Start with one small step at a time.

My 11-year-old self sits at a chess board. On all sides of me, there are rows after rows of chess boards, nearly overflowing the vast chandelier-lit ballroom in Las Vegas. For the first time, I am so nervous I’m shaking at the board.
It’s the final round of the highest stakes tournament of my young life, the finale of three days straight of nerve-wrecking competitive chess. I’ve won the first five games, and I’m tied for first place with an opponent who has done the same.
I know that I am a single victory away from winning an inconceivable amount of money to me at the time. I am also aware that I’m a single loss away from blowing it.
What got me through this?
From the start of the tournament, one thought carried me through: “One game at a time”.
This came with the realization of what seemed to hold me back at previous tournaments: the immensity of aiming to win every game. I realized how overwhelming and distracting this is as a goal because really—you can only ever win one game at a time. It’s a waste to worry about any of the other games until you get to them.
This revelation made the nerve-wrecking and immense task of winning such a high stakes tournament within reach. I felt such relief at the thought that I only ever have to deal with the game at hand. That last round, I crawled one nerve-wrecking move at a time through to a messy and hard-fought victory.
In the same way, you can’t write an entire book in one sitting. No matter how short or epic you intend your piece to be, you’ll still write it one word at a time.
“On days when the mind and the page went blank, I just kept my fingers close to the keyboard, walking distance close, just in case something would happen. I had to pay close attention. I reminded myself that a novel begins by one word following another. One sentence followed by another. One paragraph followed by another; that discipline, soldier-like discipline was absolutely necessary- as Flannery O’Connor once said, ‘If there’s a great idea somewhere out there, it knows where to find me- between 9-12 at my desk;’ By working on sentences one at a time, I realized I wouldn’t be so intimidated by the scope of the novel.”
Often times when I begin a writing session, I start with the simple aim of writing one worthwhile sentence. Of course, once I have an idea that leads to one sentence, more tend to flow onto the page with it.
It’s a useful trick. Think about it, how hard is it to write one sentence on a topic, about an experience, or for a fictional story? One sentence? That’s so reachable.
“Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day; it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.”
For more on the idea of starting small, check out tip #7 of 10 Tips to Writing Every Day.
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