Figuring Out What Works: Summary and Takeaways

During my writing journey, it’s good to know I’ve managed to find some methods that actually work, methods that either get me back to writing my manuscript or keep me on-task. When I started out, I didn’t know any of these quirks about myself, and I wasn’t even sure if I’d ever find methods that would work. It was only through a stubborn refusal to quit that I started to notice these different trends and patterns that could be used to my advantage.

The question is, can I rope these methods together and leverage them in a way that guarantees more productivity?

Let’s observe the key takeaways from each article:

A Writer’s Journey: Figuring Out What Works

• It takes a long time and a lot of experimenting to discover what works and what doesn’t.
• Everyone’s writer’s journey is different, therefore everyone’s process is different.
• As far as I know, there’s no magic dogwhistle that guarantees BICHOK.
• The methods I use may not be useful to others.

The Ebb and Flow of Stubbornness & Frustration

• Method #1: The longer I don’t write, the more guilt and frustration build up inside of me.
• This method is counterproductive because it requires procrastination.
• When it comes to completing manuscripts, the tortoise generally doesn’t win the race.
• Speed is a good thing.
• Writing fast and writing well aren’t mutually exclusive.
• My lifestyle enables the tortoise method, but my stubbornness keeps me in this for the long haul.

Getting it Out of Your System

• There is a difference between productive and unproductive pastimes.
• Quitting unproductive hobbies clears up a lot of free time for the more productive ones.
• As I’ve gotten older, I’ve economized my time better to favor productive pastimes.
• Method #2: If an unproductive pastime has managed to seduce me, I either have to find reasons to get jaded, steel myself, or burn myself out on it (Law of Diminishing Returns).

Creating Stuff Makes Me Feel Better About Life, Consuming Stuff Makes Me Feel Like a Zombie

• Working harder somehow makes people feel more energetic.
• Lazy, unproductive pastimes are cooler when you’re younger, but eventually the “Law of Diminishing Returns” sets in.
• Some people get sick of consuming and hear a “divine calling” to start creating.
• Method #3: Being unproductive makes me cranky, whereas being productive makes me feel accomplished.

Prioritizing Writing – Replacing This for That

• There’s no cheat code that will grant extra time in the day for writing.
• Therefore, one must find more time within the 24 hours of their day.
• Method #4: Figure out what I’m doing each day that’s less important than writing, and stop doing them (or minimize them).
• Figure out ways to minimize time spent on time-wasters like apps and social media.
• Figure out ways to limit less important hobbies that you don’t intend to quit.

Write More, Research Less

• Method #5: Don’t fall into the trap of researching too much and writing too little.
• Writers who write instead of research tend to learn faster, because experience is much different than pure knowledge.
• I certainly don’t want to be the “Brainy Smurf” of writing.

The Ambience of Audiobooks, and the Strangeness of Brains

• Method #6: Listening to audiobooks can somehow make me visualize my scenes.
• Try listening to different types of music and noise to see if it has any effects on your writing.

Bad Writing

• Method #7: Let myself get angry over bad writing, and use that frustration to write.
• Bad writing helps us learn what not to do.
• People more susceptible to advertising will even go out on a limb to defend bad writing (ie: fans), so we should have nothing to be ashamed of putting our own work out into the world.
• Use your writer brain to figure out how to fix bad stories.
• The bar is low right now, giving indie authors an edge.
• Instead of wasting time consuming too much bad writing, replace it with the good stuff.

Writing Scene-By-Scene

• Method #8: I break down stories into smaller, more manageable components and tend to think in terms of scenes chronologically.
• The smaller the goal, the more realistic it is.
• If I have to break down a scene to the sentence level to muscle my way through it, I will.

Collapsible Scenes

• Method #9: I write large projects using coding software so I can “collapse” (and move around) scenes.
• This method is not pantser-friendly.
• Method #10: To keep third-person limited voices consistent, I tend to write in throughlines.
• Method #11: Keeping notes, Q&A sections, and other such extras help me feel better prepared for writing a scene.

Finding Inspiration through Physical Activities

• Method #12: When I’m stuck and can’t move forward in a story, thinking about the problem while showering or mowing the lawn helps me puzzle it out.
• “Eureka moments” often come this way, too.
• Method #13: Listening to audiobooks while mowing help me figure out random scenes.
• Always keep good notes!

Writing Without Arbitrary Measurables, and How Writing Can Be Like Eating Chips

• Method #14: I write without page breaks, and without caring about page count or wordcount.
• It is quite possible to feel down on yourself or even burn yourself out if you set measurable goals too high.
• Method #15: I stay focused on real story progress instead of arbitrary measurables (introducing a character, completing a scene, etc.).
• Focusing on measureables happens at the expense of immeasurables, and, in the long run, can cost heart and soul.
• Method #16: Write one word a day (because writing is like eating chips).

Gamifying Writing

• There are both quantitative and non-quantitative ways to gamify writing.
• Method #17: Get involved with a crit circle or find a crit partner.
• Method #18: Find a small, tight-knit writing group that focuses on my genre.
• Method #19: Find a way to turn my writing into a video game RPG.
• Losing your writing progress is one of the most demoralizing momentum killers out there.
• If you do lose your writing, the only thing left to do is get over yourself and write it again.
• Always keep a backup your work.
• Never trust a website alone to save your work.
• Losing work can happen to even the most tech-savvy and diligent backer-uppers among us.

Hard Deadlines with Something at Stake

• When there’s both a deadline and something important at stake, things tend to get done.
• Deadlines aren’t fun, and can turn a hobby into a somewhat stressful responsibility. (But this is perhaps the cost of being prolific.)
• When someone else gives me a deadline, it’s far more effective than giving myself a deadline.
• A hard deadline given by someone else with something at stake forced me to get off my duff and complete my longest manuscript to date…
• …but nothing’s at stake in my life right now, and no one is imposing a deadline upon me.
• I do not trust myself to self-impose deadlines, or deny myself a reward.
• I must find someone else and figure out some kind of reward for this to work best.
• Method #20: If I have two or more reasons for doing something, I tend to do it.
• Method #21: I likely need a hard deadline or hard goal, along with a dangling carrot to be truly prolific.

Negative Reinforcement, and Why it is Awesome

• There are few motivators quite like someone telling you that you can’t do something.
• I like proving people wrong.
• There’s a shortage of confrontational people these days.
• An environment of all positivity can stifle creativity, lessen your drive, and make you lose your compass.
• Do not surround yourself by sycophants, especially when it comes to critiques.
• The best way to develop thick skin as a writer is to tell your critics to let you have it.
• Method #22: I like to keep a steady flow of negative feedback and honest criticism to help me stay stubborn and steadily improve as a writer.

Jeez, that’s 22 different methods! And I’m sure there’s a few more I didn’t manage to think of. But right now, I can’t see the forest for the trees. So let’s analyze these methods on Monday, and I’ll see if I can’t paint a better picture of what I should be doing on a daily basis to help boost my productivity.