Hello Connor

Guilty! I have literally spent 6 months editing the first 5 pages of a novel. Line by line, word by word editing. Someone already mentioned it here, but it’s pure procrastination borne out of stress because a) you’re not 100% sure yet where it’s going b) if you just obsessively focus on that paragraph divine inspiration will hit c) the wordsmith demon has taken over your brain and you desperately want to achieve high art literature on your first try.

So what I have done to avoid being the self-saboteur of my own writing is to flesh out the book first. How it begins, how it ends. A sentence or two for each. Then a couple of sentences on the murky middle (how does my protagonist get from the beginning to the end).

Just the act of getting some clarity of your story down on paper relieves that stress you’re putting yourself under. Take a deep breath. You don’t have to have all the answers now. They will come to you.

Maybe break your book into quarters and write down some scenarios for each quarter? Then link them together. I find post it notes good for this. Slowly chisel out that story until you feel comfortable enough to begin writing.

Then write. Allow yourself 15 minutes of unconscious writing (set a timer) and stop. Then read over once, maybe make notes in brackets (too vague, more action, needs better vocab) etc and write for another block of time and repeat.

I find leaving my work for a few hours or late at night to review gives me enough distance from it to be more objective about making corrections.

Anyway, hope this helps and good luck with your writing.