Turtle Method Vs. Pomodoro Method
And why I think the turtle method makes more serious writers per day cubed
First of all, I want to introduce you to the inventor of the Turtle Method: Roger Brea. That’s me. Pardon my modesty. Now we are ready to tear down the Pomodoro Method. Without beating around the bush, I will say that the Pomodoro Method is an excellent method for office and cab drivers and also for janitors.
It would really increase the productivity of these gentlemen. Because it has been scientifically proven that these three occupations or trades need to take a nap every few hours of work. However, the Pomodoro Method for making serious writers by the day cubed does not inspire confidence in me.
A serious writer by the day cubed is a writer who does my Turtle Method, that is: serious writers who write slowly but surely and who take the long-term approach to writing.
Therefore, the writer who uses my Turtle Method has nothing to do with a clerk, a cab driver, or a janitor. They want to work 20 minutes motivated by the reward of five minutes destined to crack a little dream.
And the bad thing is that the more experience these gentlemen have in their respective occupations, the more they delay the time for their little dream and the more they reduce the time for their work. So they end up turning the Pomodoro Method upside down: every 5 or 10 minutes of work, 20 or 25 minutes of unwinding their little dream…
Now I’ll go through the steps that comprise my Turtle Method of writing which makes more serious writers by the day by the bucketful.
TURTLE METHOD
Step 1: (QUALITY) The writer commits to writing 6 days a week (Sunday off) 100 words per day. He writes and rewrites those 100 words in the same sitting. This adds up to 6 days a week x 100 words = 600 words a week.
Following this count a month has 26 days of writing. So: 26 days a month x 100 words= 2600 words a month. And 2600 words x 12 months= 31200 words. 31200 equals 62 pages. But here is a very important detail: if every day (except Sundays) you write and rewrite 100 words, as it is a minimum of words allowed per writing day, almost every day you will write more than 100 words, one day maybe 150 words, another 200 words, another the minimum 100 words, another 300 words…
This means that in a year you will almost certainly have written more than 50,000 quality words, which will give you enough for a novel or a book of short stories with the commitment of writing 6 days a week 100 quality words.
Step 2: (THREAT 1) You can skip 3 days a month of not writing (not counting Sundays that are free) but you have to return the 300 words from those 3 days of writing that you have not written.
Step 3: (THREAT 2) If it happens that on three occasions in the total of 12 months of writing (even if in different months) you have not returned the words due, this forces you to give up writing for one month. Punishment of one month without writing.
Step 4: (THREAT 3) If it happens that in the total of 12 months of writing you have been punished three times (one month for each punishment) this forces you to abandon writing for three months. Punishment of three consecutive months without writing.
Step 5: (THREAT 4) If it happens that in the total of 12 months of writing you have obtained 3 punishments of 3 months without writing this forces you to abandon writing forever. Punishment of not writing again for the rest of your life.
This is the end of your so-called dream (so-called because the previous punishments of step 1, step 2, step 3, and step 4 have informed you that you have not taken it seriously). So why waste any more time writing — it’s NOT your thing!
REMEMBER: To achieve your goal with writing every productivity method must have a long-term vision and the path to your goal must be accompanied by threats that could make you abandon your dream. This is the best method to be serious about your writing for the long term. Either you follow through or you quit for good.
P.S. It must be said that this serious article you have just read has been written with the help of the Pomodoro Method. I have written it in 3 writing sessions of 20 minutes accompanied by their corresponding 5-minute breaks. Curiously, I did not head off any dreams.
