How Just One Paragraph Could Revolutionize Your Writing

Do you struggle to write?

If not, do you struggle to write consistently?

Do you struggle to start to write? To make sure that, every day, you’re writing?

Yeah, me too. But I found something recently that, although I already knew it, really made me feel like I’d just been smacked in the face with a huge glowing sign that read DO THIS, YOU NINNY!

So obviously, I’ve got to slam that sign in your face as well. You’re welcome.

Expectations

I have a problem.

I have very high expectations for myself.

This is a good thing. It prompts me to strive and work harder to achieve what I want.

However, it also pushes me to try and do too much sometimes. I expect myself to spend my summer writing literally all day long, and, not surprisingly, I don’t. Yet because I expected myself to do that, I feel like I’ve failed and been horribly unproductive.

Having high expectations for yourself also comes with that dark flip side. If you cannot fulfill them because you’re human (shocker, I know) then suddenly it’s like your life is ending.

Downsizing does not Always Mean Less

When you downsize your expectations for yourself, you instantly assume that it’ll mean that you will get less done. If you aren’t writing all day, then you will get less done!

…

Right?

Not always.

Unless you somehow are incredibly dedicated and can actually write all day long (great job, you’re amazing) then you probably have this problem where you want to write a bunch, but you keep getting distracted. You’ll be writing all day, it’s fine!

Next thing you know it’s 8:00 p.m. and you haven’t done almost anything.

Have I done this before? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha yes. It’s a regret of mine. Who am I kidding, it’s multiple regrets.

That’s a big danger of having those big goals. If you say, “I’m going to write all day!” you’ll spend all day thinking how it’s okay to not be writing this second because you will write ‘all day’ soon.

But if you downsize your goal, you’ll think, “Oh, I only need to write 500 words. I can do that now.”

Bam! You get more writing done than you would have with that huge goal.

The One Paragraph Revolution

If you struggle to get yourself to start writing, and even 500 words sounds like too much, then try this:

Downsize even more.

Your goal is for you.

And if you feel like you can’t reach anything remotely big, make it something so small that you know for sure you’ll be able to make it:

Write one paragraph each day.

In a year, that’s 365 paragraphs. And that’s way more than 0.

Getting the Ball Rolling

The thing is, when you start writing, and you hit the end of 1 paragraph, you’ll probably know what you want to be said next. So you’ll quickly type that out. But then you’ll know the next thing, and do that too. And you know what? One more paragraph wouldn’t hurt, since it’s so short.

Do you see where this is going?

By writing just one paragraph, you will find yourself writing more. Maybe even getting out those 500 words that you thought you wouldn’t be able to do.

And that’s how just a single paragraph can revolutionize your writing. Where there was nothing, there is now something. And maybe it will end up being just one paragraph. But you wrote something, and you should be proud of that.

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To get something done, you don’t have to devote every little second. You can just make it your goal to write just one paragraph a day. Maybe all you’ll end up writing is that one paragraph, but one is better than none. And, more likely than not, you’ll gain momentum and find you are able to continue, leading to more than the one paragraph you set out to write.

You don’t have to write an entire book in a day.

Just add one paragraph to it.

This is a revolution against writer’s block. Battle the beast even more by signing up to my email list *wink wink* and getting a free 7-day course on how to kick writer’s-block butt. Just click here! I only email every 2 weeks and at the end of every month. You also get exclusive insider-info in all emails, so make sure you’re signed up!

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If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:

Things I’ve Learned from NaNoWriMo: Your Writing Time

Things I’ve Learned from NaNoWriMo: Every Word Counts

Things I’ve Learned from NaNoWriMo: Sprinting

How much do you like to write each day?

Will you be part of this revolution against writer’s block?

-Julia

Photo by Hello I’m Nik 🇬🇧 on Unsplash