Tips for writers: how to keep writing efficiency
Already the 5th hour of work in front of the laptop, and only a few lines of the new chapter are ready. Is it you?
To achieve results, any work requires consistency. For writers, this is a special challenge — we need to come up with interesting stories, follow plot twists, intrigue readers and …. write a lot. After all, none of us wants to become the very author of one short story who has been writing for years and still cannot finish the last chapter.
Alphanovel editors share their top tips to help authors stay efficient and progress through the story faster to delight readers and write more every day.
The Pomodoro Method: 20 minutes writing, 5 minutes rest
What is the Pomodoro Method? This is a technique in which the author devotes 20 minutes writing and 5 minutes must rest. After the rest, 20 minutes of work again come again, and after the rest.
Writing in sprints is the easiest and favorite technique of many authors. It helps to clearly distribute the time of work and rest, while not sitting up at work until night, but concentrating as much as possible.
To make the Pomodoro Method work, here are a few tips:
- Turn off all notifications on social networks and instant messengers. You can safely look there during the rest, and the signals about likes and messages will not be distracting during the working sprint.
- Use a timer so you don’t have to manually calculate the time.
- Strictly adhere to the sprint — even if the text is well written, but it’s time for a pause, be sure to stop, breathe or do a quick gymnastics. Get back to work for the next sprint.
The Twitter thread method: structuring before putting words into sentences
Often a writer has chaos in his head because they need to say a lot to the reader to create a complete picture of the character and immerse the person into the context. As a result, we find ourselves staring at the laptop screen for the fifth hour.
Therefore, we advise you not to rush to take on the text. First, you need to put it in order, create a structure and identify key ideas. To do this, our colleagues use the method of three tweets. Here’s how it works:
- First, we define the key idea of the text. Post it in tweet format.
- Then imagine that you are continuing the thread to uncover the story. What will the first tweet be about? Write it.
- Keep going until the end of the thread.
A Twitter thread is a much less complicated type of text. And since a tweet is only 140 characters long, you can quickly structure your story and move on to writing a whole novel.
Determine who your reader is and always write for him/her
Often young authors forget that the main readers of their text are not themselves. Therefore, for your novel to be interesting to readers, it must be written for them from the first to the last word.
Therefore, before you start writing the text, determine who your reader is. We advise you to give your reader a name, and age, determine where he/she lives, what his/her character is, what he/she likes, and what he/she does not like at all. Pin a portrait of your reader on every page so you always come back to this important block.
Don’t edit until you’re done writing
Editing is an essential part of writing a great piece. But it can become your enemy, taking time and preventing you from moving forward. So don’t be tempted to edit the text before it’s finished.
To avoid this mistake, forbid yourself to return to the text. Just write as you move through the story. When you finish a chapter or several chapters completely, only then return to the beginning and reread the text with particular rigor and attention, correcting errors and text.
If there is no inspiration to write — record
Sometimes the text is not written, because there is no way to approach it — there is no story, and the idea is not finished. And every sentence you start has to be erased. To avoid this torment, take a voice recorder and start telling your story with your voice.
First, speaking is easier than writing. Most likely, in a conversation, the plot will go faster and you will soon come up with a plot twist, and the idea itself will be transformed into words. Secondly, talking is faster. And having already said the first chapters or just the basic ideas for your work, it will be easier for you to transfer the text to paper.
If you are reading this article, then you know for sure that you need a systematic approach to writing. The good news is that it is already 70% successful and the next step is to start using any of the methods that you like.
