When you sit down to write, do you ever have thoughts like:
One day I’ll write my best story. This is just practice.
It’s not like anyone’s going to read this.
It will never get published anyway.
Of course you’re not going to write well if you have this mindset. This habit of thinking lets you off the hook. You don’t have to put yourself on the line and give it your all if you tell yourself that this isn’t going to be The Story that changes your life.
Write like it matters.
Imagine that your work-in-progress is the one that will launch your writing career. Think about agents and publishers looking at it. Allow yourself the possibility that they will be mesmerized. Visualize your readers’ faces as they turn the pages. How do you want them to feel?
I just read a blog post by one writer whose toddler destroyed his computer. His life’s work was completely lost. Then one of my writing friends recently told me she lost a new story she was working on. It disappeared somewhere into a digital vortex of Office Online.
I keep a file of drafts that I save for future blog posts and short stories. Sometimes I don’t decide to work on them for years. I’ve gone back to look for them to discover they’ve disappeared at some point. By that time it’s too late to troubleshoot what happened. All the clues are long gone.
We know we should save copies of our writing in multiple places. We just get complacent and lazy.
We don’t think a major loss will happen to us. We figure we’ll wait till we get to the final draft before we start backing up.
But it’s not like the olden days when all writers had a hard copy on paper. Our digital words are intangible and vulnerable to the slightest glitch or failure.
It only takes a few minutes to make sure you never lose any of your writing.
Tips for Backing Up Your Writing:
Have your computer synced to a cloud storage service. Instead of using the browser version, download the desktop app so that copies of your writing files are saved simultaneously to your hard drive and the cloud. I use Dropbox, which keeps updated copies of my work on all of my hardware. If one goes down, it will be on one of my other devices as well as online.
Email copies of your manuscript to yourself and leave them in your inbox.
Save drafts to an external drive.
Save often as you write or set your word processor to auto-save.
The best tip for backing up your writing is:
set up your system now.
Don’t wait till you lose your precious words to take action.
It’s hard enough for writers to keep going in the pursuit of crafting the perfect story. When the people around us are not supportive, it can make us feel downright hopeless.
Sometimes when we attempt to explain what we’re trying to achieve it makes it worse. We’re belittled and patronized.
Aw, what a nice hobby!
Do you make any money from it?
Then why do you do it?
You do not have to explain yourself to these types of people. They are too scared to chase their own dreams and are projecting their fear onto you.
Haters gonna hate. Don’t waste your breath justifying yourself. Use their doubt to spur you on.
Then turn them into an annoying character in your next book.
Creating stories and books are long-term commitments. There is no instant gratification with writing except the initial rush of the first draft.
After that, it’s painstaking work. Writers don’t get a chance to enjoy the fruits of their labor for weeks, months, or years after they begin a story.
That is why it’s important to reward yourself.
It’s easy to get discouraged when we put our hearts into something and don’t know when or if it will pay off. This is when we are in danger of slacking off or giving up entirely.
The best way to avoid this is to set goals and reward yourself when you meet them.
For example, set a word count or a date for the completion of the first draft of a story or novel.
When you reach your goal:
Buy yourself a gift. I run down to the drug store and buy a lipstick, a new pen, or a luxurious bath item.
Allow yourself a treat like your favorite ice cream or pastry from the local bakery.
Writers’ concentration and willpower are challenged like never before. Until recently, if a writer sat down to work, there was little to distract them except the chirping of birds or the din of the streets.
It was just the writer and the quill, and later, the typewriter.
Now we have phones, tablets, and computers bleeping off every few minutes.
Most of us don’t realize how damaging this is. Not only does it prevent us from entering the flow state, which is crucial to our creativity, it wastes our time. One text from a family member, one email, or one social media notification can completely derail you.
It may only seem like it takes a few minutes, but add all those interruptions up at the end of the day, and you may have lost an hour or more. Not only that, you risk being led down the rabbit hole of the internet.
Check one mention on Twitter or comment on Instagram, and before you know it, you’re scrolling away while your characters sit in the corner, tapping their foot, impatiently waiting for you to tell them what to do next.
Hey, it’s not your fault. All content, video, and social media were purposely designed by some of the best minds in the world to keep you on their pages or in their loop of pages.
Sometimes willpower isn’t enough, especially if we’re tired or feeling apprehensive about writing on a particular day.
Here are a few tips for Distraction-Free Writing in the Age of the Internet:
Turn off the Wi-Fi on your computer, or better yet, turn off the router for your home completely (if no one in household objects).
Remove all social apps from your phone. Only check at a designated time through your browser.
Shut down your phone and tablet while writing.
If you need to receive calls in case of emergency, tell your close family and friends to use your phone number only.
Do not open your email in the morning. Wait till the end of your writing time to check and reply to email.
Use internet time as a reward to look forward to after you’ve met your writing goals.
When you do get on the internet, set a timer for the amount of time you spend there.
I used to think that the best way to get the most writing done was to sit and go on a non-stop writing binge until my eyeballs popped out and I collapsed.
Sometimes, when the muses are with us, this is how it must be done. However, this is not sustainable if we want to create a long-term daily writing routine.
I’ve been reading a book called Fast Focus by Damon
Zahariades. It’s a quick and painfully simple guide to avoid distraction. One
of the best things you can do is take breaks. Believe it or not, getting away
from your draft at intervals will increase your concentration, not break it.
Some people use the Pomodoro technique, which uses 25-minute intervals. For me, this is too often. Instead, I use 1-2 hour intervals, with a 20 minute to 30-minute break in between.
12 break time ideas for writers:
Do chores like laundry or dishes (yes, it’s actually relaxing and gives you time to daydream)
Meditate
Spend time with a pet
Make a meal or indulge in a beverage or chocolate
Exercise – burpees, yoga, a run around the block
Power nap
Listen to your favorite music or a podcast
Scroll through Pinterest to create an idea board for your WIP
Call a friend or family member for a chat (writers need to talk to real people too)
Watch a TED talk or other video
Journal or doodle
Go outside for a walk
Play a video game
I used to wake up, go straight for coffee without washing my face, and force myself to sit for at least 4 hours straight. By the time I was done, my brain was foggy, my back ached, and I was a grouch.
Since changing my routine, I’ve discovered that taking more breaks didn’t just make me feel more focused and productive, I also didn’t feel so mentally and physically drained at the end of the day.
