How to Be a More Productive Writer

We all want to find the time to write more, but those darn annoying things called “responsibilities” get in the way (*eye roll). Then there are those unexpected things that tend to pop up every time you get in "the zone." You know what I’m talking about. Your allergies are bugging you, it's your great aunt's b-day, or your dog just threw up on the new carpet. Okay, some things are more urgent than others, but still, whatever the reason, finding the time to write and sticking with it is well, really freakin hard! It’s something that all writers struggle with, including me, which is why I'm sharing my biggest productivity takeaways in hopes of helping you achieve your writing goals and feel great at the end of the day. Now, let's do this thing!

1)   Identifying and Sticking to Realistic Goals: Write down your writing goals for the day, week, and month and stick to it. This can be in the form of a word count, page count, or whatever gets you motivated. If things repeatedly come up and you aren’t able to meet your writing goals, there may be a simple fix like setting different goals or slightly adjusting current goals. Still not working? Ask yourself why writing is important to you and why you want to make time to write. The pieces should then fall into place.

2)   The Power of Timing: Successful authors know what times of day they write best. They block out this time for writing and schedule everything around it. If you’re freshest in the morning, schedule your writing time accordingly. If work or school overlap with your best times, never fear, you can still find energetic hours. It just might be a little trickier. After I’ve had my morning walk and coffee, my brain is on and ready to go so I always reserve that primo morning time for writing new and/or challenging content. I also block out a chunk of time in the afternoon. Since I’m not as fresh then, I use the time to re-read what I had written and edit.

3)   Create A Routine: Block out writing time on your schedule every day and commit to it. The only way to transform your writing routine into second nature, and thus be more productive, is to follow it consistently. Here’s what Stephen King does:

“I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning. I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.” (from Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King, via Daily Routines)

4)   Work in Increments: Group tasks into small batches instead of working for one long duration of time on one task. Not only will this help you focus, especially if you get bored easy, but you’ll be more productive because you will be regularly re-visiting your work with fresh eyes. Even if you're not sure about this one, try it out! You might be pleasantly surprised. One thing that has worked very well for me is scheduling in short blocks of time on my calendar the night before so I know exactly what I’m going to do and when I’m going to do it the next day. I’ve had to learn to accept that as much as I want to sit and write all day, I simply can’t. Although my writing time isn’t as long as I’d like it to be, I definitely utilize my writing time more efficiently.  

5)   Organize Your Space: If you haven’t done so already, designate a writing space where you can focus without interruption. Ideally, this would be your own office, but if space doesn’t allow, just make sure you avoid choosing a place where you relax like your bed or couch, which can send mix signals to your brain. Your goal is to train your mind to know when it should be in “work mode.” Wherever you choose to work, make sure that the area is well organized and free of clutter and distractions. An organized space = an organized mind. Also, getting the right space might take some experimenting. For me, I absolutely can't work without a view. A view might be too distracting for you though, so you can try facing your desk towards a wall instead. Don't be afraid to experiment. 

Here's my work space. It's simple, neat, and has a great view.

6)   Disconnect: Disable everything! I mean, everything. Close your Internet browser and turn off your cell phone (or at least the notification alerts which ping every time you get an email). Continuously being connected not only interrupts your flow, but the temptation of social media and emails can be too hard to resist. Before you know it you’ve scrolled through dozens of tweets, added five recipes to Pinterest, liked your BFF’s wedding pics, and written zero words of your book. I just read a magazine article that said the average person checks their phone 100 times a day! You don’t need it. Remember, you’ve got a book to write and all those things can wait.

7)   Skip It: If you’re still struggling to find time to write, take a good hard look at where you are spending most of your time. You’re more likely to achieve your writing goals if you skip watching shows and movies, spending hours surfing the Internet, or even reading other people’s books. You don’t need to avoid these things all the time, only when you’re struggling to focus or unable to meet your goals. I use movies as a reward. This motivates me to meet my goals because I have something to look forward to. Chocolate is also an excellent motivator. Whenever I hit a milestone like finishing a first draft, I celebrate by going out to get a piece of pie or cake.

My very own chocolate cake for completing Strange Luck. Yum!

8)   Schedule Social Media in Advance: You’ve already scheduled time to write, but what about social media and blog posts? They're important, too! Queue posts in advance and limit the amount of time you work on these things each day. You might be pleasantly surprised by how much time you’ve freed up.

9)   Motivation: It’s very easy to get down on yourself for not meeting your writing goals. It’s even easier to compare yourself to other authors and ask how the hell they’ve written fifteen books when you can barely get through one. This is another time where you might just need to disconnect. This means you need to stop looking at other authors and what they’ve done or are currently doing, and just write! When I’m having a particularly rough day and don’t want to write at all, I’ll journal or go over to Pinterest and look at some inspirational quotes. After five minutes I feel so much better.

10)   Know When to Step Away: Sometimes you just can’t get in "the zone" no matter what you do. The key here is to pay attention to your body to avoid a possible burnout. If you can, leave your workspace and do something fun or relaxing. Or both. Although it might feel like you’re wasting time initially, breaks can actually refresh your mind and lead to increased creativity. I’ve gotten some of my best ideas while doing something fun.  

Want more tips on how to write a book? Check out my other posts here.

Now you share! What tips or tricks do you utilize to increase your writing productivity?

Is Self-Publishing for You?

Workshops, community groups, author advice, and every how-to book imaginable—all the things I utilized to craft the perfect query letter. When one wasn’t particularly effective, I modified it and kept track of the results. I checked my inbox obsessively, and when I saw that an agent responded, my heart would stop. “This is it!” I thought. “My book is finally going to be published!” But, the majority of the time, it was a generic rejection in the form of “This isn’t right for my list.” The whole process was not only overwhelming, but very discouraging. In fact, I almost quit writing as a result. Then, I received the crème de la crème of emails from an interested agent. She wanted a full manuscript exclusive!   

Within a week, the agent had read my book and gushed about it. She said it was highly marketable, but I just needed to “tweak some things.” These things turned out to be not so little. She was removing entire characters and changing the era. I unwittingly made the changes. She read it a second time and said the same thing. I was so close and wanted to be published so badly, so again, I made the changes. She read it a third time and suggested even more, and again I complied. The process took a year. The result? I absolutely hated my book! Everything had changed and my voice was completely buried. I didn’t know who I was writing for anymore…and it showed. I received a cold hard rejection after everything. The worst part? The book was so mangled that I abandoned it. 

This experience was the push I needed to self-publish my first novel, Strange Luck, a psychological YA fantasy about a world built on stolen memories. Self-publishing not only allowed me to see my dream to fruition, it allowed me to present the story I wanted to share with the world. Here’s why self-publishing worked for me and why it might work for you:

Every Decision is Yours: Self-publishing allows you complete control of your story, its characters, and even the description readers see on the back cover. If you choose to work with a professional editor (highly recommended), it’s still up to you to implement the changes. You also get to decide what your book cover looks like.

Publishing Is Quick: Since self-publishing is relatively instantaneous, you can see your book to market anytime you want. This is a great option if you have a particular release date in mind.

Creative Freedom: Unless you’re Stephen King, the majority of agented authors do all the marketing and promotions themselves. This includes booking and putting on author events. Since you’d most likely be doing it anyway, you can take the opportunity to be creative with your marketing efforts. Set up giveaways with a unique catch, create a You Tube channel and vlog about your book and what you’re reading, or even create your own Twitter hashtag. 

Full Ownership: You own all of the rights to your book so you can do whatever you want with it, including selling movie rights if you so choose.

More Money in Your Pocket: Not only do you get to choose the price for your print and/or ebook and where your book is sold, all royalties go to you. You’re also paid once a month vs. once a year. 

Springboard to Success: Some of the best-selling, highest grossing books of all time were self-published. The Joy of Cooking, 50 Shades of Gray, and The Tales of Peter Rabbit are among some notable success stories. The majority of best-selling self-published authors go on to sign with major publishing houses usually because their books and the market they created get too big for them to handle on their own. Self-publishing is actually a great opportunity to get published traditionally. If these authors hadn’t self-published their books to begin with, they might not have gained the attention needed to sign a major publishing deal. 

Whatever your journey, whatever the outcome, the important thing to remember is to NEVER EVER give up writing. Yes, rejection is painful, but it happens to everyone. Stephen King’s Carrie, Frank Herbert’s Dune, Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time, and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind were all repeatedly rejected by publishers, but it didn’t stop them. And, it shouldn't stop you! Rejection could actually be the driving force you need to take matters into your own hands.

Have you checked out my other posts on writing? You might enjoy these too:

How to Write A Novel, Part 1: Let The Journey Begin

How to Write a Novel, Part 2: Brainstorming, Drafting, and Getting Organized

How to Be a More Productive Writer

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