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Note: I'm syndicating these over on the Hunt to Read official blog. Check it out if you haven't yet.
You've finished the prep work. You have your tools. You even
managed to sit down and start writing; it might not be Hemmingway, but hey, at
least you have a jumping-off point.
Yet if you're anything like I was, you're struggling. Maybe
you've inched your way through 10, 15, even 25 or so pages. Well done! My guess
is that unless you really have a story burning a hole in your brain (it
happens) or if you're just naturally juiced up about writing (also happens),
you've probably hit a bit of a lull.
I should know; when I quit my previous job, as an attorney
at a large law firm, it took me a while to really get going as a writer. Keep
in mind that most of my work as an attorney was
writing! I often had to churn out incredible numbers of words on very short
deadlines, proof my own work, and deliver it to partners or clients.
And yet, when I no longer had that structure in place, those
quick deadlines or nudging emails from eager clients, I struggled.
It didn't help that I bought in to a lot of the myths I
heard about creative writing: that it's hard.
That you have to write, then re-write, then re-write again, send off the
manuscript, get rejections, re-write again...etc. I would sit down, focus for a
couple of hours, look at the page progress in my double-spaced Word document,
and figure, "Well, five pages is pretty good for the day. Maybe I should
write a blog post to build my all-important 'platform.'"
It's amazing how young and naive I was only two short years
ago!
Even if I wanted to write more, it was about that time of
day that the "brain fog" seeped into my mind. I could hardly think,
let alone conjure up how a "scene" with these ridiculous
"characters" was supposed to go. Much easier to do some
"research" to figure out how the characters would react!
[Blood boiling...can't resist...urge...to strangle...self!]
Dean Wesley Smith does a fantastic job of laying out a lot
of these myths and chopping them down in his fantastic Killing the
Sacred Cows of Publishing series of posts. His post about "Writing Faster"
absolutely altered the course of my life.
Let me back up; in law school, my last "class," if
you can call it that, was a sixty-page independent study paper under the
fantastic Professor Anne Coughlin. Call it a thesis of sorts. It was about how
law and trials had served as entertainment for the masses from Ancient Greece
through the Lizzie Borden trial and beyond; what was so compelling about the law that turned us all into
slack-jawed lookie-loos, even in ancient times?
It was a decently fun paper to write, but it was also very
research-intensive. Fortunately, the school gave us an extra week after
graduation to finish up the project.
Unfortunately, I was my immature, younger self. Instead of
doing the responsible thing and finishing the paper up by graduation, I left
campus with a grand total of 20 pages written.
With three days left, I had 25.
I wrote the rest of that paper, all 38 pages of it, in three
days, heavily researched, writing about ten hours per day. Proofread, edited,
the whole nine yards.
Yet there I was, three years later, struggling to write more
than five pages in one sitting.
Of fiction.
Something wasn't right here. I knew I had the capacity to
write more, but how in the heck was I supposed to get back to that level that I
was at when I finished my paper in those manic three days?
More importantly, how could I keep that pace up, or even
surpass it for long stretches of time?
Here are some of the tips I've gleaned along the way to do
just that.
Get a Job Writing
This is easier said than done, but nothing helped me more
than becoming a beat reporter covering the St. Louis Rams during the 2011
season.
I wrote six columns a week, each one at least 1200 words and
often closer to 1500. One of those columns each week was my colorful "Power Rankings,"
which contained clearly fictional, outlandish scenarios involving teams that
developed a bit of a cult following.
Those Power Rankings columns averaged 5000 words.
I wrote them in a single day, on what was supposed to be one of my days off:
Tuesday.
I went above and beyond first of all because I loved what I
was doing, but also precisely because I wanted to push myself, to get back to
that level of stamina that I previously was at.
Not only that, but by writing so much, my ancillary skills (thinking up topics,
editing, researching) all developed a lot
during that single season of football.
But even more than that, I was getting paid to write; it
made it seem like more of a profession to me. Though my work outfit was often a
polo shirt and jeans instead of a suit and tie, I still learned to put fingers
to keys and write, write, write.
That said, it's very tough to earn an opportunity like that.
I'll be the first to admit that I was very lucky to land that gig; if I hadn't
quit my job two months before, I would've seen the posting, fantasized about
applying for it, then shook my head as I went back to tedious legal work.
Even without such an opportunity, there are things that are
entirely in your control that can help you write more words per writing
session:
Start a Blog, or
Better Still, Write for a Blog
Anyone can start a blog. It's free and easy on sites like Blogger and Wordpress. I prefer Blogger because it's what
I'm used to, but a lot of folks swear by the functionality of Wordpress; to
each her own.
I tried turning my personal blog into a "platform" in the early
going, tried posting to it every day back when it was about self-actualization.
This was pre-Rams gig, and the results were less-than-thrilling; I churned out
post-after-post, with no comments and minimal traffic.
I was going about it all wrong, and would have absolutely
done things differently if I was starting up now (but that's a different post
entirely). It did help me get into the habit of writing every day, so I guess
that was helpful.
However, I would suggest writing a blog for a while and then
use that blog as writing samples to book a regular guest post gig on another,
more popular blog. It's sad, but if you know that more people are reading what
you write, and you have a regular schedule, even if it's once a week, I
guarantee that you'll take your writing to the next level.
Once you guest post a few times, try to leverage that into a role as a regular
contributor. It might scare you now, but remember, this is about increasing
your word output.
Mastered that? Maybe pick up another gig as a regular.
I'm just trying to have you replicate what I did as best you can. It'd be great
if you could get a gig where you were expected to write 12,000 words a week all
in one place. Until then, though, try to replicate the quantity and commitment
of that output as best you can.
Write a Long Form
Piece on Something You're Passionate About...Then Do It Again
Pick a day. Clear your schedule. Plan out and write a 5,000
word piece on something that you're
passionate about.
I wrote the Power Rankings because I enjoyed writing them on
my old blog. They allowed me to mix my natural affinities for football, humor,
and fiction. In short, I was passionate about all of those topics, and created
a way to combine them.
I'm sure there are similar things that cause you to smile, that put a little
more bounce in your step and wind in your sails. Maybe it's a hobby, or
politics, or sports, or food. There are literally millions of topics that
qualify.
Pick one of them and write a 5,000 word essay, all in one
day. You can take breaks, but be careful; the break is a fickle creature that
you have to be careful with until later in your writing career. I don't care if
it takes you until early the next morning to finish, but write those 5,000
words no matter what.
Then, the next weekend, do it all over again. In fact, keep doing it until churning out those 5,000 word sessions doesn't seem so hard anymore.
Maybe when you're done, if the topics are somewhat related, you can collect these essays into a book and throw it up on Amazon...but I'm getting ahead of myself.
The lesson behind this is that not only does it feel good to write those 5,000
words in a day, but you prove to yourself that you can do it multiple times.
It's not just a one-time thing because you were writing on your favorite topic;
if you do it twice, then why not a third time? Then a fourth time? And so on.
Prove that you can write the sheer volume, then repeat it over and over again
until you're comfortable with it.
Use the Tools!
By now, surely you have Scrivener. You don't? What!? We
covered this two posts ago! Yes, yes, absolutely
go get it now!
One of the great things about Scrivener is that it has a
"Project Targets" tool that tracks the number of words you've
targeted for the day, as well as the entire manuscript. It's under
"Project" - "Show Project Targets" in the Scrivener menu
bar.
It's absolutely a great way to both hold yourself
accountable and also see the steady progress that a 4,000 or 5,000 word day
will bring. Use the tools that you already have.
Limit Distractions
Doing all of the above, but still not writing much? Why not
try writing at home instead of at Starbucks, or turning off the internet while
you write? I'll admit it, because I'm part of a team running a website now, it's
incredibly tough for me to turn off the internet at any point during the day or
evening. That said, when I started out writing, there were long stretches of
days that I forced myself to go without internet to make sure that I didn't
just "hop on" a site. Then you type for a while, and before you know
it, you're thinking "how did those 3,000 words get up there?" It's
amazing what a little forced focus can do!
Don't Edit
I'm not one of those
people screaming "Never edit...NEVER SURRENDER!" from the rooftops. I
think a lot of folks think that this is what Dean Wesley Smith advocates under
his "don't rewrite"
philosophy. It's not at all. Don't know why so many people misread that post.
Editing (meaning copy editing and cutting excess fat) has a
place in the life of every book.
Just not while you're writing. Re-writing (changing scenes,
characters, etc.) is even worse; you start questioning your own work and
spinning your wheels.
Get that first draft out on paper. Odds are that you'll
think your first draft of your first novel is a lot better than it is. That's
fine. Trust me, each subsequent first draft will get a little cleaner, look a
little neater. For now, get the words on the page. Don't let an impromptu
editing session ruin the flow.
Take a Walk
I used to think that traditional "writer's block"
was something. Now, I think it's just me being lazy. Don't get me wrong; I
still give in to it from time-to-time, but I do so knowing full well that I'm
making it up; if I want to know what happens next, I just need to look at my
mind map.
What I usually mean by "I have writer's block" is
that I think my dialogue is too boring, or my characters sound too flat at the
moment. If this happens, I go for a nice long walk of at least two miles. I always throw on a comedy podcast while
doing so; my current favorite is You Made it Weird, with
Pete Holmes, but I also really enjoy Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend,
The Adam and Dr. Drew Show, and
The
Adam Carolla Show. They may or may not be for you; there are literally thousands of other podcasts out there to
choose from. The important thing is that you pick podcasts that have elements
of improv within them
DO NOT steal their jokes; that's absolutely wrong, and NOT
the point of this!
DO absolutely imagine that you're the third person in the
room, and think what you would say if you were there. This gets your brain back
in "improv mode," which gets you closer to being able to be in the
moment, writing as the story comes to you. It could be one-liners or bits or
whatever, but I've found that listening to improv-y podcasts gets my mind
flowing, and gets my "dialogue brain" back on track. Similarly...
Get into Sudoku
I picked up Sudoku on a lark probably about a
year-and-a-half ago. I usually do USA
Today's puzzle pretty much every weekday; it's always solvable without
guessing, and the Thursday/Friday ones can throw you some real curves.
It doesn't have to be Sudoku, but think of other ways to get
your mind moving, keep it nimble, and solving problems. After all, solving
problems within a set of rules you've created for your characters is absolutely
what fiction writing is about.
Learn to Touch Type
If you can't, I'd strongly suggest learning how to
touch-type. The crazy thing is, my parents tried to get my brother and I to do
so as kids, first through the boring Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and then
through the slightly-more exciting Mario Teaches Typing.
It never really took until I was in college, and simply had to find a way to type more quickly
than via hunt and peck alone. Since then, just by writing a lot, I've gotten to the point where I
can touch type as fast and accurately as pretty much anyone I know.
Some people need a course or software to learn it, though;
my brother was one of them. He took a class over the summer one year in high
school, and for a while he could type a lot
more quickly than I could. There's absolutely no shame in it, and it'll be
money well spent. Remember, you're aiming to be a professional; treat your
training accordingly.
Summary
All of these activities boil down to a few simple lessons:
-Write. A lot.
-Create a set of circumstances that forces you to write a
lot.
-Stretch out your sessions by writing long-form pieces on
topics you enjoy.
-Use the tools already in your toolkit.
-Limit Distractions.
-Use physical and mental exercises to break through
so-called "writer's blocks," which are often a creation of our own
minds.
-Increase your physical typing speed so that when you're
"in the zone," you capture all of your thoughts more quickly, and
thus capture more words in a shorter period of time.
I know it was a long piece--2,500 words or so. Total time it
took me? 90 minutes, start-to-finish. Sure, it helped that I had some idea of
what I was going to write ahead of time, but it was largely "just write,
dummy!", with purpose and dedication.
Follow these steps, and some day, you'll be able to keep
this pace, as well.
Have any tips on how to get more words out on the page per
session? How to fight through writer's block? Leave them in the comments.
Previous Posts in this Series:
#1: Before You Start
#2: The Idea Hunt
#3: Tools of the Trade ("What You Need to Publish Your Indie Book for Cheap")
#4: Sit Down and Start Writing!
In addition to being the co-founder and CEO of Hunt to Read, D.J. Gelner is a writer in St. Louis Missouri. Check out his books, available at his Amazon
Author Page and on Nook, iBooks, and Kobo. Follow him on twitter (@djgelner) or facebook (here). E-mail
him directly at djgelbooks@gmail.com.Labels: Fiction, Indie Publishing, Non-Fiction, Reading, Writing
I should know; when I quit my previous job, as an attorney
at a large law firm, it took me a while to really get going as a writer. Keep
in mind that most of my work as an attorney was
writing! I often had to churn out incredible numbers of words on very short
deadlines, proof my own work, and deliver it to partners or clients.