On Writing: Productivity Tips
November is a good time to talk about productivity, with so many people doing Nano. I’m not one of those people, but I’m still trying to up my word count this month! So I thought I’d list some productivity tips for anyone struggling with Nano or with their writing progress in general during this very busy month.
These tips are specific to writing but could be applied to schoolwork or work-work or anything else!
Do writing sprints. Set a timer, turn off all distractions (or turn on some music if that’s what works for you) and write. Don’t backspace, don’t edit anything, don’t even think. You’ll be surprised how much you can get done in 30, 20 or even 15 minutes if you’re focused. I usually reach my daily 1k word goals by doing this.
Find some writing buddies. Accountability is a powerful thing. Sprinting with other writers is super helpful to your productivity. And talking with them about each other’s projects is a fantastic way to keep yourself motivated.
Switch fonts while you write. Change your font style as you’re writing. Changing how the document looks makes it seem fresher and will help you feel less lethargic about working on it. You’ve probably heard of the Comic Sans trick; it really works! I’ve recently started doing it myself.
Switch fonts while you edit. This font change trick can especially be used for editing and rewrites. Looking at the text with a different font will really help you see the words/prose you’ve written from a fresh perspective. Some people also print their drafts out to edit them.
Write with music. Not everyone can write with music, but if you haven’t tried it, you should. Music without lyrics is usually better; Spotify and YouTube have plenty of film/video game soundtracks that are great for writing. Video game soundtracks are especially good; the tracks are designed to play on a loop to suit a particular setting or mood. If you find writing with music distracting, listening to a playlist dedicated to your story or characters outside of your writing time can still help you.
Keep a list of daily/weekly/monthly goals. Do you want your outline done by the end of the month? How many words do you want to have written? What about this week? I like to plan things weekly, before breaking up the tasks into smaller, daily chunks. I do this at the end of every day; if I didn’t finish something, I transfer it to the next day and cross things off my weekly list as I get them done. Seeing things written out in front of you can help keep your head clear. And crossing out finished tasks is extremely satisfying.
Note: I also like to break up my weekly lists by category, such as: writeblr tasks, real life tasks (like buying new shoes/making appointments), and categories for each of the wips I’m working on.
Use breaks/reward systems. Don’t be afraid to take breaks and recharge when you reach certain milestones/work for a certain amount of time. Have a snack or make coffee or go and walk around for five minutes. It helps get you back into the working mindset. Rewards can be snacks, watching a video, cuddling your pet, there’s tons of choices. (If you want to be a workaholic, reward yourself with more work - take a break from writing to make a playlist, an edit or watch a video on writing).
Switch projects (but not too much). If you find yourself stuck on one project (there are a ton of reasons this can happen), you shouldn’t feel guilty for switching projects. That said, you shouldn’t rely on this too much. One finished draft is better than three half-written drafts. If you want to switch projects, maybe work on the outline for a second project, or work on character building or worldbuilding. Switching projects doesn’t necessarily mean writing one then writing the other. Using this trick is pointless if you use it as an excuse to avoid finishing anything.
Accept that it’s hard. Trying to write a novel isn’t easy. You should enjoy writing; otherwise why are you doing it? But you should also accept that it will be difficult, and there will be times when you struggle. And that’s fine; it’s part of the process. When you see a finished novel on a shelf, you don’t see all the times the author wanted to give up, or hated a sentence, or had too much going on at school or work to dedicate real time to their book. But every writer has these struggles, and pretending otherwise only leads to disappointment. If they can do it, so can you!
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