I find the biggest problem I have when it comes to writing is discipline. At the moment I'm very lazy and easily distracted, and it frustrates me that I don't produce more. Any thoughts from people?
Writing Habits
- Thread starter JimmyNic
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I suffer from writer's laze and a short attention span. A solution that I stumbled across is joining Jane Espenson's writing sprints. The moments when I'm feeling the least creative urge are the moments when they seem to pop into my twitter feed. It seems like such a small thing, but an hour of working fast and hard with no distractions, no tweeting, no phone calls, no TV has proved to be incredibly beneficial and I often end the hour long sprints with the desire to keep going.
For some reason it's ok easier for me to cut out the distractions if instructed to do so by someone else. I couldn't tell you why, couldn't even venture a guess--nor do I care to. |I just enjoy it for what it is: a forced march.
For some reason it's ok easier for me to cut out the distractions if instructed to do so by someone else. I couldn't tell you why, couldn't even venture a guess--nor do I care to. |I just enjoy it for what it is: a forced march.
Best remedy I have for low productivity is to turn off the internet. No email, no AW, blogger or facebook.
It works wonders for me.
It works wonders for me.
I struggle with discipline when it comes to writing too. I found that turning off the internet helps a lot, as well as working in a place where there is no television.
Ent that the truth.
Is there some obstacle the piece is presenting that's making it harder to stay disciplined? If that's the case maybe you could break the obstacle up...
There's various ways to trick yourself into focusing. Deadlines work for me. I often participate in NaNoWriMo (the 'write a novel in a month' challenge) to bang out a first draft. I have never hit a creativity wall so hard that NaNo couldn't kick through it.
You can try to establish daily goals and make yourself stick to them until it's become an habit. It can be 100 words per day for a month, then maybe 250 words per day the next month.
You can try to establish daily goals and make yourself stick to them until it's become an habit. It can be 100 words per day for a month, then maybe 250 words per day the next month.
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I have low self-esteem/self-confidence. So, on one hand, I want to break out of my "main genre" and write other stuff, anything, but at same time I always wonder if I'm doing it well enough or good enough. My biggest issue is wondering if I'm doing it right, if that makes sense. To sum all of that up, I ask more questions about writing than actually writing some of the time. Granted, I am thankful that I found AW, and I have a learned a wealth of invaluable info on writing. But at the same time, I just wish I believed in myself a little bit more than I do.
The name of this thread tells you what to do!
Get in the habit of writing. No matter the amount, just do it. Daily if possible.
Get in the habit of writing. No matter the amount, just do it. Daily if possible.
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I'm easily distracted too, but when I'm in writing mode (as opposed to editing mode, which I've been in for the last year or so), I try to bang out at LEAST 1000 words a day. Most days I can do it.
Essentially I've always been very disobedient, even to my own aims. I like what structure aims to achieve but I hate structure itself and find myself automatically rebelling against it.
Of course when I get stuck on some particular point that never helps, but my problem is more general than specific.
hmm. Well, there are people who claim to be productive by working in spurts rather than increments. That's one possibility to consider. The other might be to play around with your habits, maybe find something less constricting? Another one is to keep working with the discipline but start 'training' yourself, using smaller goal. Do you feel antsy after 10 minutes of BIC time? just do 10 minutes. When your ok at 10, then go to 15.
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Have you tried writing in a notebook instead of the computer? I find that when I'm on the computer I'm much easier to distract (and I pretty much only check this site and news articles online, so I can't imagine what people who follow social media do). I also think there's more a sense of multitasking when you're on the computer.
Writing in a notebook might help you focus. You could also try listening to music while you write. If you really don't do well with getting your ass in the chair, it might be time to just sit down and make a schedule, set an alarm, and make yourself do it. It's more about self-discipline than anything else. One of those things you've just gotta do.
Writing in a notebook might help you focus. You could also try listening to music while you write. If you really don't do well with getting your ass in the chair, it might be time to just sit down and make a schedule, set an alarm, and make yourself do it. It's more about self-discipline than anything else. One of those things you've just gotta do.
When I'm going through a period of stuckness (like now), I sit down at a desk with my notebook, put a large blue alarm clock on the desk in front of me and set the alarm to go off in two hours' time. Then I write fiction or stare at the page for two hours.
The goal is to write 1 500 words but I'll settle for 500 if I really can't do more.
After that I either input what I've written in MS Word, or I go away and do something else. But that chaining myself to the desk every day is how I make myself get on with it. Mornings are better than evenings because then I'm tired and feel I've wasted a whole day not writing.
When the writing goes well, it's a different energy and unforced discipline, and I remind myself of that. The writing flows, I feel fully alive, excited and can't wait to get to my desk. But the English writer Ivy Compton Burnett once wrote that every creative activity involves breaking stones to some point and breaking stones is what I'm doing right now..
The goal is to write 1 500 words but I'll settle for 500 if I really can't do more.
After that I either input what I've written in MS Word, or I go away and do something else. But that chaining myself to the desk every day is how I make myself get on with it. Mornings are better than evenings because then I'm tired and feel I've wasted a whole day not writing.
When the writing goes well, it's a different energy and unforced discipline, and I remind myself of that. The writing flows, I feel fully alive, excited and can't wait to get to my desk. But the English writer Ivy Compton Burnett once wrote that every creative activity involves breaking stones to some point and breaking stones is what I'm doing right now..
Yeah, the good news is that this is something you can fix for yourself. But you've got to want it enough.
What is it that distracts you?
I had the exact same problem.
Then I did what many fellow writers recommended me to do and set aside a limited amount of time for writing every day and included it in my daily routine. I would wake up at 6.00 AM, read until 6:40 and then write untill 7:40 and not a minute afterwards. I found that I've become much more concentrated on my writing ever since I did that.
Hope this helps.
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I haven't read it yet, but a writing friend recommends "Telling Lies for Fun and Profit" by Lawrence Block.
He says Block really inspires you to crank out the writing. Block wrote his first novel in two weeks, and sold it.
He says Block really inspires you to crank out the writing. Block wrote his first novel in two weeks, and sold it.
Mark Moore
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Well, I can't turn off the Internet, because I need it for research. I just try to find a half-hour or an hour and focus mostly on my story during that time.
I have to be doing multiple things at once. I am a multi tasker because if I'm only doing one thing my stupid brain won't shut up. I'm the person that crochets or folds laundry in front of the tv, has to listen to music when doing any task. I am editing my novel and simultaneously working on my query and lurking/posting on AW. Earlier in the week I was in the chat room while editing. When I was finishing I'd borrow DHs laptop and go into a busy painting shop where there was music, people talking and a lot of movement.
The only things that shut my brain off are reading, riding horses, or watching brain candy like Glee.
I don't recommend this for anyone, it's just how my mind is.
For me what helped the most was setting a schedule and developing a ritual.
I have to be writing by midnight every night (I'm on vampire time), and I don't stop until 6:45 AM or until I hit my word count goal. Obviously there are some nights where I sail right past my word count goal and keep going, but the earliest I can stop without meeting it is quarter 'til seven, non-negotiable.
Also, developing a pre-writing ritual gets my synapses firing into writing mode. It's my modern day version of a muse prayer. I wrote a bit about it on my blog, if you're interested (click the "Read Me" link in my sig).
I have to be writing by midnight every night (I'm on vampire time), and I don't stop until 6:45 AM or until I hit my word count goal. Obviously there are some nights where I sail right past my word count goal and keep going, but the earliest I can stop without meeting it is quarter 'til seven, non-negotiable.
Also, developing a pre-writing ritual gets my synapses firing into writing mode. It's my modern day version of a muse prayer. I wrote a bit about it on my blog, if you're interested (click the "Read Me" link in my sig).
I've always had mixed emotions on this issue. On one hand, I believe self-discipline is extremely important. On the other, I tend to believe that when something requires a lot of self-discipline, it's a sign you'd rather be doing something else.
Mixed emotions. I only need self-discipline with write when I'm flat dead tired, but a deadline forces me to sit and write for hours. For me, self-discipline is something I need for doing all those other life things that have to be done, but that I really don't like doing.
Sometimes I think life is too short to do anything that doesn't absolutely have to be done, that I don't really want to do. If I didn't want to sit and write, I wouldn't do it. I'd find something else to do that excited me, that was just so much pleasure that it required no self-discipline.
Mixed emotions. I only need self-discipline with write when I'm flat dead tired, but a deadline forces me to sit and write for hours. For me, self-discipline is something I need for doing all those other life things that have to be done, but that I really don't like doing.
Sometimes I think life is too short to do anything that doesn't absolutely have to be done, that I don't really want to do. If I didn't want to sit and write, I wouldn't do it. I'd find something else to do that excited me, that was just so much pleasure that it required no self-discipline.
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I get the writing lazy sometimes, too. Somedays, all I want to do is sit down and write, somedays I'm just too lazy and want to veg. On the "veg" days I keep my notebook with me at all times and jot down a few lines while I'm waiting for dinner to cook or during a commerical break on TV. By doing this I stay connected to the story and get something done everyday.
I love to write, so I never have to "force" myself to write. I'm happiest when I'm writing, so there's no need. In fact, I often have to force myself to stop writing and do some housework, or whatever.
That said, I do go through cycles with my writing. For awhile I'll write for several hours a day, every day, without fail. We're talking 12 hours a day, here. Then I'll shift and I won't be writing as often. I'll spend more time doing research for my next project, working on my query letter, or my synopsis, or formatting my manuscript. These are all things that need to be done, so I don't criticize myself for "not writing". It's part of the job. Occasionally I'll find myself in an utterly non-writing mood as part of my bipolar swings, and then I'll just work on other (non-writing) projects until I'm back in the writing mood again. It evens out in the end.
That said, I do go through cycles with my writing. For awhile I'll write for several hours a day, every day, without fail. We're talking 12 hours a day, here. Then I'll shift and I won't be writing as often. I'll spend more time doing research for my next project, working on my query letter, or my synopsis, or formatting my manuscript. These are all things that need to be done, so I don't criticize myself for "not writing". It's part of the job. Occasionally I'll find myself in an utterly non-writing mood as part of my bipolar swings, and then I'll just work on other (non-writing) projects until I'm back in the writing mood again. It evens out in the end.
Sure you can! I do it all the time. It's called Write Like This Only Better: "yadda yadda XXXresearch types of cows and then the XXXcow died and I never mention this cow again, so why did I just do 30 minutes of research about cows? The man was sad to see his beefy friend go."
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