Quick Writing Tip: How To Train Yourself To Write Faster

Quick Writing Tip: How to Train Yourself to Write Faster

Have you ever heard of “Parkinson’s Law”? It’s the adage that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” If you apply that to writing, it means that if you give yourself two hours to write two hundred words, it will take two hours. But if you give yourself thirty minutes, it will take thirty minutes.

Of course, there’s a limit to how fast you can write. But if you are frustrated with your slow speed, try this training exercise: time yourself.

Choose a word count goal and set a timer for 25 minutes or less.

In the beginning, be easy on yourself. Try giving yourself the goal of 100 words in 25 minutes. If that seems easy, increase the word count goal or decrease the time until you find a speed that’s doable but not completely overwhelming.

I used to be a reaaaaaaally slow writer, until I figured out that if I completely focused under a ticking clock, I could write 500 words in 25 minutes. No distractions, no time for research, no making cups of tea or answering the phone. Just straight writing. Suddenly my word count goal of 1,000 words a day seemed ridiculously easy. Whereas before I would languish for hours at the screen, drawing blanks and getting distracted, now all I had to do was two laser-focus sessions of 25 minutes each. No problem!

Your word count goals might be different, and you might find that timed writing is not for you. But if you do try it, I recommend you do a timed session that’s not very long–5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 minutes at most.

The reason you want to stay to 25 minutes or under is that anything over that you run the risk of getting tired and distracted.

If your mind is really prone to distraction, or if 25 minutes seems like a long time, start with 5 or 10 minutes.

You might be amazed how much you can get down with a concrete deadline.

A few more tips:

I like to use the Howler Timer for Mac because instead of obnoxious beeping, it makes lovely animal noises. You can download it for free.

Turn off your phone.

Turn off all social media.

Make sure you have everything you need for your session, so that when you click “start” on the timer you’re ready to go. Personally, I go to the bathroom and make sure I have anything I want to drink before I start my 25 minute session.

Let others know not to bother you. If possible, shut the door to your room. If you can’t get away from people, at least wear headphones to discourage anyone from talking to you.

If you have to stop for a good reason, pause the timer and re-start it once you’re writing again. (The idea here is to really train yourself about the difference between “on” and “off” time when it comes to your writing.)

You can spend a few minutes thinking about what you’ll write before starting, but don’t get sucked into thinking or outlining for longer than 5 minutes. The goal of this exercise is to get yourself out of your head and force you to put words on the page more quickly. Don’t postpone starting the timer because you’re scared.

If you wrote as fast as you could and stayed as focused as possible but didn’t make your word goal, it’s okay!! You are practicing, and the more you work at it the better you will get.

Also, if you try this a few times and it’s really not for you–maybe it’s too overwhelming, or stressful, or makes writing harder instead of easier for some reason–that’s totally fine, too! Don’t beat yourself up. There are lots of successful slow writers out there.

How about you all? Have you ever tried to train yourself to write faster? What were the results? Anything to add to this list?

Beyond this, consider how these professions might vary depending on who the customers are - nobles, or lower class. Are they good at their job or just scraping by? Do they work with lots of other people or on their own? City or village?

For younger characters:

Apprentice to any of the above

Messenger/runner

Page/squire

Pickpocket

Shop assistant

Student

Looks after younger siblings

(Images all from Wikimedia Commons)

WRITING HELP SITES 1. NaNoWriMo

The National Novel Writing Month blog provides inspirational posts for when you’re stuck with writer’s block and offers guidelines for everything from the publishing process to finding feedback.

2. Write It Sideways

The articles for writers on Write It Sideways outline real-life advice, like writing grants, author branding, and gift buying, as well as writing tips and tricks, like dialogue mistakes and how to build tension.

3. Helping Writers Become Authors

K.M. Weiland, the writer of Helping Writers Become Authors, is an award-winning author who shares creative writing advice on story structure, character arcs, common writing mistakes, and much more!

4. Inklyo.com

This website offers great advice for authors, bloggers, businesspeople, and students. Not only will you find writing advice and inspiration, but the site also offers a wealth of practical tips for honing your writing skills, finding work, and staying productive. If you’re looking for in-depth instruction, Inklyo.com also provides a range of courses and ebooks aimed at helping you learn how to write anything well.

5. Warrior Writers

Warrior Writers is run by best-selling author Kristen Lamb, who guides writers with comprehensive and detailed posts that have a humorous and easy-to-read tone.

6. Fantasy Author’s Handbook

Although this is technically a genre-specific writing blog, New York Times best-selling author Philip Athans has great advice for writers of all types, guaranteed.

7. Abidemi.tv

Abidemi is an accomplished author who has decided to share her insight and knowledge of the writing and publishing world to help others become better writers. In addition to offering free resources in her blog, she also creates and sells writing courses. 

Writer’s Lifestyle

The following writing websites are great for writers who have some extra time or need to take a quick break and want to spend it productively.

8. Write to Done

Write to Done clearly outlines useful topics for writers, like imposter syndrome, recovering from destructive criticism, and finding a pen name.

9. Brain PickingsMaria Popova’s writings on culture, books, and other eclectic subjects are always extremely interesting reading for any writer with some spare time.

10. Novelicious

While this might be more of a book website than a writing website, Novelicious also has advice for writers on retreats and for writing serialized novels—not to mention post about which books are being turned into movies this year (and reading that is time well spent for any writer, really).

11. Opinionator

The exclusive online commentary from the Draft section of Opinionator covers essays by journalists, novelists, linguists, and grammarians on the art of writing.

12. The Authors’ Nook

The Authors’ Nook houses relatable posts for writers along with advice on being a writer, allowing for a blend of good fun and useful advice for writing breaks.

Marketing/Blogging

These blogs help writers market their books and create blogging personas to engage an audience more effectively.

13. The Write Life

This writing website offers solid ideas for blogging, including working from home, pitching ideas, guest posting, and much more.

14. Goins, Writer

National best-selling author Jeff Goins shares real-life experiences and reflections about building an audience, shortcuts to success, and engaging a community in the age of Internet fame.

15. The Book Designer

As stated in its tagline, The Book Designer gives “practical advice to help build better books,” which includes writing creative disclaimers, choosing the right platforms, and using social media efficiently.16. Angela BoothAngela Booth, a copywriter, ghostwriter, author, marketer, and writing coach, write ample posts to help authors improve book sales and ensure a book will be a financial success.

17. Carly Watters

Carly Watters is a literary agent who provides advice on getting published in the 21st century. Her useful “Things I Wish I Knew” posts provide true accounts and tell how other writers can learn from them.

Publishing

The writing blogs below aid writers in the publishing process, from behind-the-scenes intel to publishing tips and tricks.

18. Jane Friedman

Jane Friedman has more than 20 years of experience in the book publishing industry. She provides informative articles on both the writing process and the publishing process.

19. The Creative Penn

Run by New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Joanna Penn, this site offers articles and other resources related to writing, publishing, and marketing books.

20. Alan Rinzler

The articles of Alan Rinzler, a consulting editor, help writers understand what goes on behind the scenes of the publishing process.

21. Publetariat

Publetariat gives practical information on networking, author websites, and the publishing process. It also shares links to big news stories in the world of publishing.

22. The Independent Publishing Magazine

The Independent Publishing Magazine hosts posts about many different parts of the publishing process, such as growing a following, avoiding authorship problems, and finding the right editor.

Writing Inspiration/Prompts

These sites are excellent for writers who are stuck in a rut and need some inspiration or even concrete prompts to get them writing again.

23. WritingPrompts.com

Writing prompts are posted here daily, offering inspiration for writers in all genres. Some of the prompts focus on breaking through writer’s block, while others focus on building characters or refining your dialogue-writing skills. If you’re feeling as though you’re in a writing rut, the site also posts inspirational quotes from famous authors.

24. Positive Writer

Positive Writer was created for writers with doubt—like the website’s author, Bryan Hutchinson—and to provide inspirational posts that help writers keep writing.

25. Blots and Plots

The Blots and Plots blog instructs writers to stay in the habit of writing, targeting specific problems and demonstrating how it’s possible to write a novel even with a full-time job.

26. Writer’s Digest

This well-known and comprehensive site offers all manner of advice and resources for authors. Of particular interest are the site’s many creative writing prompts. New prompts are published weekly, and writers post their results in the comments section.

27. Qwiklit

Qwiklit offers fun and accessible articles about reading and writing. It also has a bunch of writing prompts for writers who might feel stuck.

28. Writing Prompts That Don’t Suck

This one’s pretty self-explanatory, but Writing Prompts That Don’t Suck tries to avoid boring and familiar writing prompts to provide fun and interesting ones instead.

 Have at it!

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people who don't wear glasses who are writing characters who wear glasses;

they get fogged up when we drink hot beverages. they get smudged for no reason. we will push them up using anything in our area (i.e shoulder, whatever is in my hand, scrunching my nose up so they get pushed up, etc.). they get knocked off our faces all. the. fucking. time. when we change clothes we either take them off or they fall off when we pull our shirts off. we have to clean them after being in the rain. we own multiple pairs of them, not just one lone pair for our whole lives. most people don’t wear them in the pool, but some have extra old pairs for the pool (like me). some people take them off during sex, that’s fine! but some people keep them on. they don’t get squished into your face when you kiss (most of the time. at least from what i’ve experienced and i’ve got some mf big glasses). if we look down and look back up while you talk/to peek up at something, we will just peek blindly over the top of them. we clean them on whatever item of clothing is closest. some of us have prescription sunglasses and some of us wear contacts when we need to wear sunglasses. please keep some of these in mind when you write characters with glasses cause y'all who have 20/20 vision keep telling me all characters sleep in their glasses and own the same singular pair from age 6-25 and they never clean them.

Fantasy Guide: Common battle wounds and how to fix them

Arrow wounds: Now if the lung, heart, kidney, other major organ is hit, there may be little to do. The kidney has a back up, so maybe a skilled surgeon could save him, not exactly sure however. If hit by an arrow and not hit dangerously in an organ or artery, we can help. Firstly, DO NOT REMOVE arrow by yanking. Arrow must be worked from the skin by skilled hands. Once arrow is out, wash would with clean water/alchohol/herbal remedies. To heal slow, sew up wound and wrap in bandages. To speed it up, cauterise the wound with fire. It will hurt and patient pay pass out but now the arrow wound can heal faster. This works for crossbow bolts as well. On the gross side, arrows may be smeared with dirt or shit, so sepsis is a danger. This is how the great Richard the Lionheart died. Sometimes the mighty lion is killed by a shit arrow. But hey, shit happens. Arrow wounds take a couple of weeks to heal.

Sword slashes: if shallow, wash and bind up. May require stitches. If deeper, repeat process with more stitches and more bandages. Even if shallow, the cut must be washed using alcohol or clean water. May take a few days to weeks to heal depending on wound depth and severity.

Stab wound: Again don’t remove knife or object. If already removed, wash would and sew it up. You may need to cauterise. If guts, organs, brain, is falling out, there is nothing to do. This may take a couple of weeks to months to heal depending on wound.

Broken Bones: A break must be splinted with a board of wood and bandages. Slings can support arms and wrists. If your character breaks a leg, it may be worse. Breaks don’t heal great without modern medicine. Your character may have a limp or leg pain. In you’re are living in a hot climate, you’re pretty much fucked because infection sets in fast. These may take months to heal.

For @maslovianwench

i rarely see more than one (1) disabled person in fiction, and at that i rarely see disabled people that don’t have on sight disabilities. ya know i just wanna see a character or two having type one diabetes, better at that, i wanna see them be in some sort of fantasy fiction.