Sometimes the reason huge projects, like writing a novel, don't get finished is because they don't get started. Writing fiction can be an overwhelming undertaking. I've read many articles about procrastination, and oftentimes, the writers spend more times stressing that procrastinators need to know "why" we procrastinate and offer a lengthy laundry list of things to do to prevent putting things off.
For example, write a personal mission statement. Now, I have nothing against personal mission statements, but if I'm already sidetracked from my "to-write" list enough to browse Internet articles on procrastination, then pausing to ponder over my personal mission will give me just one more "reason" to put off whatever it is I'm dreading doing.
Putting things off, for me, usually stems from being busy to the point I get overwhelmed and am often unsure where to even begin the projects waiting to be finished. But I find myself being more "busy" and less productive a lot of the time. I stumbled upon an idea that I hope will help.
Project management people use a term called "timeboxing" to increase productivity. Basically, timeboxing is a method where one sorts his or her projects into "boxes of time." Working for small segments of time, (30 minutes to 2 hours), puts a dent in the task at hand, easing stress and giving a quick sense of accomplishment. Continue to schedule more "boxes" of time until the project is complete.
Susan Messiner touches on this topic (without using the term "timeboxing") in her 300 pages in 30 days seminar. She discusses a plan for mapping out your novel into 30 segments (or, I suppose we could say, "boxes"). If your schedule permits completing one segment each day, you can have a 300-page draft in a month.
Whether your novel gets done in one month or 10, the point is to just write it!
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