{"id":419,"date":"2016-09-21T16:09:51","date_gmt":"2016-09-21T16:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/?p=419"},"modified":"2022-05-30T15:41:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-30T15:41:23","slug":"effective-writing-routines-and-how-to-get-one","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/articles\/effective-writing-routines-and-how-to-get-one","title":{"rendered":"Effective Writing Routines and How to Get One"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHow the f*ck do you write so many books so fast?\u201d<\/p>\n

That was George R.R. Martin\u2019s burning question for fellow author Stephen King during a\u00a0recent interview<\/a>\u00a0in Albuquerque, NY. (Skip to 50:20 for the exchange.) King replied with his writing routine of six pages a day.<\/p>\n

But writing routines can differ wildly between authors: Ernest Hemingway found it inspiring to write in the mornings, \u201cas soon after first light as possible\u201d, where Jack Kerouac wouldn\u2019t put a word on paper until the afternoon.<\/p>\n

Whatever your thing, writing regularly is critical to being a successful (and productive) author. Here are some pointers on developing your own routine.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Your Thing?<\/h2>\n

Truman Capote kept his ashtray down to three cigarette butts when he wrote. Agatha Christie pondered plots in a bathtub while eating apples. Friedrich Schiller, on the other hand, kept a pile full of rotting apples in his desk because he found the smell inspiring.<\/p>\n

Everyone\u2019s got their thing, and as long as it\u2019s helping your writing rather than getting in the way, you should be fine. If you find yourself blocked for an extended period of time, take some time to think about your writing vibe: What can help you get back into the swing of things?<\/p>\n

It can be something as simple as a special pen, a specific playlist, getting out the old typewriter or reading through a book that gets your words flowing.<\/p>\n

Anything that gets things going for you when you write, that\u2019s your thing.<\/p>\n

Make Time to Write<\/h2>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have\u00a0time to write<\/a>.\u201d That\u2019s likely the #1 excuse that\u2019s standing in the way of a potential bestseller. Is it yours?<\/p>\n

Melanie Marquis, author of books like\u00a0Modern Spellcasters Tarot, The Witch\u2019s Bag of Tricks<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Witchy Mama<\/em>, says that she\u2019d prefer to be writing while sipping a latte or sitting in the sun, but the reality is different. \u201cI have children and a day job too, which means I end up writing while I’m cooking dinner, or in the few minutes before I need to switch the laundry over, or when several people are talking to me and asking questions all at once!\u201d<\/p>\n

Other times, she says her writing sessions might kick off at 3.a.m while the rest of the house is asleep. Melanie\u2019s secret? \u201cStop making excuses or looking for reasons why you\u00a0can\u2019t.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s always time to write\u00a0somewhere<\/em>. Jot some ideas down while you brush your teeth, record ten minutes of character dialogue or ideas when you\u2019re stuck in traffic. I began many articles on late walks, but also on napkins, receipts and mirrors with lipstick in a hurry.<\/p>\n

If you wait for the ideal vibe to start writing, you might never get started at all.<\/p>\n

Set a Count<\/h2>\n

Set a regular word or page count. It doesn\u2019t have to be a massive twenty-page quota, and you don\u2019t have to write the lot in one sitting. Think of it this way: If you wrote one page every day for a year, you\u2019d have a 365 page novel by the end of it!<\/p>\n

The most important thing to remember is that no matter how small, the numbers do add up.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry too much about the finer details while you\u2019re writing. That\u2019s what editing is for, and you can set out separate days for sitting down to edit. A piece always somehow looks fresh and new once it\u2019s spent some time sitting in the dark.<\/p>\n

Arthur Conan Doyle clocked in approximately 3,000 words per day, while Ernest Hemingway, Graham Greene, and Michael Robotham share a limit of 500. It\u2019s about what works for you, as long as it becomes a\u00a0regular routine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Outline<\/h2>\n

\u201cBecause I write thrillers, it’s important for me to know where the story is going and how it will end before I begin writing it,\u201d says award-winning author Jeffery Deaver. \u201cI realize that some writers choose not to work from an outline, but for a mystery, it would be quite disappointing for an author to reach the end of the novel and realize he or she hadn’t placed the clues in just the right places to support multiple twists and turns at the end of the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeffery says that he spends about nine months on the outline for a novel. \u201cMy outlines run hundreds of pages and are the most difficult part of the writing process, but once I work out all the details of the story, then writing the book itself goes fairly quickly,\u201d he notes.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s how he does it!<\/p>\n

Writing on the Move<\/h2>\n

Writing would be much easier if ideas showed up every day at nine-thirty sharp and said, \u201cHey, writer dude, use us.\u201d But they don\u2019t. Ideas don\u2019t stick to a schedule and tend to show up whenever they like, so be ready.<\/p>\n

Keep a notebook and pen handy at all times, or download one of the thousands of voice recorders for your smartphone to make sure you never let a great idea disappear back into the aether again.<\/p>\n

Get into the flow of things and incorporate it into your daily routine; it\u2019s a great way to get the creativity running freely.<\/p>\n

How much have you written today? Good luck\u2014and get writing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","categories":[24],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/419"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refiction.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}