Writers Get Stuff Done – I’m talking to you: a writer or an aspiring writer. I’m also talking to you if you’re not a writer. I’ll show you how you can get things done, and how to overcome problems getting things done.
I’ll give you methods that work for me, well enough for me to write and publish seven books. Here they are, if you don’t believe me.
- Zombie Turkeys
- Zombie Detective
- My Undead Mother-in-law
- Paranormal Privateers
- Oops! Tales of the Zombie Turkey Apocalypse
- Secret Supers
- Villain’s Vacation
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Writers Get Stuff Done – All You Need
Let’s not beat around the bush. Let me give you the three main points, then I’ll address common obstacles.
- Write what you love or desperately need to write
- Every day, write at the same time and place
- Write something every day and measure how much you write.
Why do I give you these three points?
First, you need strong motivation. Doing what you love or yearn to write should be something you want to do more than anything else.
If you don’t have this, stop reading now and figure out what you want to do every day for years.
Second, you need a plan to build a habit. Pick a standard time and place. I start between 9-10 am every day, between Monday and Friday. Pick what works for you. Do this for a month and you’ll have a habit.
If you don’t have a plan to create a habit, you’ll fail. You’ll forget and be interupted. The purpose of this plan is to ensure you schedule everything around it.
Third, you must accomplish something every day. You need positive feedback every day. You wrote one word. Or ten. Or a thousand. Since this is a habit that continues until to complete your writing goal, the number of words a day doesn’t matter, nor the time it takes. It’s all about steady, daily, progress.
It goes without saying you track your daily word count–but I said it anyway. Here’s the spreadsheet I use:
Writers Get Stuff Done – Conquering Obstacles
- The main obstacle I face is distraction – the Internet, television, children, spouse. Here’s how to overcome distractions.
Prioritize – A. The one thing you must get done today. Get out of your burning house. Realize your house is burning until you write something.
B. What you should do today. For example, eat something. You can eat after you write something.
C. Everything else is what you could do–like watching the latest episode of your favorite TV/Youtube program. Read a book. But only do this after you write and eat.
Our family is vitally important to our lives. Love them, accept their interruptions, but explain your priorities. After taking care of their needs, ask them to take care of your needs and give you a bubble to work. Your bubble is your planned time and place.
There are a zillion other ways to prioritize. Here’s one:
2. Your Next Obstacle – Research
You need facts even when you write fiction. What’s the speed of an unladen swallow?
Research like this can sidetrack you endlessly. Don’t let it. Write down exactly what you need to know, WHY you need to know it, and HOW it will help the reader. Then go find out those specifc facts. Do this as a SEPARATE task from your writing, preferably BEFORE you start writing.
More general research is like the nature of a scene. Where in central Illinois will turkeys go? Where along the shore of Loch Lomond would there be a bed and breakfast? Those are questions I asked and answered for Zombie Turkeys and My Undead Mother-in-law. Then there was the question of where in Kansas are the underground ICBM sites? I found them and a diagram.
On to the final obstacle next!
3. Your Final Obstacle: Overcoming Interruptions
Stuff happens. Pets and children throw up. You get into a fender bender. A traffic jam delays you. A snowstorm hits. Will these normal events of life stop you?
NO! You have a burning desire to WRITE. You’ve written down you daily goal right by your computer screen. After the interruption, you read it again. You get motivated, picturing your completed book. You realize you only need to write one paragraph, one sentance, to make some progress today. This is your number one priority today. That’s how Writers Get Stuff Done.
So write one sentence. Write one paragraph. Write a page. Before you know it, you’ve written five hundred, a thousand words.
Or seven books.
