Even though the creative process is quite chaotic, it is never too bad to have some system. At least, most of the great authors had it for sure. Still, don't think our professional online writers try to suppress your individuality. No, they want to give you 9 tips about being a productive writer. The way of how to use these life hacks is yours.
1. Productive Writers Keep the Rhythm
Humans live according to certain rhythms their biological clocks create. According to them, different people may have various productivity peaks depending on their internal chronometer features.
Yes, a productive writer can be a "lark" or an "owl." Don't go against that. Find your regime or daily behavior model, and keep up with it. There is no point to interfere with Mother Nature.
2. Productive Writers Make Writing Their Habit
Beginning writers frequently wait till their muse comes out of nowhere. Sometimes, it happens too rarely to make them productive. But professional writers, living with their mastery and art, don't like talking about inspiration. The point is that you should be productive all the time. Nobody cares about the writer's creative mood.
It is critical to get a writing habit and make it an element of your daily routine. Your productive writing session can last for only 30 minutes per day. But you shouldn't let anything stand in your way during that planned time.
3. Productive Writers Have Suitable Workspace
The word "suitable" is the key here. There was a writer who rented the entire hotel room to work in silence and calmness. On the other hand, some productive writers like to work in chaos.
Try several places and find what makes you the most productive writer. Maybe, it will be a quiet café or a noisy pub. That place should "tune" you to the productive writing mood. To reach the result, use a particular location only to work. It will create a reflex, avoiding you from distraction.
4. Productive Writers Use Story Maps
Regardless of where you are in the context of your writing project, it is useful to know where you were yesterday and plan to be tomorrow. Such knowledge makes your ongoing tasks a lot simpler. Spend a minute to look through your latest written text, remind a story and the general narrative flow.
If you are a student writing an article or an essay, devote some time to checking what the others write on the same topic. When writing a fictional text, try looking into the hero's mind to find out what they feel, think, and plan to do. Before finishing the productive writing session, leave a mark about the intended direction of your project.
5. Distraction: Is it a Friend or a Foe for Writers?
Yes, the answer is a bit tricky. Most frequently, distraction is a foe of productive writers. Unnecessary browser tabs or sound notifications from a smartphone prevent writers from focusing on the work process. So, getting rid of those distracting factors is the best solution for writers to be productive.
But attention is an exhaustible resource. According to different measurements and researches, it reduces in 20-40 minutes. That's after the moment you start feeling your organism resisting the job. And that's the exact time to take a short break and distract from productive writing.
Try to do some physical exercise, eat something, talk to your relatives or friends, or listen to music. The activity change helps your brain restore energy. After such a break, new writing ideas will pop up in your head.
6. Productive Freewriting
A productive freewriting session is another way to pass through some problematic checkpoint of a writer's project. Make a short break and try writing down everything coming to your head quickly. Try paying attention to your current environment or recent life experience, and make your fingers fly.
Why did your favorite football team lose their yesterday's match? What is the best feature of the new album your favorite band released recently? Why is this plant on your windowsill dying? A few minutes of freewriting will help you get rid of rust and come back to the way of productive writing mastery quickly.
7. Short Writing Sessions Are Productive
It is excellent if you can fill empty pages with texts in a couple of hours. But most people have brief flashes of creativity as a norm. For instance, your limit can be at 20 minutes. Try different timings to find an optimal one, and go in for some routine tasks during breaks.
And do not forget that even 500 words daily give you 185 000 words per year. That's a book. Or even two books.
8. Fire Your Internal Editor
You are your worst criticist. It is especially visible when you work with a draft and should concentrate on gathering ideas. But then you suddenly get stuck with a grammar mistake. Your inner "grammar-nazi" wants to correct it. As a result, the shape of the draft is excellent, but the flow of ideas stops. Is that what you wanted?
Editing and proofreading can be endless. It probably won't ever satisfy you. All in all, that's an empty mechanical job. You better postpone it and use your creative impulse.
9. Productive Writers Write All the Time
After dealing with the writer's craft for some time, one would notice great ideas appearing at the very unsuitable moment. Stay armed all the time to face and catch them. Fortunately, you don't need too much to do that. Just have a notebook and a pen with you. Or use the appropriate smartphone app. Write sudden insights down to keep them with you.
To Conclude
The point is that you should find a schedule correlating with your biorhythms and not depending on inspiration. Additionally, it is better to organize the suitable workspace, get rid of distracters, and take breaks from time to time.
While feeling yourself stuck with a creative block, try freewriting, or change your activity. Along with that all, be ready to catch your inspiration at any moment.
Use these 9 tips from professionals, and you'll become a productive writer in a couple of weeks. These are the most general but useful recommendations to create a solid basis of writing skills for a student, a journalist, a novelist, or any other author.