Here's the thing that a lot of people don't understand. The brain evolved to keep you lazy. It wants you to conserve energy. It's an evolutionary advantage to relax when you can so that you have that energy when you really need it. So when you try to do things that are taxing, either mentally or physically, your brain is going to suggest that you take a break. Do something else that's not as hard. Go take a nap. But you have the ability to override your evolutionary programming and tell your brain no. It requires telling your lazy side that you are going to do this and then doing it. Don't let yourself get talked out of it. Don't let your brain tell you to go edit because it's easier than writing. Don't let your brain tell you that it's terrible and you should give up. 95% of writing is self-motivation and perseverance. If you can't force yourself to do it, you're not going to get it done. This can't be "I'll try", it has to be "I'll succeed and there's nothing you can do to stop me".
Yup. This. I decided this year that I have to step things up, in general not just in writing. If I can at least finished a first draft, that'll be a good sign that things have changed. My strategy, if it can be called such, is to have something in every stage of development. So when I finish this draft, I'll put it away for a month or so whilst I start working on something else. Then when that goes away for a month, I'll come back and start my first edit. Any downtime I can look back over old ideas and make notes on their development. It all seems so straightforward...
