I've been "getting ready to write" for 6 months — help!

[EricGerman]

I have all my research. All my data. Everything is ready. And I've been "getting ready to write" for six months. Six months.

A blog for grad students asks: "9 Questions to help you discover your writing working preferences" and says that when we ask ourselves these questions, we can "more easily sneak up on the current project and get started" .

The key point: "It's our own answers that matter" . Not what others swear is the only way.

What questions should I be asking myself? Anyone figured out their "writing working preferences"?

 

[Sarah]

The blog's questions are good but here's the one that helped me most: "What's stopping me from starting right now?" For me, it was fear. Fear it wouldn't be good enough. Fear of wasting time. Fear of getting stuck.
Naming the fear made it smaller. Then I could say "okay, I'm scared, but I'm going to write garbage anyway." Garbage is fixable. Blank pages aren't. Also, I need snacks nearby. Blood sugar crashes kill focus.