Working Smarter

Have you tried...

It doesn't always have to be straight prose. Depending on the subject and/or themes, you can use all kinds of formats: transcripts, files, profiles, letters...
This can also mean experimenting with chronology, or dividing a story into subsections depending on when its events take place.
...Or it can mean changing the perspective! Why restrict yourself to third person limited— or, for that matter, third person at all?

This generally entails eliminating all distractions, setting a timer, and writing as many words as possible in the allotted time.
Especially useful for first drafts!
There's a Discord bot (Sprinto) that streamlines this process, and offers encouragement to boot. Consider using it!

I thrive on feedback. When I know what works, I'm motivated to keep doing it; when I know what doesn't, I'm motivated to fix it, whether in the next draft or in the next piece. Receiving sincere and specific concrit just makes me so happy. Even when it's not all positive, I can turn that initial sting into something useful.
You know plenty of people who are willing to read and comment on your work, but don't be afraid to reach out elsewhere, too. Writing forums are especially useful for this, as the people on them don't know you and therefore aren't biased in your favor.

A lot of problems in my fics boil down to characterization and/or dialogue that feels odd or contrived. When in doubt, I reference the source material and see if my characterizations are in line with the information canon provides. If not, I edit accordingly!
You don't always have to look at the source in its entirety, either. Sometimes looking for relevant scenes, chapters, details, etc. is enough. How does this character behave, for instance, when everything is going well? How do they behave when nothing is? If their circumstances changed, what else about them would change?
This can also work for elements like worldbuilding, humor, and tone.

This works well for essays in particular. Rather than starting with a foregone conclusion and feeling pressured to work around it, I find it much easier to start with a question and build the essay around the process of finding an answer.
But it can also work with other kinds of writing. The "fuck it we ball" strategy is especially useful when I'd rather not fall into the trap of simply outlining and/or worldbuilding forever.

You can always rearrange the pieces however you'd like later, and fix any inconsistencies in post. Telling yourself that you can't write X piece until you write Y piece that you're not quite as excited about is just another form of procrastination.
The way I see it, it doesn't matter what order you write in so long as you write. Thinking about what order you're going to write in is not writing.
This is partly on the list to explain why writing pieces published on this site may be uploaded out of order and/or context.

If it makes you cringe, you're better now than you were when you wrote it.
And it won't always make you cringe. Sometimes you were cooking and you didn't even know it.

I don't know what it is, but something about this improves workflow a lot.
Comes with the added bonus of keeping you from taking your first draft too seriously!
It doesn't have to be comic sans; but consider changing the font if you feel stuck.

If you're really, truly stumped, go do something else. You're obviously not going to write well if the very act of writing is working you into a frenzy. Go back to it when your head is clear.
Sometimes you have the best revelations in the midst of the most mundane tasks, or while otherwise distracted.

Pride is not a trophy to be sealed away in a glass case until you feel you deserve it. Approach it this way, and you will never feel you deserve it. You will always put it off; you will always save it for a perfect accomplishment that will never come. Pride is a necessary step in self-improvement. It is the treat that makes the pigeon push the lever. It is indispensable positive reinforcement.
No, seriously. You are exactly the kind of writer you love. The kind who only ever tells stories they sincerely care about. The kind with immense respect for storytelling itself as more than an art, as something intrinsically and unmistakably human. The kind who knows that writing is not fucking easy, but who keeps coming back. Because they like the challenge. Because the challenge is fun. Because they always want to do better.
You cannot be the kind of writer you love if you do not write.
The challenge misses you.

It's not going to be perfect. Full stop. Even the final draft isn't going to be perfect.
And it doesn't have to be. You're doing this because you love it, not because you have something to prove. You don't owe your readers perfection. You only owe yourself a good time.
For the record, readers don't even expect perfection, let alone demand it. How many things have you read or watched or listened to that demonstrably aren't perfect, and that doesn't make you love them any less?
Refurbishing the same piece over and over again will only inhibit you from writing new, better pieces. You will always find something wrong with it, if not now then eventually. It's okay to move on.
At this point, your need to constantly redraft and rewrite borders on compulsive behavior. It's not quite there, but is that really the kind of tendency you want to enable?

This is also a form of procrastination.
Having the entire world fleshed out is not a prerequisite for telling stories in it, nor should it be. As aforementioned, it's okay to make shit up as you go and then iron it out in post.
You know even Tolkien's legendarium had some inconsistencies, right? Aside from the linguistics, he was fucking around and finding out just like the rest of us. It's fine.
The same can be said about outlining, too. Of course it helps to know what you're going to do, and especially to write it down somewhere so you don't forget in case you can't get to it straight away; but you do not need to know every detail of every chapter before you even get there.

There's no rush. It can wait until you finish.
If anything, editing as you write slows down the entire process. It also leads you to overthink, which stifles the writing process entirely.
It's okay if the first draft sucks. First drafts are supposed to suck. They're all about getting as much of the story out as possible. You'll dedicate every subsequent draft to making it coherent. For now, just let it be.
If you feel the need to stop in the middle of writing to come up with a name or a descriptor, use a placeholder and move on.

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