How To Have a Successful Writing Session (5 key tips)
Ironically, one of the things writers struggle with the most is sitting down and actually writing. There are so many distractions in modern life that it's easy to fall into the trap of time wasting and procrastination. Luckily there are some tools at your disposal that can help center your focus on the page and get that daily word count in.
1: GET SOCIAL MEDIA OUT OF THE WAY.
Let's be honest, any serious writer is going to want to spend some time working on their platform and building up a relationship with potential readers and this is necessary if you want to be taken seriously in the publishing world once your manuscript is finally complete. But there is a big difference between networking and building a brand versus endless visual consumption and energy expenditure, thus a certain amount of discipline will be required on your part when it comes to handling the time you spend on social media:
Personally I like to get it out of the way and I have the luxury of time on my hands so before I get to working on my book I allow myself 20 minutes of networking (this includes new Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest posts, answering e-mails, responding to comments and keeping up with my likes and followers). On days where I have something to blog about, I usually spend less time on social and write the blog post before getting started on my other writing. By doing this I find that I can start on my work with a clear mind and know that I have nothing else important to do but write.
If you're working on time restraints like having a day job or being a parent you may want to forgo the social media until your word count is done for the day, look at it as a reward for writing, you can scroll endlessly when you're finished. Again discipline is required here and I know its easier said than done which brings me to step 2.
2: CREATE A SPACE THAT YOU LOVE.
There is nothing more annoying than working in a space that's full of distraction, noise and, for me, visual imbalance. My current writing desk is set up just so, and though this may sound slightly OCD I cant write if everything is not in it's place. I realize that some people need to be more flexible than this and write when and where they can but I've found I do my best work if my space makes me happy. Lighting is also very important to me, a dark(ish) room with candles or warm coloured lamps or fairy lights near by helps a lot with productivity; it allows me to block out the bright noisy world and settle into the mind space I need to be in to write.
Perhaps you find your favorite writing space is the local pub or on a squashy couch surrounded by plants but whatever it is you choose, you need to be comfortable there and love it so much you'll be happy to spend hours in that spot.
3: USE STIMULATING AUDITORY INFLUENCE.
Sound can be a massive distraction, but if used correctly it can be a source of inspiration as well as a tool to help focus your attention on your work. Let's look at two separate examples of noise that you cannot control and how it will either distract you or stimulate you:
- You're at home, the neighbors dog is barking incessantly, the kids are fighting and your spouse (bless their heart) has the TV on, the noises surrounding you are all vibrating at a different pitch and pulling your attention in different directions.
- You're at the pub, everyone around you is talking but the hum of voices rises and falls in a hypnotic rhythm and pitch that could possibly lull you into I state of absolute focus.
Both sets of noises are out of your control but one is distracting while the other is stimulating.
"So how then do I control an auditory influence that stimulates me?"
Easy; earphones, there is a world of resources out there that can supply you with sounds to help you focus, I've used a lot of them myself but two stand out among them all:
ASMR Rooms on YouTube provides detailed stimulating ambient noises with a creative twist; transport yourself to the Hogwarts library as you sit among the students doing their homework or sit beside the Great Lake and write your novel surrounded by the sounds of nature.
The Calm App will give you more specific sounds to help focus your attention, listen to crashing waves or a crackling fire as you work on your book.
These ambient sounds can help stimulate your brain into a meditative state thus helping you focus better, they are not the same as music so I would like to add cautionary side note on music at this point:
Music is specifically generated to create an emotional response in humans, that is why we either love or loath certain types of music depending on how each brain is wired, but that emotional state may not always be ideal for writing because we move from scene to scene each requiring or inducing a different emotion within us and thus our reader. You cannot be writing about the eternal love of two characters while listening to death metal nor can you torture you heroine in a dungeon while listening to Happy by Pharrell Williams. So my advice is to keep ambient sound close and use music sparingly.
4: SET A DAILY GOAL.
Setting a new goal for each day is going to be massively helpful in productivity. No matter who you are, each new day comes with its own set of trials and obstacles, some days you will have a decent amount of time to work and others you won't, so planning a realistic writing session around your life is absolutely necessary in achieving your goals. On a normal writing day I average on 1100 - good - words that I usually don't ever have to get rid of, but some days when I've got things to do and I know I'm either not going to write at all or I'm only going to get a couple of words in, I only set a target of 400-500 words. The key here is not how much you write every day, its about reaching the expectations you set for yourself and never feeling discouraged by not having reached your normally high word count because life happened.
5: UNDERSTAND WHAT THE BRAIN NEEDS.
I'm going to write a more detailed post on what your brain needs for optimal focus but for the sake of keeping things succinct; having a basic understanding that the human brain is not just a box of wires that does its own thing is important. While nutrients and supplements like magnesium and omega fish oils can help a lot with your brain's functionality, things like exercise and fresh air can't be overlooked.
You may have a day when you sit in front of your key board and you feel sluggish and slightly stupid
and that writing is going to be a colossal waste of time, chances are you just need to get your heart rate up; stand up and do 50 squats with the arm movement to get your blood flowing and circulating in your brain once more, also - I cannot overstate this enough - hydrate (with water, H2O, the clear wet stuff); the brain will slow down and your eyes will get dry and tired if you're dehydrated so keep that bottle of water near by and use it friend, because science.
I wrote my first 80,000 word novel (The Chronicles of Jackal and Rabbit) without having ever been taught anything about writing, I simply applied what I knew about using creative energy effectively and found that the above 5 things helped get me through it and I hope that if you implement them into your own writing routine it will help you reach your goals too.
1: GET SOCIAL MEDIA OUT OF THE WAY.
Let's be honest, any serious writer is going to want to spend some time working on their platform and building up a relationship with potential readers and this is necessary if you want to be taken seriously in the publishing world once your manuscript is finally complete. But there is a big difference between networking and building a brand versus endless visual consumption and energy expenditure, thus a certain amount of discipline will be required on your part when it comes to handling the time you spend on social media:
Personally I like to get it out of the way and I have the luxury of time on my hands so before I get to working on my book I allow myself 20 minutes of networking (this includes new Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest posts, answering e-mails, responding to comments and keeping up with my likes and followers). On days where I have something to blog about, I usually spend less time on social and write the blog post before getting started on my other writing. By doing this I find that I can start on my work with a clear mind and know that I have nothing else important to do but write.
If you're working on time restraints like having a day job or being a parent you may want to forgo the social media until your word count is done for the day, look at it as a reward for writing, you can scroll endlessly when you're finished. Again discipline is required here and I know its easier said than done which brings me to step 2.
2: CREATE A SPACE THAT YOU LOVE.
There is nothing more annoying than working in a space that's full of distraction, noise and, for me, visual imbalance. My current writing desk is set up just so, and though this may sound slightly OCD I cant write if everything is not in it's place. I realize that some people need to be more flexible than this and write when and where they can but I've found I do my best work if my space makes me happy. Lighting is also very important to me, a dark(ish) room with candles or warm coloured lamps or fairy lights near by helps a lot with productivity; it allows me to block out the bright noisy world and settle into the mind space I need to be in to write.
Perhaps you find your favorite writing space is the local pub or on a squashy couch surrounded by plants but whatever it is you choose, you need to be comfortable there and love it so much you'll be happy to spend hours in that spot.
3: USE STIMULATING AUDITORY INFLUENCE.
Sound can be a massive distraction, but if used correctly it can be a source of inspiration as well as a tool to help focus your attention on your work. Let's look at two separate examples of noise that you cannot control and how it will either distract you or stimulate you:
- You're at home, the neighbors dog is barking incessantly, the kids are fighting and your spouse (bless their heart) has the TV on, the noises surrounding you are all vibrating at a different pitch and pulling your attention in different directions.
- You're at the pub, everyone around you is talking but the hum of voices rises and falls in a hypnotic rhythm and pitch that could possibly lull you into I state of absolute focus.
Both sets of noises are out of your control but one is distracting while the other is stimulating.
"So how then do I control an auditory influence that stimulates me?"
Easy; earphones, there is a world of resources out there that can supply you with sounds to help you focus, I've used a lot of them myself but two stand out among them all:
ASMR Rooms on YouTube provides detailed stimulating ambient noises with a creative twist; transport yourself to the Hogwarts library as you sit among the students doing their homework or sit beside the Great Lake and write your novel surrounded by the sounds of nature.
The Calm App will give you more specific sounds to help focus your attention, listen to crashing waves or a crackling fire as you work on your book.
These ambient sounds can help stimulate your brain into a meditative state thus helping you focus better, they are not the same as music so I would like to add cautionary side note on music at this point:
Music is specifically generated to create an emotional response in humans, that is why we either love or loath certain types of music depending on how each brain is wired, but that emotional state may not always be ideal for writing because we move from scene to scene each requiring or inducing a different emotion within us and thus our reader. You cannot be writing about the eternal love of two characters while listening to death metal nor can you torture you heroine in a dungeon while listening to Happy by Pharrell Williams. So my advice is to keep ambient sound close and use music sparingly.
4: SET A DAILY GOAL.
Setting a new goal for each day is going to be massively helpful in productivity. No matter who you are, each new day comes with its own set of trials and obstacles, some days you will have a decent amount of time to work and others you won't, so planning a realistic writing session around your life is absolutely necessary in achieving your goals. On a normal writing day I average on 1100 - good - words that I usually don't ever have to get rid of, but some days when I've got things to do and I know I'm either not going to write at all or I'm only going to get a couple of words in, I only set a target of 400-500 words. The key here is not how much you write every day, its about reaching the expectations you set for yourself and never feeling discouraged by not having reached your normally high word count because life happened.
5: UNDERSTAND WHAT THE BRAIN NEEDS.
I'm going to write a more detailed post on what your brain needs for optimal focus but for the sake of keeping things succinct; having a basic understanding that the human brain is not just a box of wires that does its own thing is important. While nutrients and supplements like magnesium and omega fish oils can help a lot with your brain's functionality, things like exercise and fresh air can't be overlooked.
You may have a day when you sit in front of your key board and you feel sluggish and slightly stupid
I wrote my first 80,000 word novel (The Chronicles of Jackal and Rabbit) without having ever been taught anything about writing, I simply applied what I knew about using creative energy effectively and found that the above 5 things helped get me through it and I hope that if you implement them into your own writing routine it will help you reach your goals too.
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