You know what I mean.

You’ve worked and worked on a writing project for weeks, months, or even years, but it STILL doesn’t seem to going anywhere – or at least, it isn’t moving ahead as quickly as you would like. You might even experience what is commonly known as writer’s block.

Finally you reach a point of total frustration.

You start to question your skills and abilities as a writer.

Should you even be TRYING to complete this project or should you just cut your losses and walk away from it?

Meltdowns can happen to all writers.

And, if they do, we just have to back away from the writing for a while. Give ourselves enough time to figure out what the REAL problem is with this particular project before we get back to it.

But here are some ways to avoid writers meltdown BEFORE it happens:

1. A too tight deadline can lead to meltdown. If you’re under a deadline that’s too tight, email or phone your editor and ask for more time. It’s best to do this BEFORE you miss that deadline, though, if you want your editor to be more understanding. So make that call when you first feel a meltdown coming on.

2. Step back and evaluate what’s really going on with the writing. If you’re working on a piece of fiction, are you trying to get your characters to do things you NEED them to do in order to move the plot forward? This can really stall the flow of your writing. Get out a legal pad and start jotting down questions for the character who just isn’t cooperating with your plot. Ask him/her to tell you more about his/her background and backstory. Often, you’ll come up with something that reveals to YOU what your character would be much more likely to do under the circumstances in your chapter. Then, once you know this about the character, many times you can go back to that particular chapter and the writing will flow again because the plot happens more “organically” or naturally, based on your main character’s beliefs and experiences.

If you’re writing nonfiction, look at the structure or format for your piece. Are you trying to put “a square peg in a round hole” type of thing? Chances are, if you restructure the piece a bit, the writing will go better.

But here’s the BIGGEST tip for avoiding a major meltdown:

3. DON’T RUSH the writing in an effort to finish the assignment or project!

I know this sounds like a contradiction. But, many times, to write faster and smoother, you need to slow down – even if you’re working under a tight deadline. Even if you have only 30 minutes to work on it at any particular time. Don’t rush the writing during that 30 minutes. You might not get ANY writing done during one or two of those 30-minute sessions. You might just spend that time restructuring things. Rewriting a few points to make them clearer. Heck, you might even decide to start completely over with this particular work. And the odd thing is, you’ll probably still meet your deadline if you do because once you correct the problem, the writing will start to flow again.

Too many writers get in the habit of only feeling good about their writing when they have completed a specific chapter or section so they can mark it off their mental list. Don’t fall into that trap. It can lead to major meltdown because, while you THINK you’re focusing on the writing, you’re really focusing on finishing the writing. And that can stall your progress BIG time because the writing won’t be clear enough or as well-structured as it should be. If it’s fiction, the plot may seem forced or the characters will be flat.

4. Finally, to avoid a major meltdown, start each work session in a relaxed but energetic state of mind. And realize that you ARE making progress, even if it doesn’t seem like it. A worthwhile project – like a nonfiction book, a play, or a novel – often starts out slowly or requires starting over several times before the work starts to flow.

Follow these tips to avoid a major meltdown – so can get your current project finished AND enjoy writing it.

Try it!

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