Getting Started is the Hardest Part (For Anything)

Last week, I helped my BFF pack and move some stuff into her new place. She’s moving officially in a couple of weeks, but my day with her was the first day she got serious about packing. She said starting is the hardest part for her and that we at least did that.

I think getting started is the hardest part for just about anything. It’s certainly true for writing (whether it’s fiction, my day job, a new draft, revisions). It’s true for cleaning, shopping, writing thank-you notes, doing taxes, exercising, learning any new skill, taking up a hobby, etc. Once I start — whatever it is — I’m usually good, hitting a groove. But getting started can be torture, at times.

A quick google search revealed that much has been written about this phenomenon (see here, here, and here to start — ha!).

When people tell me they want to write and then ask my advice about it, I tell them the same thing: “butt in chair, butt in chair.” You just got to do it.

This all seems apt as I stare at the bright and shiny Day One of this new calendar year.

Here’s to getting started…may it be easier for all of us in 2018.

(And if it’s not? Just get started anyway.)