: Re: Can't write, can plan I can plan all sorts of specific aspects in a novel such as characters, locations, and the plot in general, but I struggle to actually write it the way it is in my

@Sarah872

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For a more pragmatic take on this issue:

Every writer has to have (at least) two contradictory personalities at work, the inner producer, that puts words on page, and the inner editor, that criticizes the work and makes it better. If your inner editor dominates, you'll never write anything, but if you don't have an inner editor, your work won't have any quality control. Planning work avoids your inner editor, because you know it's just for your own benefit, but actual writing wakes your internal editor up, and that can stop some people from ever writing ("writer's block"). So here are some tried and true practical methods for getting around your internal editor.

Write at your "worst" time. I learned this recently (suggested in the excellent book Rest, by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang) and it's more than tripled my productivity. The idea is if you are a night owl, get up early and write, and if you are a morning person, stay up late and write. Your internal editor will fall asleep (or not wake up) and you'll produce reams of material in a hazy dreamlike state. If you want additional efficiencies, you can then go over the material again at your "best" time.
Take the pressure off. Tell yourself, it's just a rough draft, no different really from planning. No one else will ever see it, because you'll completely replace it before you move on.
Prime the pump: Start by writing a full page of complete nonsense, no self-censoring allowed. If that doesn't work, see if you can write just five minutes (or one paragraph) of your book, and then stop cold, and resume the next day. Sometimes that first step is the hardest. Once you get going, a lot of writers advise breaking off for the day in mid-thought so you don't have to start from a stopping point the next time.

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