Getting it done: more ways to practise writing

There was so much to cover last time that there’s enough for two whole articles on best writing practise! This isn’t just an overspill – just like last time, hopefully these tips, tricks and oft-quoted advice sprinkled with a lot more practical application will be of use in creating a writing habit. If not, then you will know what to avoid!

With such a subjective topic, again I’ll be mentioning that in no means is Impish Fen to be the final say on writing advice – it is something that is best discovered through trial and error (and honestly, is even changeable in itself!) but hopefully a mention of these ideas will be of use to developing your own successful writing strategy.

Word counts and goal-setting

Often, writers are told to be hitting a word count whenever they write – 500 words a day or aiming to get a grand total of thousands a month. And yes, for some seeing their progress tick towards that final goal, building up those little sprints to that larger number is motivation enough to keep it up. 

But what if you miss a day? Things begin to slip and with 5,000 words to squeeze into too small a time, this can be a blockade for those with hectic schedules and last-minute obstacles which have prevented them from daily practice. The sweet spot for some to make a manageable goal, where if you did have a sick day or three, the word goal could still be standing afterwards – and often comes with the added bonus of overachieveing.

However, the rationale behind a word goal is to make slow, incremental progress towards a seemingly massive mountain, day by day, session by session. So the real way of going about this is to create a manageable, sustainable, consistent goal – easy, right?

Do it always

Life does throw some unpredictable events at people, and writers all have different stuff going on in their daily lives – a busy family, work schedules and so much more. Writing advice sooner or later will mention squeezing in time wherever you can, especially if you can’t be free at the same time every day to make a meeting with Dr. Liter Ature. A firm but fair routine is the way to go!

And yes, surprisingly if you sit down to write, you will increase your wordcount. But writing can also look different for everyone – so whether that’s a hastily-scribbled note in a travel notebook to revisit once at home, a barebones poem typed out on your phone during a lunch break, or even grabbing a picture of your current surroundings to use for inspiration later, any progress towards the final goal, even if it isn’t pretty, can be useful to getting that final work finished.

Banish the blank page

Coming back to write at the start of a new session can include time refreshing yourself of what went on last time – and you may even need to re-read a lot of the text if you draft as you go, to ensure you’re not repeating yourself. It may be helpful to you to make sure you’re not ending a writing session on a neat paragraph – start a new line, or leave yourself bullet points or other notes on what you want to pick up and run with next time.

The prequel was better…

Now that we’ve shared not one but two articles on the writing process, there are a still few points as yet uncovered… But hopefully this advice on goal-setting and wordcounts, leaving yourself reminders and fitting it in will tide you over until the next installment!