The Speed Writing Technique
Are you aspiring to write? Do you have psychological issues when trying to commit to your writing project? Well here is a technique I use to overcome that. Many times I feel inspired to write, but once I sit at my desk and tell myself “Ok it’s time to write” I often get sidetracked and end up writing nothing at all. It was kind of surprising for me because back in my University days I could knock out an essay draft in a whole day.
The problem is that In University I felt like I was doing it for a reason. Writing for a good grade was motivation enough for me to get it done. When you are writing a book, short story or poem you are writing it for yourself first; and it then becomes easy for you to put it off. Subconsciously you will tell yourself “actually I don’t feel like doing this now, I can do it another time, I have plenty of time to do this”. If you get into this mind state you will end up putting off the project perhaps forever. Some people will begin to buy books on writing to see if they can draw inspiration from those. If you go down this road you may end up spending a lot of money whilst still not being able to fill up that blank page. This is a psychological issue that you need to overcome on your own.
You need to learn to reward yourself for writing. Some people have great discipline and can set themselves a time to write, sit down and get on with it. However we are only human and not all of us possess this discipline. By rewarding yourself for hitting your goals, it installs an extra incentive for you to write.
How The Speed Writing Technique Works.
Recently I downloaded a free stopwatch app for my iPhone. If you have a similar smart phone I am sure you can also find the same type of app for free. If not you can use an ordinary watch, or just simply use a regular clock for this task. All you have to do is tell yourself “ok for the next 20 minutes I am going to do nothing but write, and I will not stop for anything”. To make you stick to this rule, also tell yourself that once you’re done you will treat yourself to a snack, or a coffee, or an hour in front of the TV. As long as it’s something you enjoy.
The fact that you are telling yourself that you will earn something of value for completing this task will make you more eager to get it done. If you are like me you will often find yourself writing away for even longer than you attended. The 20 minute speed writing stretch is the minimum I would go, as subconsciously it doesn’t seem like a very long time to write, which makes the idea more inviting. The trick is to do this 20 minute speed write at least four or five times a day if you really want to get a good chunk of writing done.
As you are likely just drafting your book or poem, you don’t need to worry too much about the quality of your work. This is what editing is for, and editing is done after you have your first draft complete. So just write away to your heart’s content. This technique has worked wonders for me, and I have now made a lot of progress on my short story project that I am working on.
If you are having issues engaging in writing your book or poem then try this out and let me know how it works out for you.
