a little seed forming, which is something you can build on. It’s a first step, and that’s how every journey begins.

What can help allowance is priming yourself to write—reading an author you admire and seeing how they craft their work. Ideas of your own can pop up because you are giving them a free space in which to form. It encourages your creative writing juices to flow and that allows all sorts of ideas to spring forth.

But if there’s no time for that? Sit down and see what happens, anyway. It’s time to stop giving yourself permission not to write and start allowing yourself to do the writing you’ve always known yourself able to do.

Now, what are planning to write?