How to Get Out of the Planning Slump and Start Writing | My Top 10 Tips for Getting Pen to Paper

If you’re reading this right now, I’m willing to bet you’re actually supposed to be writing. But you’ve found this for a reason.

I’ve fallen victim to the planning slump time and time again, and it took me years to learn how to move past the feeling of needing every ounce of my writing planned before I finally open a word doc and actually start writing.

            So, if you have few too many planning files or excel sheets saved and few too little sentences written, here are my Top 10 Tops for Getting Out of the Planning Slump:

1.     Try a Brain Dump Instead

Maybe it’s just me, but I tend to get a little obsessive about wanting to plan everything before I start writing. The amount of color-coordinated, overly detailed tables I have saved in my writing drive is excessive to say the least, and it took me a while to realize how much time I wasted wanting to have the perfect outline before I actually put pen to paper and started writing.

Now I’m not saying to throw out planning all together. I’m just saying, you probably have more than enough planning done already. So, once you’ve done any and all research you need, maybe try a brain dump instead of an official outline.

To do this, take a blank page or a new word doc and write down every idea, detail, plot point, or line that’s floating around in your brain. Don’t worry about being clean and organized, just let everything out. Once it’s all on paper, then do a quick round of organizing, and fill in any major holes in your brain dump and then MOVE ON.

The point of this isn’t to have every single thing planned, but to just give yourself a general guideline of where you’re wanting to go.

2.     Write What is Stuck in Your Head First

I’ve sometimes found myself in the starting slump because the start is more often than not the hardest part to write. At least it is for me. When I have a story bouncing around in my mind, none of the plot points or details I’m excited about are ever included in the intro.

And, on top of that, there’s so much pressure to have the perfect first chapter. We need to have a strong hook that traps the reader in our story, we need to set the scene, we need to introduce our characters, we need to do x, we need to do y, and we need to do z. It’s really hard to write the beginning of the story, and that’s why so many people get stuck at the start.

I promise it’s not just you.

One way to get over this is to just skip it. Write the scene, or the moment, or the description that you’re most excited to write. Get everything you’re inspired to put down on paper out of your head and on the page.

And once you’re in your story, you can always go back and write the start later.

3.     Change Up Your Setting

And no, I’m not talking about story setting. I’m talking about your actual physical location. You’d be surprised how much your environment can affect the words flowing out of you. Whether it’s distractions, how comfortable you are, or just the inspiration around you, simply changing where you’re sitting can open the floodgates and allow the words to rush out.

For me, it’s typically walking to a coffee shop or actually sitting at my desk instead of on the couch or in bed. Since my default is to write on the couch, I find myself getting distracted with TV, cleaning up, or really anything that I can use to procrastinate when I’m struggling to get started on a story.

Sitting down at a desk or making a point to go to a coffee shop flips a switch in my brain to work/writing mode. But that might not be what works for you! Maybe you need to move from your desk to the couch, somewhere outside, or anywhere else that gets your inspiration going. So, if writing where you are isn’t working, try writing somewhere else.

4.     Let the Story Evolve Naturally

You don’t have to have every plot point, scene, and piece of dialogue planned before you start writing. Yes, having a general idea of where you want to go with your story is helpful, but planning can turn to overplanning quite quickly.

One thing you can do to help combat this is to allow your story to evolve naturally. Plus, no matter how much you plan your story, it will still change as you write. Character motivations and behaviors change as you get to know them better, and the ending you had planned at the jump might not feel right as you work through your story.

Accepting this early on might help you put down your planning pen and just start writing. Allow yourself the space to work through your plan as you go.

5.     Let Your Writing Be Bad

Listen, starting a new story is a little scary. I find myself full of fear as I’m sitting down to start a new project. What if I fail? What if my story sucks? What if I’m a bad writer?

The last one is the one I fear the most. What if my writing sucks? What if I’m not cut out for this? What if what I want the most in the world, I just not good enough to do?

So, then I overcompensate, overthink, and over plan every single word I put down. I can’t begin to tell you how many opening paragraphs I’ve written, deleted, rewritten, deleted again, and rewritten for a third time. All because I don’t like the words I’ve chosen.

Overthinking every word like this is a guarantee that you’ll never get past the first page. If you want to overcome this, stop thinking about your words, and just let them be what they are. That’s what editing is for!

6.     Let the First Draft Be Bad

On the same note as above, overplanning can also be a product of fear that your story won’t be perfect. Spoiler alert, no matter how much you plan, your first draft will not be perfect.

So, just let it be bad. Let there be mistakes that you need to go back and fix. Let there be an unanswered question that you go back and answer when it’s time to edit. Your first draft is you working through your story for yourself, so give yourself space to figure it out. If you’re too caught up in how good or bad your story is, you’ll just stump yourself where you are.

Let go of any fears that your draft is bad. It might be, and that’s okay. Let it be. Just write your story, and you can always go back and fix it when you’re done. Or maybe everything you’re so worried about while you’re writing fits perfectly when you read it again.

7.     Step Away from Your Story

Sometimes it takes a little warming up before you get going, and if you’re stuck at the beginning of your story, maybe this is you. A lot is happening when you’re getting ready to start a new project. Excitement, fear, and maybe a little rust if it has been a while since your last project. Or maybe you’re just a little too close to the story.

In all of those cases, stepping away for a little bit might be exactly what you need. You can do this in a few different ways, but I tend to rely on two. First, you can take a break from writing all together. Go take a trip, spend time with friends, watch some movies, read a new book, or whatever you like to do. Taking a few days or even a week off will reap wonderous benefits when you sit back down with your laptop to write.

If you’re struggling with getting your creative juices flowing, maybe try writing something else. Find a prompt that excites you or inspires you and write however many words come to you in a writing session. Taking a break from your story and writing something low pressure might help you open the gates and get going with your story.

8.     Write When You’re Inspired, Take a Break When You’re Not

Trying to force yourself to get started might just be making your slump worse. I’ve been there before. I’ve told myself that I need to write X number of words every day to finish my book but doing that never actually works. I might stick to that for a day or two but putting yourself on a schedule is not how writing works.

Inspiration and motivation ebb and flow, and if you’re stuck in a slump, riding the waves is the easiest way out. Write what you’re motivated to write when you’re motivated to write it and give yourself a break when the inspiration isn’t there. Before you know it, your story will be pouring out of you.

9.     Find Community

This is something I learned while I was in grad school a few years ago. One of my professors always talked about “coffee shopping” with the other professors our program. During these sessions, they would work on their current projects, talk through anything they are struggling with in their story, get a second opinion, or just have company while they write.

These working sessions can be immensely helpful if you’re struggling to sit down and get started. There’s something about having a buddy with you while you write that helps motivate you both. I started doing this with one of my friends, and I found that it helps alleviate some pressure of writing, makes writing a social activity, and overall makes the process even more fun.

If you don’t have any writing friends, there are coffee house writing groups all over the place. I recommend looking around online for one near you!

10.  Don’t Stress

It’s simple and a little bit of a let down for number ten on this list, but it’s true. Your best writing comes when the process is fun. So, stressing about getting started will only hold you back.

Take the stress out of writing and just enjoy the process! And if you’re already there and feeling overwhelmed, follow the suggestions above and hopefully you can find some relief in the pressure.

So, there you have it. These are my top ten tips for getting over the planning slump and finally starting to write. I hope you have found something helpful in this list. Now go back to your blank document and get started.

            Goodluck as you embark on your writing journey!