Want to know how to make the most of your daily writing session?
You do write every day ... right? Right!?
Today, I'll be berating you int—I mean, we'll be looking at some top tips for increasing productivity and being a more effective, consistent writer.
An effective, consistent, daily writer.
Thank you to Tyrone Couch for contributing this blog.
Don't Edit As You Go (Or Else)
If you're like me, and you should certainly aspire to be, you may have difficulty moving on from imperfect sentences. Even when you've captured the sentiment, you'll write and rewrite it until it's 'worthy of the final draft'.
At least, you'll think so at the time.
When you revisit it months later, however, you might end up cutting the entire scene. Then, the twenty minutes you spent on each individual sentence will have left you with naught but some egg on your face. Quite a bit of egg on your face, at that.
The idea here is that writing and editing are two different processes, and it's inefficient to attempt both at once. In the end, you won't have done a great job of either, and you'll end up editing it again anyway.
Turn Your Wifi Off (And Your Mobile Data!)
Yes, we all know you're terribly curious about the latest on 'Brangelina' and other such contemporary references. Unfortunately, you have a magnum opus to write, and your lust for manufactured drama will have to wait.
In all seriousness, it's very easy to find yourself struggling with the next line of your manuscript and then realise you've been surfing the web for three days and picked up smoking (again).
Don't be another statistic.
Set Deadlines
If you intend to regularly subject yourself to a practice that is at least as agonising as it is rewarding, it pays to have an imperative.
Setting a date to complete your manuscript by is a common practice that helps many writers to be more productive. Of course, you'll be accountable only to yourself ... which is troubling, to say the least.
Most narratives are built around the three-act structure: the Setup, the Confrontation, and the Resolution. Breaking yours up into these three sections and setting a deadline for the completion of each could be a good way of bringing structure and guidance to your process.
Really, it doesn't matter what denominations you separate your manuscript into. Even if it's just a single chapter or page experiment with setting deadlines and see how it informs your practice.
WRITE. EVERY DAY.
I once told you that no-one is forcing you to write.
I lied. I am forcing you to write. You are to write a minimum of 100 words per day until I say otherwise*.
If you fail to do so on any given day, you have a week from that date to write 1,000 words in a single session.
Should you dare disobey me ... I would have great difficulty enforcing any consequences. Rest assured, however, that I'll be fiercely disappointed, and you'll be that much further away from the finish line.
*I will not be saying otherwise.
Take A Good, Hard Look At Yourself
Take some time to really analyse your writing practice. If it's not getting you the results you want, whether that be the number of pages or words completed in a certain timeframe or how often you sit down to write, then maybe it's time for a change.
Not sure where to start? Check out our book coaching and writing programs for more personalised (and significantly less abrasive) help with your situation. Alternatively, submit an enquiry below and let us see what we can do for you.
Acknowledgements
Photo Credit Gabriel Silvério, Unsplash
