We Write Fantasy

5 quick tips to keep your word counts high:

1. Start early in the day

So many of us have to-do lists eight miles long. I get it, I really, really do. But if you don’t make writing a priority, it will not get done. Start your day with a quick word sprint, and then move on to the next list item. If your schedule eats up the rest of the day, at least you’ve made progress.

2. Work in short bursts

Writing is hard enough some days on its own, don’t make it worse by exhausting your brain. Find the sprint time that works for you (30 minute, 50 minute, whatever it is) and set the clock. Write a sprint, take a walk. Write a sprint, grab a snack. Write a sprint, go outside. You’re going to be more productive when you’re refreshed and your blood is pumping and you know where you are (because sometimes 10 hours straight at the computer screen can be a little disorienting).

3. Know what your plan is

I have never been a plotter. I sort of envy those writers who have walls of Post-Its or posters or fully outlined drafts. You don’t have to plan exactly how your writing session will go, but at least have a vague idea. Nothing helps the writing flow like having a well that isn’t dry.

4. Leave it dirty

Another great way to let the writing flow is to give it the freedom to do so. Stop fighting it, don’t edit every single line (yet), and don’t spend 40 minutes searching for the perfect adverb. I will not even go into actual research wormholes that end in pictures of cats in reading glasses. Remind yourself this is a draft, revising is for later. Let it be whatever it is, and the words can be shifted, corrected–or cut if need be–when that time comes.

5. Stop telling yourself it’s hard

I mean, clearly it isn’t easy. It isn’t meant to be. It’s work. But high word counts are not impossible. They are simply what you do every single session: writing (you know, that thing you can’t live without). You’ve done it a million times, beating yourself up about how difficult it’s going to feel is not going to make the process any more fun.

Remind yourself this is the job of your dreams, that you aren’t doing it because you have to, but because it’s what you want.