5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Writing Time

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Writing is hard sometimes. From running out of inspiration, to carving out the time to get some words down, to finding the motivation to sit down and start typing, we writers are plagued with all sorts of problems calculated to ruin the best laid writing plans.  But there are also plenty of ways to combat these troubles and get some good work done in your precious writing time. I’m sure there are many other tricks to make writing sessions productive, but these are five that help me.

Sleep: Writing requires quite a lot of mental energy. A day of writing often leaves me as tired as if I had a busy day filled with appointments and physical labour. So it’s important to make sure that you get enough sleep to refill those energy tanks. A tired mind definitely does not want to sit at a computer and churn out brilliant prose.

Planning Writing Time: So you’ve been sleeping well, but you’re having trouble with your writing time. It keeps getting taken up by other tasks, like blog post writing or laundry folding. Plan ahead of time and try to schedule blog posts or clear small tasks before your writing session. And if you still miss writing sessions, don’t beat yourself up about it. Life happens.

Gather Ideas: You’ve cleared out a block of time to write in. Only there’s one problem. Suddenly all that inspiration you had when you were too busy to write has evaporated, leaving you staring at a blank document. There are few feelings worse than not having anything to say. Start and ideas journal and jot down your flashes of inspiration as they come to you. Then you’ll know what you wanted to write about and won’t have to waste precious time searching for inspiration.

Set Goals: Great, you’ve got a pocket full of ideas and you’re ready to write! But you don’t really feel like doing a lot of work today, even though you have time to write. Set yourself a goal. You could plan to write a certain amount of words, hit a milestone, reach an anticipated event, or just work consistently for  certain amount of minutes before taking a break. Set goals that push you to work a little harder, but make sure they’re attainable. Not only will they push you to do more, but it’s so satisfying to tick them off.

Reward Yourself: After your writing session, reward yourself. You worked hard. You put in the hard miles. Give yourself a reward, whether it be cake, chocolate, time on Facebook, whatever strikes your fancy. It’s very motivating to know that, once you hit your goals, there are good things waiting for you.

These are just a few of the things that help me. What helps you get the most out of your writing sessions? Leave your tips in the comments!

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23 comments

  1. Great advice! I really like how you've added sleep. All too often I over look this one. I don't tend to go to bed on time or even stay in bed long enough. I'm always up in the middle of the night with new ideas to be written down. I have to remember to let myself get some rest:)

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    1. Sleep is not a tip I see in many lists I have to admit. It's annoying sometimes that the best ideas always come right when you want to sleep. I've planned so many books when I'm in bed supposed to be asleep. At least we get good ideas out of it, right?

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  2. Hi Imogen! Thanks for those great ideas! I am currently planning my camp nano novel and I always have problems with planning novels as well as writing them.
    Anyways, I'm Scarlet (screen name). You might know me because, well, I'm your cousin! I use my mum's account. Please visit my blog : http://scarletsforest.blogspot.com.au
    I read your blog a lot. I find it very useful for my writing. Thanks for sharing these tips!
    Scarlet.L

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    1. Hi Scarlet, thanks for commenting. It's always great to hear from you. Planning novels can be quite hard sometimes, can't it? I might have to write a post on planning sometime. Do you think that would make an interesting post? Good luck with your Camp NaNo novel. How many words are you aiming for?

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    2. Imogen,
      A post on planning novels would be super help full! Good luck with your Camp NaNo novel. I'm not doing it online because I'm not old enough. Instead I'll update my progress onto my blog.
      I am aiming for 40,000 words! That's a lot for me. Last November I wrote 30,000 and I just couldn't believe I did it.
      I haven't completely thought out the plot line for my book. But I'll post about it once I'm finished planning.
      Once again, good luck Immy!
      Scarlet

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  3. Hi Imogen, thank you so much for sharing this. This is really helpful in having a really productive writing time, especially when we are short of time. I especially agree with the points on gathering ideas. I often have to do a little reading on the topic I intend to write about, so that the writing task is more manageable. My sister loves writing stories, and I'll definitely share this with her because it'll certainly be useful. :) Have a lovely day. :)

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    1. Research is very important isn't it? I'm trying to research for my Camp NaNo novel so that I know as much as I need to ahead of time and can focus on the writing part. Though it's hard to research everything beforehand isn't it? You never quite know what you're going to need. Thanks for sharing this with your sister! I really appreciate it. Hopefully it helped her too.

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  4. This is great advice. I usually have a hard time finding writing time because I'm either swamped in homework, or I keep getting distracted by internet-stuff. I keep an idea journal, too--well, it's more like a binder, but it still does the job :D

    Precious @ Clockwork Desires

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    1. An idea binder sounds awesome too. Just think, you can keep adding pages and reorganising it. My idea journals are all messy and out of order. Maybe I should try the binder idea too!

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  5. Ooh, this post is perfect since Camp NaNoWriMo's coming up, and we all know that writers must spend their time wisely during Camp NaNo. I agree that setting goals helps to make the most of your writing time. Another must for me is writing down those goals and keeping track of what I do to achieve those goals so that I can hold myself accountable.

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    1. Ooh, writing the goals down is a great idea. Breaking them down into smaller chunks that can be ticked off individually is another thing that helps me. I like being able to tick lots of things off. It's so satisfying to see a neat row of ticks at the end of a writing session, isn't it?

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  6. I really needed to read the one on setting goals. Thank you!

    ~Jamie

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    1. You're welcome! I'm glad this post was useful for you.

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  7. During NaNo, I would often forget to sleep. Most of my active writing comes from 9 to eleven in the evening. O-o

    xoxo Morning

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    1. Wouldn't it be nice if our brains decided to work at appropriate times of day? It's so hard to stop writing and sleep during NaNo though, isn't it? It's like the one time when commonsense doesn't seem to apply.

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  8. I'm actually so annoyed with my writing right now because I found a problem in the pacing and it's making me want to cry. I've been losing sleep over it which is horrible because I'm supposed to be doing the opposite :P

    Great tips

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    1. Ugh, finding big problems like that is the worst. I once found out I had only half a plot in my book and that most of it didn't make sense. That was an awful day. Try not to stress too much over it though. Outlining the plot of the book as it is at the moment is often a great way of seeing where pacing changes need to be made. It's always difficult making big changes, but I'm confident you can manage it. It's just super frustrating, isn't it?

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  9. I love the Gather Ideas point. I find that happens a lot - when I'm out walking, listening to music, my mind is storming. Then I rush home and sit down, and the flow ebbs away; I have to catch it quickly!! This point is so great. I'm going to put these into practice because my writing time is a bit =/ well... non-existent, now I'm working.

    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I totally know the feeling. My phone and iPod are both filled with random notes to myself that I've typed down while walking. Inspiration bites at the most inconvenient times. I wish I felt quite so creative when I actually have time for writing. Work would make it so much harder to find time. Hopefully you can squeeze a little into your schedule somewhere. There's nothing more frustrating for a writer than not being able to write!

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    2. Reading this post again. I need to get back in the writing zone

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  10. I think another important factor for me is writing in the right time of day.
    Seriously. A couple days ago, I edited for forty-five minutes. It was absolutely painful to sit there and stare at my document, the inspiration not coming. But then I tried editing at night, and only did it for ten minutes. I made more progress in those ten minutes, than I did all day. It's weird, but everything comes way easier to me at night than in the day. *shrugs*

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  11. Pretty much: yes. I know that I am not the most efficient writer and I also know it's a problem, but I'm also willing to keep improving. Thanks for the great tips, Imogen! :)

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