I've been watching the On-The-Spot posts by KTC

Gehenna,

The first thing I would advise is not to worry about it. If you're just starting as a writer, it will take time to learn what works for you. Your speed will gradually increase as you exercise your writing muscles. Don't try and run a marathon or win the 100 yard dash before you've learned how to run!

For now, if all you can turn out in five minutes of writing is one short sentence, remember that you've written more in that five minutes than most people write all day. Be proud of yourself for trying!

As for me, some days, I can pump out an amazing amount of text (my record is 9,000 words in six hours) and some days my head feels like it's stuffed with cotton wool and I can't write a grocery list.

For what it's worth, this is my "method":

I spend a very large amount of time "just thinking." The six hour binge was preceeded by three days of no writing, just thinking about the project. Then I sat down and put the headings down in bold (I was writing non-fiction) and then I filled in the headings. I made sure that I had all of the reference materials I would need, a pile of snacks, and my favourite caffeine-laden drinks close at hand. The bathroom is only a few steps away from my computer, so I don't take a lot of time out for breaks. Then I sat down and wrote. But it was all in my head ready to come out before I even turned on the computer.

It also helps that I have good keyboarding skills, and my spelling is good enough so that I don't need to use the spellcheck function until it's time to proof the finished product. This is something I've developed over time, and the more you write, the better you will get at these skills.

So that's my method. When it works, it works very well. But several days out of my week are non-writing days, because I need the time off to think.

If anyone else has a writing method that works for them, here is a great place to share!

Blessings to all,

Ruth