Thirteen Tips for Actually Getting Some Writing Done.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.
This Wednesday: 13 tips for actually getting some writing accomplished.

One of the challenges of writing is...writing. Here are some tips that I’ve found most useful for myself, for actually getting words onto the page:

1. Write something every work-day, and preferably, every day; don’t wait for inspiration to strike. Staying inside a project keeps you engaged, keeps your mind working, and keeps ideas flowing. Also, perhaps surprisingly, it’s often easier to do something almost every day than to do it three times a week. (This may be related to the abstainer/moderator split.)

2. Remember that if you have even just fifteen minutes, you can get something done. Don’t mislead yourself, as I did for several years, with thoughts like, “If I don’t have three or four hours clear, there’s no point in starting.”

3. Don’t binge on writing. Staying up all night, not leaving your house for days, abandoning all other priorities in your life -- these habits lead to burn-out.

4. If you have trouble re-entering a project, stop working in mid-thought — even mid-sentence — so it’s easy to dive back in later.

5. Don’t get distracted by how much you are or aren’t getting done. I put myself in jail.

6. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that creativity descends on you at random. Creative thinking comes most easily when you’re writing regularly and frequently, when you’re constantly thinking about your project.

7. Remember that lots of good ideas and great writing come during the revision stage. I've found, for myself, that I need to get a beginning, middle, and an end in place, and then the more creative and complex ideas begin to form. So I try not to be discouraged by first drafts.

8. Develop a method of keeping track of thoughts, ideas, articles, or anything that catches your attention. That keeps you from forgetting ideas that might turn out to be important, and also, combing through these materials helps stimulate your creativity. My catch-all document, where I store everything related to happiness that I don’t have another place for, is more than five hundred pages long. Some people use inspiration boards; others keep scrapbooks. Whatever works for you.

9. Pay attention to your physical comfort. Do you have a decent desk and chair? Are you cramped? Is the light too dim or too bright? Make a salute—if you feel relief when your hand is shading your eyes, your desk is too brightly lit. Check your body, too: lower your shoulders, make sure your tongue isn’t pressed against the top of your mouth, don’t sit in a contorted way. Being physically uncomfortable tires you out and makes work seem harder.

10. Try to eliminate interruptions — by other people, email, your phone, or poking around the Internet — but don’t tell yourself that you can only work with complete peace and quiet.

11. Over his writing desk, Franz Kafka had one word: “Wait.” My brilliantly creative friend Tad Low, however, keeps a different word on his desk: “Now.” Both pieces of advice are good.

12. If you’re stuck, try going for a walk and reading a really good book. Virginia Woolf noted to herself: “The way to rock oneself back into writing is this. First gentle exercise in the air. Second the reading of good literature. It is a mistake to think that literature can be produced from the raw.”

13. At least in my experience, the most important tip for getting writing done? Have something to say! This sounds obvious, but it’s a lot easier to write when you’re trying to tell a story, explain an idea, convey an impression, give a review, or whatever. If you're having trouble writing, forget about the writing and focus on what you want to communicate. For example, I remember flailing desperately as I tried to write my college and law-school application essays. It was horrible – until in both cases I realized I had something I really wanted to say. Then the writing came easily, and those two essays are among my favorites of things I’ve ever written.

Teaser for The Happiness Project book (due out in January) – there I write about my experience when I wrote a novel in a month, inspired by Chris Baty’s No Plot? No Problem!. Yes, you can write a real novel in one month. It was a lot of fun.

* I always find something great on Dumb Little Man.

* If you're starting your own happiness project, please join the Page on Facebook to swap ideas. It's easy; it's free.

Comments

[Dave]

The first tip is the most important: do it daily - even if it's just a little bit. Once you let it slide, it's so easy to lose the thread completely.

Daily action is a personal statement that you're playing a bigger game & makes a huge difference.

[Nora]

I have written daily for over two years by writing, as many people around the world do, haiku. I am a single, working mom, so it is the small commitment to daily writing I can keep. And it keeps me aware of Now.

[Kristin]

Great tips! I've definitely fallen into several of the traps you mentioned -- particularly the "I don't have enough time free right now" and "creativity descends at random." Sometimes sitting down when you're not feeling the words is just plain frustrating, but sometimes the words come anyway. That's always a surprise. Plus, your point about revisions applies here, too. Get SOMETHING on the page, even when you're blocked; it might not be great, it might be kinda horrible, but that's what revisions are for. You'll fix it later. You won't get past the block if you don't put something down.

A comment about physical comfort: don't get too focused on this. Don't say, "I can't write unless it's 74 degrees and I'm on my couch and the sun is shining in the east." Needing the perfect environment can become just as much of a trap (or an excuse!) as anything else you mentioned.

Stopping mid-thought is a very excellent technique that I wish I'd realized a lot sooner. I've started doing that and it helps. Coming back and having to start a new scene or even just a new thought is hard.

[Positively Present]

Great post! You have amazing ideas here and the ones I don't already do I'm going to put to work. I also wrote a novel in a month and, though it wasn't easy, it was rewarding. I think every writer should give National Novel Writing Month a shot. Dumb Little Man is a great site...I love stopping by and picking up great tips there.

Thanks, as always, for a great post. I'm always getting wonderful inspiration from you!

[Roger]

Great post especially for us fellow bloggers!

I like tip 7 the best. I often get great ideas as I revise a post. Unfortunately, I also get great ideas after I publish the post. :)

For first drafts, I find it helps me to write quickly without revising. I just get a rough idea out.

[Chico Woo]

Thank you for the great tips. I have heard them before but you way you put them just made sense. Hopefully the tips will translate into my writing discipline.

[Greg Nelson]

Thank you for 13 great tips! Very helpful. One of my biggest obstacles (which might apply to #7 or deserve a separate mention) is my tendency toward perfectionism. I'm tempted to hesitate writing unless I feel like I can get it out perfectly from the start which leads to working and working at phrasing a sentence until it sounds just right instead of simply writing and writing regardless of how it sounds at first. I can spend all my writing time in my head trying to think through a sentence or thought before putting it down if I feel that what I put down has to be perfect. Therefore, writing never happens. I like your revision point for this reason.

[Greg Nelson]

Thank you for 13 great tips! Very helpful. One of my big obstacles to writing (related to your #7 or perhaps deserving of a separate mention) is a tendency toward perfectionism. I am tempted to think that whatever I put down on paper needs to be perfect right from the start - which leads to working and reworking a phrase or sentence until it sounds really really good before moving on instead of writing and writing to get things out without stopping. I can allow myself to keep everything inside my head first until it sounds just right for fear it needs to be worthy of a pulitzer prize the moment it goes on paper. Consequently, writing can never happen or the task seems far too daunting. So your #7 tip on revision is really significant. Thanks for your practical insights.

[Era]

I try to write everyday to for the sake of my blog. Sometimes I do need a break however.

I've noticed my mood affects my writing. I may not like the way are particular post is going, but I will not delete it! I keep it as a draft and go back to it when I am better rested or in a better mood. Taking that break may help me approach the topic from a different angle and help me to present it in a more coherent and even entertaining way.

Don't delete those drafts!!! Even though it may not make the grade the way it is, it may provide great inspiration when writer's block strikes.

[Karin Manske]

What a great post! Thank you for your writing insights, will be of great help!
Karin

[Vi]

These are absolutely wonderful tips. These sorts of tips sustained me when I was writing my dissertation. They remind me of a great book called "Writing your dissertation in fifteen minutes a day". It's by Joan Bolker.

Your tips #1 & 2 are the most important. The idea is to create a habit of writing, so that it is not dependent on your mood. And when I have writer's block or just don't "feel" like writing, I write through it. Just write freely about everything and anything that comes to mind. Slowly, ideas emerge from the seemingly inane ramblings.

[Doris]

Numbers 2, 6, 7, 10, 12, and 13 are my favorites. Number 9 can be counter-productive - if I'm too comfortable, I may doze off. ;-)

Also: does anyone here actually still hand-write, or is it mostly typing? Although I hand write affirmations and jot down what I remember of random dreams in a notebook, a couple of postcards were a challenge recently and my hand felt so awkward!

Looking forward to your book, what number of draft/version are you on, just out of curiosity?

Best, Dee xx

[Gretchen Rubin]

glad to hear that these strategies are helpful! what did I miss?

about my book -- it's coming out in January, so I'm just about finished. Tomorrow I'm getting my "second pass pages" which means I'm just about at the point of not being able to edit any more.

I have NO IDEA how many versions I did. Lots. Lots and lots and lots.

[Ben and Efrat]

Thanks for the great tips!

Here are a few more tips that work for us.

1. Meditate before you write. Clear mind flows better.

2. Get a decent night sleep! So many people ignore that and then wonder where has their creativity gone. Inner tiredness kills motivation and ability.

3. Learn the very basics of EFT. It only takes some 15 min to learn and 5 min to do. It can help you greatly to release inner resistance to writing due to emotional pitfalls and limiting thoughts and beliefs.

Happy Writing.

Love, Ben & Efrat.

[Rose]

Great suggestions, Gretchen! I fall into the "not enough time" trap, yet when I sit down to update my blog, I find myself blog-surfing, facebooking, doing everything else but writing. I have ideas galore that I think of and start writing in my mind as I drive or am gardening or out for a walk ... then I forget them. I need to be more disciplined and write every day.

[Christopher]

Great tips. The fact that you write (and publish) almost every day (and quality stuff!!) is proof that this can work.

[Liv @ One Year of Beauty]

Thanks for these - great reminders as I tweak the first draft of my own book. Writing can be such a happiness-maker if we just let it flow out of us!

[Anthony]

"If you're having trouble writing, forget about the writing and focus on what you want to communicate."

- I should keep that in mind.

[Alex Fayle]

I've implemented all of these tips recently and am amazed at my progress. Each workday,

* I leave the house and go to the library to work
* I write just one scene on my novel, then one piece of a short story, then one piece of whatever writing workshop I'm doing.
* I take away the fear and scariness of writing by making it habit

When I can't go I feel all bummed out about it and can't wait to get back to it rather than my previous attitude of avoiding the fear of not writing by not writing at all (yes I know it doesn't make sense, but fear never does).

[Paige]

Thanks! I needed these tips today. I just registered for a Creative Writing course that I am psyched about, but I am happy to take your tips and put them into full force. I apire to wirte more and I am going to try some of your great tips, today!

[KCCC]

One idea that relates to your revising... a college friend of mine referred to the first version of any paper as the "vomit draft."

- It's ugly and stinky. (That's its nature. Accept it.)
- You just have to get it out. Then you'll feel better.
- Then you clean it up. :)

An icky metaphor, but one that works for me, because it keeps me from the standard perfectionist traps - polishing a single sentence when I don't really know where it's going.

[Abigail Naumann]

#8 is so true. Often I struggle because it's not just how I'd like it the first time through. But writing is a process, and it takes time. I loved this post so much that I blogged about it myself!

http://justabs06.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/motivation-to-write/

Thanks for the inspiration!

[Meream]

Don’t get distracted by how much you are or aren’t getting done. == This is my problem.

[Steve @ Freedom Education]

Hi Gretchen,

#13 is my fav.... I do my best writing when I have something to say, explain or teach that is really just waiting to poor out onto the page.

"I have NO IDEA how many versions I did. Lots. Lots and lots and lots."

Good luck with your new book :)

Steve

[Dr. Russ Buss]

Thanks Gretchen. Your writing tips really helped today. I sat at the computer with no thought about what to write, but I am committed to blogging daily. I read your post and knew I had something to write about!

[Emily-Sarah]

Excellent advice! You're so right that we tend to think of creativity descending at random. While sometimes there is a sudden spark of inspiration that hits, we can't discount the part that dogged discipline/habitual actions/"going through the motions" plays in the muse's appearance.

[Dee Wilcox]

I just read your post this morning, and it really encouraged me. I've been a little burned out with my writing and really wasn't sure where to start when I sat down this morning.

Tip #1 is a commitment I began to myself about a year ago, and I have since been writing *nearly* every day. Unfortunately, I now tend to be one of those "binge writers" (hadn't heard the term, fits perfectly :) ). I want to be super productive and have blog posts scheduled in advance, so I write a lot at once when I have something to say. I just realized the negativity in this behavior, as I've been a little burned out lately.

Tip #12 is huge for me. When I'm stuck indoors, haven't exercised or worked in the garden or walked the dogs for day, my creativity seems to drain away. Exercise, followed by a hot bath with a good book are the cure for me. :D

[Martin]

Thanks for these great tips. Even for an inexperienced writer like myself, I was able to gain a lot from them.

[HP van Duuren]

Thanks for the great post,

I am a little jealous when I see the productivity on other blogs, like for example on this blog there constantly is lots of new fresh content!

Luckely I have some - third party - 'Daily Items' running on my Blogspots, so that way I do offer a constant stream of daily fresh content on them, even if I don't post on them every day myself.

Besides every dis-advantage has it's advantage and I now am able to simply call all my posts extra exclusive!!! :)

That doesn't mean that I don't write a lot, I even have a special Writing Blogspot.http://hpshappywriting.blogspot.com

Feel free to have a visit and I don't mind people to be very productive in writing compelling comment's on blogposts. You can also find a lot of interesting info and resources for Writers there.

All the Best,
To your Happy - Writing - Inspiration,
HP

[Ruanna]

I love these tips! My favorite? #13: "Have something to say!" Too often I get caught up in the meta goal or process -- as in, "I need to write this thing (article, dissertation, great novel)!" -- and that distracts me from putting my energy into actually doing it. This is a new mantra for my writing for sure!!! Thanks, girl!!!!

[Katrine]

Thanks a lot for the great energy in these pages :) I've been playing with the thought of writing for a while but have been struggling with the "gotta be perfect" syndrome. A friend of mine gave me the great advice to blog anonymously for a while before going public. It has helped me overcome my fear and after doing it for a short time now I have gained more confidence and find myself actually writing every day at the same time it has helped me notice and remember the little things in every day life that I find valuable to write about.

[rowena]

these are great tips. thanks. I"ve been a binge writer lately... with long deserts of drought.

I want to change this.

[Helen Hickson]

Thanks for your tips Gretchen - I am trying to write a PhD thesis and I really appreciate your advice. thank you

[BIO]

I can so relate to tips #8 and #13. My mind is naturally active now in that whenever I get informed about something, it always comes in twos or threes in regard to association. And it's beneficial in building a blog post for me later in the day or just whenever I am free to work on it because I automatically bookmark a site or save content for reference then email it my other account. Plus, the other tip I mentioned required me in the beginning to not stress about a single line of thought when I'm in front of the computer. I just naturally opine about the issue and everything else follow beautifully!

[J Grants]

You have no idea how much I needed to read your post. Thanks for the tips. I was beginning to be too reliant on bursts of inspiration to the point that I don't get anything started.

[cheap supra shoes]

I am wonderring if I can share your article in the bookmarks of society,Then more friends can talk about this problem.