by Peggy Bechko
Yeah, it’s a curse. And, it’s much worse for some people than others. Overthinking pretty much everything and that includes writing. Or maybe it’s especially writing, I don’t know. But a while back a novel writing friend of mine asked me if I had trouble with over thinking. So I thought about it and probably overthought about it. And that’s where we all get stuck.
We’re all guilty of it at times. I mean hasn’t there been a time when perhaps you were waiting for someone to arrive at a party you were giving, someone very special to you and he/she didn’t show up? So you immediately start thinking. Did this person just say they’d come? Was that person blowing me off? Did I do something to offend? And the brain goes on and on. But you can put a stop to that in life and in writing. Look of the person didn’t show up and didn’t have the decency to call (this IS the cell phone age) then return to the other guests and forget it. Move on. Refocus.
Now, how does that apply to screenwriters, novel writers and the like? Well, the trick here is to stop the overthinking and letting your brain wander in fruitless circles. Don’t think about it too much, just do something. Act with confidence and your writing will blossom. If you find yourself overthinking, focusing on some bit of minutia and going in circles maybe you just need to turn your back on it for a while. Take a walk, go get a cup of tea. Get the blood flowing or find a way to relax. You can’t force creativity but you can let it relax.
