Writing is a performance art, so expect to experience performance anxiety, almost every time you write. Think of it as page-fright. :-)
You may freeze up when you face the blank page or computer screen. Or you'll keep writing the same thing over and over, because you know how to do it, and it's safe. Or you'll never complete a novel. Or when an editor accepts an article proposal, and sends you a contract, you'll procrastinate for 12 months and never get around to signing the contract or writing the article.
Performance anxiety is natural. Expect to feel uncomfortable, and write anyway, and I promise you that within 11 minutes of starting to write your discomfort will vanish. Yes, I know it's hard to believe. Give it a try. :-)
In 2006, use your WRITING itself to achieve your writing (and all other) goals. How do you do this? Talk to yourself on paper about every writing task, both before you begin it, and as you work. Whenever you experience a writing block, resistance, or "can't find the time" to write, start writing ABOUT your challenge. This is the single most powerful writing technique I've ever found. It gets you over the performance-anxiety hump.
I emphasise this talk-to-yourself skill in my copywriting course. In the first lesson, I ask students to tell me about their pen, and to start off by writing: "Dear Angela, let me tell you about my pen__________" It's vital for students to learn this skill; otherwise when they have four writing jobs they must finish by the end of the day, they'll waste too much time puttering around. Once they learn to "write about", they can face any day, no matter how packed with writing jobs, with confidence. They know that they can sit down anywhere, and write to order.
You can use this technique every day too. Talk to yourself on paper. The "writing about" prewriting technique works for everything. You can even use it to achieve your writing goals.
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