You’ve done the research. You’ve done the plotting. You know your characters. The outline is (mostly) complete. Now it’s time to get your butt in the chair and do the real work.
And it’s so hard.
Every word on the page oozes a disgusting odor of pure and utter crap. Each sentence is dull and uninspiring. The paragraph sits like a blob on the paper, having no true form or substance or reason for its existence.
Yes, you took so long in research and outlining, that your skills have gotten rusty. You no longer remember the difference between an adjective and an adverb. You plod forward anyway, replacing every existence of ‘said’ with a more colorful word… ‘gasped’ would fit right there, or maybe ‘yelped’. Thirty seconds later you remove it and place the hidden said right back where it belongs. When did writing become so hard, you wonder? When did the flow of words that moved from your mind, to your fingertips, to the keyboard, and finally to their deserved place on the screen, stop? Who shut off the damn tap anyway? Ah, yes. It was the months spent on research instead of writing that did it. Type something in on Google, hit Wikipedia. Heck, go to the damn Library. It’s easier than doing any real work.
Well, the time for that is over. Sure, you might do a quick search here or there to fill in a detail. Maybe Solitaire isn’t such a time sink after all. But at the end of the day, you must have accomplished your writing goal, whether it’s a single page, 1000 words, or just 10. Set the goal, meet it, and progress shall be made. Before you know it, the rust will have disappeared, the tap will be turned back on, and the story will be written.
Then you can start revising.