How One Pathetic Sentence Can Save an Inconsistent Writer

Right, let's have a little chat. Yep, you and I. So, you want to write consistently. You dream of being that disciplined scribe who churns out perfect prose before breakfast. You've read all the advice: 

"Make a schedule!"

"Set goals!"

"Just write!"

Brilliant. Groundbreaking. But also, completely useless half the time, right?

Because life happens. And if you're a Lagosian like me, Lagos traffic definitely happens. And then NEPA decides today is not your day. Oh, not to mention the days when your brain decides it would rather re-watch all seasons of Game of Thrones than string two coherent sentences together. One day you're Hemingway, the next day you can barely write a to-do list. The guilt sets in. Then the avoidance. Then the guilt about the avoidance. It's a whole messy cycle, and suddenly weeks have passed, and your brilliant manuscript/article/screenplay is gathering digital dust. Damn!

Does this sound familiar? Welcome to the club. I'm practically the president. Honestly, my writing consistency is about as predictable as Lagos traffic after heavy rain. It happens when it happens!

So, after years of battling this glorious inconsistency, trying every ultimate productivity system I could find online, and feeling like a failure, I stumbled upon a strategy. And I use the term "strategy" very loosely here. It's less 'strategy,' more 'desperate measure that actually kinda works.'

Ready for the mind-blowing, life-changing hack? Here it is...

DO LESS. WAY, WAY LESS.

No, seriously. 

Trash the "write 1000 words a day." 

Trash the "write for an hour."

Trash even the "write one page."

On those days when the thought of writing makes you want to fake your own death, aim ridiculously low. Aim insultingly low. Aim so low it feels pointless.

Aim to write one sentence.

Guys, I know. "One sentence? Emy, are you joking?" Nope. I'm dead serious. Sometimes my goal is literally just to open the document. If I manage that? Gold star for me. If I type one sentence, even if it's terrible, even if it's just "The cat sat on the mat"... voilà! I've won.

Why does this nonsense work? Because it bypasses the pressure cooker in our brains. The giant, scary task of "Writing the Thing" becomes the tiny, manageable task of "Writing One Sentence." It short-circuits the overwhelm. It tricks your procrastinating brain into just starting. And often (not always), starting is the hardest part. That one pathetic sentence sometimes turns into two, then maybe a paragraph, then maybe you actually get into the flow.

Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you write one sentence and close the laptop. And that's FINE. You still showed up. You still poked the beast. You broke the zero words cycle. You forgive yourself for not being a writing machine and try again tomorrow (with the same ridiculously low goal if necessary).

The whole point isn't to suddenly achieve flawless writing discipline. Please, we're creatives, that's not how most of us are wired. This 'one sentence' idea is purely a mind trick. It lowers the barrier to entry so low that even on your most uninspired, "can't even" days, you might actually get something done.

Hey, get out of that perfectionist cage; you're going to burnout, and I'm sure that's not the plan. We're writers. We want to keep our engine from totally seizing up.

Today, my personal record low goal was just typing the title for this piece: "Do This if You're an Inconsistent Writer". That's it. I figured if I could at least get that down, maybe the actual words would eventually show up. Guess what? It worked... eventually.

So, if you're an inconsistent writer feeling the guilt, try it. Aim low. Aim stupidly low. Write one sentence. Open the file. Find your charging cable. Whatever it takes. Just do something. You might surprise yourself.

Sometimes the biggest barrier to writing is the pressure to be original. Here's a brilliant take from Austin Kleon on why the most important thing is to just start doing the work.

Look, this writing life isn't always glamorous. If you're inconsistent, trust me, you're in good company. Maybe this whole 'one sentence' thing sounds silly, but maybe it's the permission slip you needed to just begin without all the pressure. I truly hope sharing my own ridiculous methods helps somehow.