How to Overcome Self-Sabotage in Writing

7 snips

Oct 14, 2024

Guest

Mahsuda Snaith

Guest

Alice Kuipers

Alice Kuipers, a bestselling novelist and writing coach, and Mahsuda Snaith, a renowned author and writing coach, explore the intricacies of self-sabotage in writing. They identify various types of self-sabotage and share actionable tips on overcoming them. Key advice includes embracing messy first drafts and breaking overwhelming tasks into small, manageable steps. Their engaging discussions on reframing self-doubt and rediscovering joy through playful writing exercises offer invaluable insights for writers at any stage.

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ADVICE

Diagnose Your Self-Sabotage

Identify which form of self-sabotage is stopping your writing so you can target it with a strategy.
Triage between overwhelm, procrastination, perfectionism, self-doubt, comparison, and technical gaps and act on the dominant one.

ADVICE

Turn Down The Mean Voice

Turn down the negative voice by asking whether it's helpful and politely sidelining it when it isn't.
Use kinder internal language and start writing to quiet the bully voice, as Alice Kuipers recommends.

ANECDOTE

The 'Mean Girl' Inner Critic

Alice describes the negative inner critic as a 'mean girl' on her shoulder who still appears despite her published books.
She calms it by writing through the noise and actively lowering its volume.

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In this inaugural episode of The Novelry on Writing, writing coaches Alice Kuipers and Mahsuda Snaith describe the different types of self-sabotage that can plague writers and how to overcome these obstacles to find joy in your writing. Be kind to yourself, write a messy first draft, and enjoy the writing journey. It’s not supposed to be easy, but it is supposed to be fun! For a deeper dive into this topic, check out Alice’s blog post, How to Overcome Self-Sabotage for Writers.

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. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 01:29 - Tip #1: Identify the problem 02:55 - Tip #2: Turn down the negative voice 05:28 - Tip #3: Embrace the messiness 08:25 - Tip #4: Focus on the small steps 12:49 - Tip #5: Know where you’re at

Guest bios

Alice Kuipers Alice Kuipers is the bestselling, award-winning author of five novels, and six books for younger readers. She has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal. She is also a bestselling ghostwriter experienced in writing memoir. . Mahsuda Snaith Mahsuda Snaith was an Observer New Face of Fiction in 2017. Her debut novel, The Things We Thought We Knew, was released in 2017 to great praise. Her second novel, How to Find Home, was chosen as a BBC Radio 4 ‘Book at Bedtime.’

Resources Check out these blog posts for more insight on how to show up to the page every day. How to Overcome Self-Sabotage for Writers

Writing Tips for Neurodivergent Authors

5 Ways to Keep the Words Coming

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