[ SECRET POST #5987 ]

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⌈ Secret Post #5987 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 30 secrets from Secret Submission Post #856.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Writing anxiety/block

[(Anonymous)]

Lately whenever I sit down to write something I get this overwhelming sense of anxiety - that almost high school type of "everyone's going to see and laugh at you" public humiliation type of anxiety? And I just end up walking away and not writing. The most I've got done is a rough outline. I have never had this kind of anxiety and it seems so random and I just cannot figure it out.

Re: Writing anxiety/block

[(Anonymous)]

I watched a video recently that it's likely/theorized to be connected to perfectionism and fear of failure. The TL;DR advice I walked away with it is to sit with the discomfort before tackling the project for a few minutes to alleviate some of the anxieties.

Sit down, set a 5 minute timer, and settle into your writing position. Get comfortable and move all that pre-writing procrastination out of the way (water? snacks? need to use bathroom? glasses needs cleaning? do you need a clean space to focus?). Start the timer and just sit with the feelings of, "I want to get to this project because all the ideas are flowing!" interlaced with "I can't possibly write this down. I haven't the talent for it." for 5 minutes.
Once the 5 minutes are over, clear your mind and tell yourself, "Get to work," and get to writing.

I think the practice is to let all those anxiety and ego related feelings and thoughts to process before you do the task rather than try to do the work as you feel the feelings, because feelings and intrusive thoughts can be too overwhelming sometimes.

The advice also came with a time limit (if you tell yourself to do 5 minutes of writing, do it for 5 minutes for a week, try to stick to it; add in more time gradually and figure out your sweet spot as time goes on; deviating to 5 minutes day one, 30 minutes day 2, 3 hours day 3, 5 minutes day 4, etc can actually lead to burnout). Routine is the goal you're aiming for, not "getting a fic written."

The fic will be written as you work on your routine.

I don't stick to this super strictly, but when I can work during my writing breaks, I do apply this sort of practice to my routines because it has made me feel like I can get into writer mode more easily.

I don't spiral as much when I feel like I am reaching writer's block.