You want to boost your writing productivity–so how to do that with ease? It’s no secret that productive writers share some simple habits that help them organize, focus, and stay on track and accountable to their project goals.
- Organize, sort and prioritize to boost your writing productivity. These days most writers are juggling projects, which may including revising one book, developing another book, posting regularly on blogs, writing content for newsletters, promotional material and reviews and…the list goes on. Organizing doesn’t need to be fancy. In fact, don’t let yourself get lost in perfectionism because that leads to procrastination. Keep it simple: title and date your projects and keep your e-files and documents where you can find them when you need them. I always include the month.day.year when naming my documents; the most current date represents my latest version.
- Schedule your writing sessions in advance and block them out on your calendar. To boost writing productivity set your schedule at least one week ahead, even if you have to make some adjustments. I keep a simple paper calendar next to my desk and I use dark blue or red magic marker to block out time. For example, I’ve blocked out 5 am to 7 am on three days this week and on the remaining week days, I’ve blocked afternoon slots. On weekends I make sure I include time for fun in addition to my writing. When I draw those lines in color and add my initials, I’ve made a commitment to/contract with myself–and by planning ahead I’m more mindful and mentally prepared. I look forward to my `writing dates’!
- Set deadlines! Yes, to boost writing productivity, set deadlines for yourself–whether or not you have actual contractual deadlines with your agent, your publisher or a company. To avoid “large project” overwhelm, break bigger projects into smaller steps. If you’re writing a full-length novel or memoir, you will write your first draft (as quickly as possible). Next comes reading what you’ve written and creating a new outline for your revision. Novelists and memoirists commonly break down story into three acts, and they also work in chapters. You might set a schedule to revise one chapter a week, and when you’re polishing, you might polish one chapter ever two days, for example. Nonfiction writers create a table of contents and a chapter outline to organize material and also as part of a proposal package when submitting to agents and editors. However you break up your tasks, be sure to mark reasonable deadlines on your calendar.
- Hold yourself accountable to your deadlines. Form a partnership or an alliance with other writers and challenge each other to stick to the schedule. Hire a writing coach to hold you accountable–some of my clients “file” their chapters with me on a weekly basis. It’s amazing how much more you will accomplish when you know someone is expecting you to get it done. Mark your deadlines in bold on your calendar: Revise chapts. 22-25 by Sept.01!
- Take ownership of your success and celebrate your progress–deadline by deadline! Nothing energizes and motivates us as much as success! If you set a deadline, work to meet it, and, when you do, simply set a new deadline…well, that is the opposite of motivating! When you successfully reach a marker, let your allies know, share the high-fives, and do your victory dance. Smaller successes might earn you your favorite ice cream bar or the time to take a break and take a walk or a bike ride. I know freelance writers who keep a piggy bank near their desk and they pay themselves a motivating token! Whatever is rewarding to you!
- Productive writers create and revise in drafts! Books–whether nonfiction, novels, memoirs or any other category of full-length narrative–are not written in one draft. You might be surprised how often even experienced writers forget that fact. Productive writers often subscribe to Anne Lamott’s advice to write the “shitty first draft” quickly, knowing that this draft will be anything but polished. (Nothing slows you down faster than trying to get it right.) This means you do not edit as you write your first draft. Catch those first pages as quickly as you can, while still attending to the elements of your book–stay on course but don’t try to lock your story in. Use free writes to keep yourself flowing.
- Recognize your inner gremlins, tricksters, and destructive critical voices, and understand that they have only one agenda–to stop you from writing! In her wonderful book on writing, Bird By Bird, Anne Lamott calls out radio KFKD–the station that streams two channels into a writer’s mind, one saying how brilliant and unbelievably talented you are, the other playing nothing but bitter, brutal, self-doubt and self-castigation. Both channels play propaganda and keep you bouncing between manic highs and lows, a flip-flop that exhausts but does not inspire. Keep close at hand a copy of The War of Art:Winning the Inner Creative Battle–a wonderful book by Steven Pressfield. Seek support when destructive inner voices overwhelm you. Every week I coach writers to get a grip on their gremlins and they do! Need more help to move past resistance? Sometimes You Gotta Kill the Witch…
How do you boost your writing productivity, create with ease, and go with the flow, even on the hard days? Let’s face it, writing isn’t always easy and on some days, some projects seem herculean. Productive writers share habits and awareness that help them make it to the page on days that would keep others from writing.
Productive writers don’t use magic to get to the page, they use good habits to support their process, their flow, their stories! And best of all, good habits are in the public domain–free and available to all of us!
Do you have a favorite tip to boost your writing productivity? We’d love to hear it, so please do share it on our ‘comments’!
