Where's your writing hang up?

Image: process.st

An interesting question was posed to me by the writers at Oz (@ideasbyoz)--where do you feel the bottleneck is in your work. After working with writers for a while, it seems that there are common sticking points.

Now, I know every writer is unique--one only need look at the gamut of professional writers to know that (Gonzo Journalist Hunter Thompson fueled by drugs and rum, Balzac who drank 50 cups of coffee a day, Maya Angelou who had a hotel room in her hometown). However, the problems are similar, as are the solutions.

Personally, I was tormented by procrastination--I believed it was a part of my personality, the essential make-up of who I was. This belief continued through college and was only fueled by a career as a newspaper and television journalist. However, graduate school, first in creative writing then in English medieval literature, was sufficiently terrifying to kick procrastination to the curb. Out of necessity, I began scheduling draft dates and meetings with friends who would hold me accountable. It worked, and now I am a bit on the OCD side about scheduling.

So, where's your bottleneck? In the next few posts I'll be offering tips to writers on how to overcome their bottleneck(s), wherever they come in the writing process.