We had a glorious day last Saturday, BWW Inspiration Day, sitting peacefully on the deck of our retreat, gazing at the garden, vineyards and the mountains beyond, from the the shade of a lone redwood tree that towered over the little house. We began with the rules for writing–examining several sets, as I wrote about in an earlier blog post–and then writing our rules for NOT writing. That’s right. We looked at the conditions and mindset necessary to avoid writing. This lead us to devise strategies to counter those rules.

Some of the rules for NOT writing:

* Turn on the internet first and jump over to it at the first sign of creative pause.
* Listen to the critical voice and believe it.
* Have no plan for the day, no clear goal.
* Put everything else above the writing: cleaning, errands, other people’s needs.
* Write without a deadline or any anticipated reader.

We each had many . . .

For the ones above, strategies might include:

* Write before checking email or internet.
* Use of “freedom” or other software to block internet access.
* Reminding ourselves that the critical voice means only that we are writing–it is otherwise never accurate.
* Using post-it notes and other affirmations to counter the critical voice.
* Setting a clear goal for the day, perhaps the day before. Making a plan.
* Getting out of the house so that external demands cannot dog the writing.
* Allowing that other things will go undone in the face of the need to write.
* Setting deadlines with others or in a class that make you accountable.
* Arranging for eager, sympathetic readers of your finished draft.

What are your rules for NOT writing? What are your strategies to keep those rules from running your writing life? Need any help in this area? Let’s talk here!