All Write! -- Susan Price
away all over Britain.
I'm a member -- one of the founder members, in fact, along with Authors Electric's own Katherine Roberts. But I'm also a member of a smaller group (and very exclusive group, I'm telling you) within the SAS.
This very exclusive writing group of ours had a problem.
None of us were doing much writing.
Which, I understand, is not all that unusual with writing groups.
Personally, I was bereft of all ideas. Just flat out. But the problem most of the others had was that they had deadlines and ought to be writing, and wanted to write-- but somehow, the writing just wasn't getting done.
We meet up reguarly on Zoom, it being a bit difficult to meet up in person, scattered as we are from the West Country to Scotland. The meetings were full of complaints about the failure to actually get any writing done, beset as we were by distractions.
Now there are a few tricks to con yourself into starting and even completing those tasks that you can't seem to make yourself do. It could be cleaning the car or kitchen; going for that walk you swore you would do every day; making that phone-call you've been putting off...
Set The Task. You get a timer -- a kitchen timer, or the one on your phone. You set the timer for however long you think you can bear to spend on this chore. It may only be five minutes. Never mind. Make a vow that you will attack the job and get as much done in that five minutes as you possibly can.
Set the timer. Start the task -- and almost certainly, when the timer-bell rings, you will carry on and even, perhaps, finish the job. Because once you've got over that barrier of starting, the job isn't so bad, and why not finish, now you've begun?
This trick almost always works, even though you know you are conning yourself.
There are variations. When I had deadlines, it often happened that I knew what I wanted to happen in the next part of my WiP. I knew what the characters would do and say. I knew all about it -- and yet, somehow, I just couldn't get started on writing it. Fear of Failure, I think.
So I would go for a walk, with paper and pens in my rucksack. The walk would end at a favourite pub and the vow was: I will sit in the pub and write for an hour. It always worked. As soon as I could get the pad and pen out on the pub table, words started being scribbled at a rate. And once I'd got started, on it would go.
What's Up?
Now, as it happened, all of us Flatcap members had enjoyed a very happy meet-up in Scotland in 2025, and Linda Strachan, wanting us to be in easy contact as we made our way there, had suggested that, if we weren't already on WhatsApp, we should join it.
So, when we found ourselves all unable to write, it was suggested that we make:
A Solemn Agreement.
On an agreed day, at 10am, we would all 'clock on' through WhatsApp, and say, 'We are beginning.' We will then sit down, at desks, at kitchen tables, in armchairs, or wherever, and write, on paper or laptops or tablets, until 12 noon.
And everybody was in. Ten o' clock and the phone starts pinging as the notifications come in:-- 'Just making a coffee... Am starting now... I'm going to be writing a blog today... I'm revising...'
The 'set the timer' trick proved as effective as ever. We all sat down, in our respective places, miles and miles apart, and wrote. A couple of hours later and the reports come in. 'Been planning and I think I've got a handle on it... Did 850 words... Got all those edits done... Can't do tomorrow, but will people be working the day after that?'
The Psychology
I've read that this timer trick works because your brain hates it if a task has been specifically set, to be done at a certain time-- and then isn't done. Even the fear that it might not be done is enough to set the brain nagging. The fact that you set the task yourself and there will be no consequences if you ignore it doesn't seem to matter. You've made this promise to yourself. You got out the timer especially, and set the time. Now you have to complete the task.
In addition, with this Writing Task, you've made a promise to a group of people you know and like, and you don't want to let them down.
There's the sense of company too. Every now and again the phone pings with a comment: one or another of us is going to take a quick break to post a card, but they'll be back with us in ten minutes... Someone else says they're going to write again that afternoon: will any one else join them?
I think more writing work has been accomplished in the few weeks since we started setting each other these timed 'interventions' than for months before that.
Recommended to all writers, whether working alone or in a group: The Timer Trick!
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And those taking part, from one end of the country to the other... In strict alphabetical order...
Linda has published over 70 books, for all ages and has won several awards. She has written fiction and non-fiction, crime novels, sci-fi, fantasy -- and the irrepressible Hamish McHaggis is her creation!
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