5 tips for more Productive writing
Introduction
Writing can be a difficulty task if you don’t know where to start or what to write about. However if you follow the five tips below you’ll be churning out better work in no time.
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| image by Stanu Alexandru via sxc.hu |
Now some will say you don’t need to plan ahead and just need to bleed on the page. But a little preparation will save you in the long run. This doesn’t mean you need to fill mountains of notebooks with notes and character sketches, but you can if that’s how you roll.
If you’re writing a novella or novel it’s a good idea to put down the major plot points so you have a road map to keep you on track. In this way you can still allow for organic writing to happen while connecting from A to B. Ideas can strike anywhere and anytime so have a notepad or smart phone ready to jot them down.
2. Be open to change
If during the course of writing you feel the characters wouldn’t do something, or would do something you hadn’t planned for, don’t be afraid to revise your plans as both you and they grow. Often in the process we discover things we didn’t know about ourselves and our characters, and that can affect how we see things.
3.Allow yourself to fail
If you’re like most then whenever you write there’s a voice in the back of your head that says, “This isn’t good enough,” or “That line’s so cliched.” Fear of failure can hold you back from writing that piece you’ve always dreamed of working on. It can also drain your creative mojo and put you into a spiral of self doubt if you set your standards too high.
Yes you should strive to put out the best work possible, but remember the first draft of anything is crap. Write anyways because you can always rewrite it later. This is paramount when you’re trying to create something that will evoke people into action. As with everything else in life practice makes perfect.
4.One step at a time
Whether you’re starting a blog or attempting the Great American Novel it can be a Herculean task if you go at it cold turkey. Instead break down your task into manageable pieces and set goals to accomplish them in a reasonable time.
For instance when I’m not sure what comes next in my WIP I sit down and plan out the chapter scene by scene and set a goal of getting through most if not all of one scene each day. By the end of a week I have a decent sized chapter and a clear metric to measure my progress.
One last note here. Sometimes you need to recharge your batteries before you can continue working on a piece. Don’t beat yourself up. Work on another project, read, or do something that engages your mind elsewhere so you can come back refreshed and ready to tackle the job at hand.
5.Set a schedule and stick to it
This may seem like basic knowledge, but so often people will set aside time to write and never follow through. There are a million excuses but ultimately it comes down to you. Are you going to continue treating this like a hobby or are you going become a professional?
I’m not going to tell you how many words or how long you should write. Only you can determine what your pace is, but you should write everyday. Even if it’s the worst thing ever write, write, write!