Start a new page, take another step, ask for help, think again, try again
Take a break, sigh, breathe, lie on the floor, try again
Consult a book, click a link, sketch a diagram, dot some points, try again
Clean the bath tiles, go for a walk, sit, do a jig, try again
Type a word, sharpen a pencil, write a list, make a spreadsheet, try again
Sleep, waste some time, tell a friend, tell a stranger, try again
Dunk a tea bag, brew a coffee, eat a biscuit, eat another, try again
Do a course, watch a how-to video, analyse a show, review a book, try again
Join a group, attend presentations, offer feedback, listen to critique, try again
Write ‘the’ as many times as it takes to get bored, write rubbish, free associate, write a paragraph for a genre you hate, try again
Write more rubbish, make a folder called ‘crap’, make a folder called ‘ideas’, fill the folders, try again
Identify a book you love, pick a paragraph at random, read it aloud, ask yourself why it works, try again
Write a paragraph in the style of a favourite author, do that again for an author your spouse likes to read, do it again for a different author, and another, try again
Look back at your ‘ideas’ folder, list the ideas in order of ‘do-ability’, in order of challenge, in order of excitement, try again
Explore the internet for writing competitions, identify a match with any of your ideas, write the deadline on a post-it-note, stick it somewhere you see every day, try again
Rough out some ideas while telling yourself you’re ‘not really writing’, start writing out some sentences and paragraphs among your rough ideas, keep filling in the blanks, smarten up the rough draft so the sentences make sense, try again
Ban yourself from looking at the damn draft again for at least a few days, congratulate yourself with a treat of your choice, write something that ‘doesn’t matter’ just for fun, go back to your rough draft, try again
Bring your draft to a critique group, read your work while someone reads it aloud, underline where they stumble in their reading, keep notes on the listeners’ feedback, try again
Re-draft, re-draft, re-draft, put it away for a day, try again
Submit, breathe, rest, smile, keep trying.
