So I didn’t write an update four Day 5 or Day 6 because on Day 5 I wrote almost 8,000 words and was just too mentally drained and yesterday I was caught up in research so didn’t have the most productive day – only about three thousand words.

Today I was King of Procrastination Nation.

I woke up plenty early with the idea I would get to the two thousand words done before lunch. Instead I opted for research on a topic that has nothing to do with my book and then, well, it was time for a nap. Because I worked so hard on all that irrelevant research.

Besides, I wouldn’t wanna jump right into this whole work thing, right?

After my nap I didn’t feel like working anymore than I did before it, so I opted for binge-watching a bunch of crappy television. Then, about 10 PM I figured I really should get something done before midnight so I fired up Dragon NaturallySpeaking and got to it.

Ninety minutes and a little over four thousand words later, I was done for the night. And even managed to finish before my imaginary midnight deadline. Yay me.

That’s the thing about starting. It’s never the writing that is the issue, it’s always of the starting.

Once I get started I’m good to go for many thousands of words. It’s just that pesky first sixty seconds. I wish I could say it gets easier over time but this seems to be, at least for me, the way it works.

Every day is a fresh new battle to start.

So if you, like me, are struggling to get started, whether it be at writing or anything else, here’s a little trick I use regularly that just might do the trick for you too.

I set a two-minute timer, either on my phone or on an app on my laptop, and I hit the start button. For the next two minutes I have to write. But only for two minutes.

That’s the lie told myself. I only have to write for two minutes and I can stop and do whatever I want.

It’s a great lie because it gets me started.

And that’s the whole point.

Ninety minutes. Four thousand and thirty-eight words.

There’s a lot of power in starting… Go figure.