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Hey Reader,

You there. I see you, sitting at your desk, staring at the blinking cursor.

It’s glaring at you, isn’t it? You can see it. Judging you.

That blinking cursor is called Mr McGinty. I named it after a particularly heinous PE teacher I suffered under at school. That man was the definition of spiteful bully.

But you don’t have to listen to it.

There’s a lot to be said for discipline and we do need to find a way to do the things we want to do. Habits and rituals work, especially for those with brains like mine that suffer from a staggering lack of executive functioning.

As Somerset Maugham said, “I only write when inspiration strikes. Luckily, it strikes at 9am sharp, every day.”

BUT. There comes a point where if you’re banging your head on your desk and paralysed to the point of despair, you’re just going to train yourself that you cannot do this.

And that’s not true.

You CAN do this.

So, instead of doing the obvious and forcing yourself to sit there until you’ve written a bunch of words, let’s try something else.

Pick up your phone, your voice recorder, or — if you live in the 1980s — your Dictaphone, and go for a walk.

Escape from the environment you’re currently trapped in and forget about writing.

Start your recording device and have a natter with it.

Interview yourself about your book, or even better, get someone else to interview you about it.

You’ll have a ton of words you can start playing with before you even know it.

TTFN,

Vicky 🫡

p.s. Because I find out about things approximately 45 years after they’ve become well known, you probably already know this - but just in case you don’t: Otter.ai has a phone app and it’s GREAT. You can record yourself speaking like a Dictaphone, and its AI will transcribe it, and then it can tidy it up, and you can also ask it questions about what you’ve recorded to start sorting out your thoughts.

p.p.s. Know someone who might enjoy this email? Please forward it to them and get them to sign up here.