PRACTICE. I didn't start out writing that much, but I stuck with writing every single day, even the days when I really, really didn't want to write, I did it anyway. I treated it like a job early on and now getting the words in is WAY easier than it used to be, but I've been doing it for a few years now. I suggest starting with a reasona…
PRACTICE. I didn't start out writing that much, but I stuck with writing every single day, even the days when I really, really didn't want to write, I did it anyway. I treated it like a job early on and now getting the words in is WAY easier than it used to be, but I've been doing it for a few years now. I suggest starting with a reasonable number of words you can honestly get done every single day, maybe that's 50 words, or 500, or 1000, but pick a number that's honest and doable, then do it. Hit that word count goal every day for a few weeks. Then add on 50 more words, or 100 more words, or whatever. Hit that wordcount goal for two weeks. Etc etc. It's a muscle, just build it up over time.
Great advice DC, it’s really about Butt in chair and fingers on keyboard isn’t it? But despite plotting and outlining heaps I can still stare at the screen and not type all that much! It’s a huge amount of resistance and I just don’t get it. Did you ever feel this way? And also, how do you manage to turn off the internal editor as you’re writing? I’ve just never been good at pouring words out onto the page. Thanks!
I think you should take a step back and try to identify why you’re not writing. Is it fear of not being good enough? Just don’t think you know what to say? There are solutions to all these issues and I really think it’s about figuring out what’s not working in your process and fixing it. Oh I forgot to mention, early in my career I wrote on a little device called the Alphasmart Neo— it’s basically a keyboard with a small screen, big enough for like 4 lines of text. There’s no internet, so no distractions. I used to print out my outline and sit down with only my Neo and my outline and write. You can’t edit on the Neo, because of the tiny screen, and you can’t even obsess over Twitter because you left all your internet devices in the other room. The Neo was a big help in teaching me to turn off the editor voice. I’ve also worked hard to get my prose to a point where it’s “good enough” and I’m not stressing over perfection— my readers don’t expect it. So long as I’m trying my hardest given the limitations of each release (time, resources) then I’m happy and generally my readers are too. It’s about accepting that you’re not perfect and getting that first draft down— you can fix it later if you want and endlessly tweak, or maybe you’ll find it’s actually pretty good! But yeah look into getting a Neo, it’s very weird at first and you can only find them on eBay at this point, but totally worth it, best writing device ever made IMO.
All great advice thanks so much! And yes, fear of failure, not being good enough, who’s gonna wanna read this - all this shifts around on top of the loud editor. And accepting that the first draft is going to be pretty crap is something I’m learning slowly! I’ll look into the device thanks! It looks interesting and an homage to the old school screens :) Thank you for the insight and the writing! Have you shared your pen name if we’re interested in your books?
PRACTICE. I didn't start out writing that much, but I stuck with writing every single day, even the days when I really, really didn't want to write, I did it anyway. I treated it like a job early on and now getting the words in is WAY easier than it used to be, but I've been doing it for a few years now. I suggest starting with a reasonable number of words you can honestly get done every single day, maybe that's 50 words, or 500, or 1000, but pick a number that's honest and doable, then do it. Hit that word count goal every day for a few weeks. Then add on 50 more words, or 100 more words, or whatever. Hit that wordcount goal for two weeks. Etc etc. It's a muscle, just build it up over time.
Great advice DC, it’s really about Butt in chair and fingers on keyboard isn’t it? But despite plotting and outlining heaps I can still stare at the screen and not type all that much! It’s a huge amount of resistance and I just don’t get it. Did you ever feel this way? And also, how do you manage to turn off the internal editor as you’re writing? I’ve just never been good at pouring words out onto the page. Thanks!
I think you should take a step back and try to identify why you’re not writing. Is it fear of not being good enough? Just don’t think you know what to say? There are solutions to all these issues and I really think it’s about figuring out what’s not working in your process and fixing it. Oh I forgot to mention, early in my career I wrote on a little device called the Alphasmart Neo— it’s basically a keyboard with a small screen, big enough for like 4 lines of text. There’s no internet, so no distractions. I used to print out my outline and sit down with only my Neo and my outline and write. You can’t edit on the Neo, because of the tiny screen, and you can’t even obsess over Twitter because you left all your internet devices in the other room. The Neo was a big help in teaching me to turn off the editor voice. I’ve also worked hard to get my prose to a point where it’s “good enough” and I’m not stressing over perfection— my readers don’t expect it. So long as I’m trying my hardest given the limitations of each release (time, resources) then I’m happy and generally my readers are too. It’s about accepting that you’re not perfect and getting that first draft down— you can fix it later if you want and endlessly tweak, or maybe you’ll find it’s actually pretty good! But yeah look into getting a Neo, it’s very weird at first and you can only find them on eBay at this point, but totally worth it, best writing device ever made IMO.
All great advice thanks so much! And yes, fear of failure, not being good enough, who’s gonna wanna read this - all this shifts around on top of the loud editor. And accepting that the first draft is going to be pretty crap is something I’m learning slowly! I’ll look into the device thanks! It looks interesting and an homage to the old school screens :) Thank you for the insight and the writing! Have you shared your pen name if we’re interested in your books?
Thank you for responding! I'm not sure I can make my fingers move that quickly but I'll try your method!