Have you ever been afflicted with the dreaded DWTW syndrome? It seems to come from nowhere and hits you quite suddenly leaving you feeling drained, sluggish, and devoid of all creative thoughts. You have stories calling you and yet even when you sit down to attempt to write, the DWTW seems to paralyze your fingers, stifle your creative juices, and sends you running for the closest book or video. Or even just to social media.

Yep, DWTW is dreadful. It’s crippling to stories, detrimental to progress, and a disease that needs stopped before it spreads. You tell yourself you are going to go write, but the DWTW which has lodged itself as firmly as possible in your brain screams:
“I Don’t Want To Write!”

You need help.

And you need it quickly before the “Don’t Want To Write” syndrome becomes a part of you.

But how do you conquer this terrible problem?

Here are a few solutions. (Do to DWTW affecting different people in different ways, there is no single cure for everyone.)

• Force yourself to write for a certain amount of time every day. (Don’t make it long or the DWTW will wreck your plans and make you give up hope.)
• Join a writing challenge like 100 for 100. (If that’s already started or feels too long, start your own challenge like 100 for 25.)
• Get accountability partners who will be expecting a progress update.
• Join an online writing group like KDWC.
• Ask a family member you trust to hold your books, phone, movies, etc. captive until you’ve written something.
• Make yourself a sticker chart that you can put a sticker on every day you write.
• Do ten jumping jacks or take a walk, do sit ups or something just before you start to write. (DWTW seems to thrive on inactivity.)

There are many other ways to beat the DWTW Syndrome, but hopefully these suggestions will help you get started on finding the cure that works for you. Just remember, sometimes DWTW can be cured by one thing once, but if it comes back you may have to try a different solution if it seems your DWTW has developed an immunity to the first cure.

Have you ever been affected by DWTW Syndrome? I have! How did you get over it? Do you have any other suggestions? Have you tried any of the above mentioned solutions?