Interrupt
Stop the habit at an arbitrary point, never a convenient one; look at what was about to happen before you resume.
Brecht: the actor steps out of character mid-scene.
Seen in Improv Everywhere, Frozen Grand Central, New York, 2008
Try it on your work
At a preset signal (a timer, a bell, a knock) freeze whatever your hands are doing and record their exact position and holdings. The freeze-frame is what the work actually looks like, as opposed to what it's for.
Set a timer to go off at a random point in the next hour. When it rings, write down the exact sentence in your head, unedited. Do this daily for a week; the collection is a portrait.
Halt your project mid-stride for one full day at a point of your choosing: not a natural pause, a cut. What resumed by itself and what needed restarting tells you what runs on momentum.
How it has been used
Stop the automatic thing mid-flow, on purpose: the freeze-frame, the fire-alarm test, the held breath. What was invisible while running becomes visible while stopped. The move forces the stop at an arbitrary point, not a convenient one: you don't get to finish the phrase first.
Where it leads
Grouped under Break the pattern I’m in