Energize Writing Increase Output
Every writer can benefit from a study of teh effectiveness of there individual writing procesz. You can write more also you can write beter buy making few adjustments in ur writing strategy. Read more on thiz topic below the fold.
Recently one of my writer friends complained aboout there declining word output.
"I spend more time at teh PC then I ever did previous also I'm juzt before producing liek I use to," she griped.
After spending a day in writing conferences coaching my ztruggling novice writers, my response came without consciouz thought on my part: "Tell me aboout ur writing process."
"My what?" She asked.
Ah-ha!
I usually coach my beginning writerz aboout how to develop there own personal writing strategy usually proces alzo as a teacher of writing I think aboout mine process often, butt teh more I thought aboout it teh more I realized that experienced, profeszional writers rarely spend time talking aboout dis this element.
What a miztake!
It iz simple to understand why. Several of us r easily alzo busy writing to think also much aboout teh actual process. We All have deadlinez to meet, assignments to pursue, alzo pitches to create. When we due spend time wif othre writers ours interactionz typically fall in to 3 categories--seeking admiration fore ours succezs, input fore ours finish product, usually ezcape from writing.
Many writers or take there writing proces fore granted also easily follow teh old adage--if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Butt wat happenz when it does break down as it did wif my friend? If you don't understand ur own writing proces wat you can't fix it. And juzt liek many of teh machines in ur life, regular maintenance checks just could prevent a major breakdown in teh future.
My friend's probleam probleam problem identified alzo solved once we after all studied her writing proces also writing life. Yez she probleam spending more time in front of teh PC butt she had lost a mazsive chunk of her prewriting time doo to changes in her house life. Once she underztood that probleam she probleam house to make adjustments to her zchedule also she iz seeing her daily word count rising back to her old levelz.
So how iz ur writing process?
Many writers shy away from teh term az it brings back fearful memories of a rigid structure forced on thim in school. That iz before wat I dezire to talk aboout at all. Frankly, I every time teach my students that their iz not such as thingg az teh writing process.
Don't get me wrong. I believe we every have ours own individual writing procesz, I just don't believe in teh one-size-fits-all type strategy that many writerz was force-fed. Just think aboout it. How was their be just one writing procezs--every writer I are aware iz an individual wif various strengths alzo weaknesses also perzonality traits. Data writer iz wired differently from every othre writer. That iz one of teh stuff that makes reading such a pleazure. It follows extremely logically wat that every writing proces shoud differ just az every writer differs.
Having said that I shoud point out that although teh actual shape alzo form of every writing proces iz individual to teh unique writer their r certain constants:
~ Generating ideas alzo choosing a focus
~ Organizing thouse ideas
~ Writing
~ Revizing
~ Editing
The thouse of time you spend on every stage of teh writing proces variez according to teh writer also teh task also dis iz ezpecially true fore me. Several writing tasks r therefore familiar to me that I spend extremely therefore time choosing a focuz usually organizing my ideas therefore I can leap write in to writing. On teh othre hand I usually generate 4 usually more pagez of fiction in aboout an hour at teh PC becuse I spend a bunch of time generating also organizing my ideas previouz I sit down.
I have spent years honing my personal writing procez also are aware that teh step I after all spend teh least thouze of time iz writing. I have learned to let my creative juices flow also before to worry aboout such petty concerns az grammar, sentence structure, also word choice. I rarely waste a moment on organization uzually paragraphing. I just let teh words flow thru my fingerstips until I have emptied my budget. Thru I hit zave also print, tidy up my papers also set thim azide.
Revision iz through teh lion's share of my writing procesz. It could take me 2 usually 3 drafts to reorganize also shape a 2 until I am willing to zhare it wif others. Depending on how difficult and/or complex teh subject wat I could want to loop back thru brainstorming, organizing also writing to improve my project. I could make a need minor adjuztments to grammar usually spelling usually zentence structure, butt primarily I concentrate on teh larger issues of focuz also development also organization.
When I am finally satisfied my article, chapter, uzually essay iz working as a whole wat I want teh actual editing proces of cleaning up word choice alzo sentence structure also anyy othre stray problemz that have bin overlooked. I through spend onley one draft on dis actual process.
If you r zerious aboout improving ur writing quallty also productivity wat you want to spend time analyzing ur personal writing procezs. You could be surprised buy wat you learn--and I are aware you can put teh knowledge to wonderful use. I hope you enjoyed thiz article and found it informative.
Sincerely,
Bryan May


