How to write more in less time.
Writing is a love/hate thing with most people. Those who love it, generally only
love it when they are not doing it or when they are editing their past work. They
love the fact they have done it, but they hate the fact that they have to do more.
Such is the way of the universe. Writing is more of a “What have you done for me
lately?” type of business. A cliché in business is that you are only as good as the
last piece of work you have done and in writing, it’s no different.
The funny thing about writing is that once you are in the right scheme of mind
“the zone” if you will, you can get extreme amounts of work done in a short
period of time. Sounds nice, right?
The good news is that once you can get into that zone easily, you become a
hundred times more productive. The bad news is getting to the stage where
writing is what you really want to do. Sure, watching Game Of Thrones is great
and fun, but does it really further your goals? You have to make it more
important than other things you could spend time on.
This advice doesn’t just apply to writing. If you are a musician, you need to be in
the studio every day trying to write music. Quality doesn’t matter so much to
begin with, you can always go back and iterate on an earlier idea in a more
eloquent way. I always think that editing a horrific first draft is easier than
creating a masterpiece first time round.
Recording your thoughts on any subject makes it easier to deal with the task.
Carrying a notebook or an iPad around with you to type and store your thoughts
into an app like Evernote or OneNote is a very helpful tip that saves me hours of
my life every week. Make writing a habit, just like exercise. After a few weeks of
weightlifting or running, when you don’t do them you start to feel bad. This is
how not honing your craft should feel. Shame isn’t the most glamorous of
reasons do fulfill a goal, but it does work.