After Years of Writing, I've Finally Found It... A Routine.

I've spent my entire writing career (LMAO, CAREER) trying to find the secret to the best techniques for consistent writing.

There have been days where I wrote 5,000, 6,000, sometimes as high as 7,500 words. Inevitably, after these mega productive days, I wouldn't be able to write shit for days after. I'd burn myself out during that one day and it'd be hard for me to find the inspiration to write for days afterward. Try as I might to have convinced myself it was possible, I'm just not one of those guys that can pump out thousands of words daily (I'm looking at you Tim Marquitz, you arrogant jerk (just kidding, you're a really great guy)).

I can, however, easily achieve 2,000 words a day. Easy as pie. I've set and reached this goal every day for the last seven days. And I'm getting it done relatively quickly, for another reason. Another tick of mine I've been fixing.

I procrastinate. A lot of times, my mind wanders while I'm writing and, really, how many people can say otherwise? But me, I've always been the kind of guy that works best under pressure, so I set one super easy goal for myself; 500 words per hour. Sounds super easy, right? Yeah, because it is. Don't get me wrong, a lot of times I'll get more than 500 within that hour (1,400 yesterday, actually), but setting that super easy goal works best for me.

Another thing (I know; I've got a lot of flaws, but I'm aiming to be the best writer I can be here, 'ya know); I used to be really picky about the words I'd put on the page. I wouldn't put something into the first draft unless I was sure it'd be there on the final draft (essentially meaning I'd be trying to write a first draft and leave it at that). I wasn't doing what I should have been doing, something that's been working wonders for me; throwing literally fucking everything on the page. If an idea comes to my head, I put it in there. I don't go back and take out everything that didn't sound good until I'm editing the first draft and working on the second. Throwing everything on there and getting it out of my head makes the plotting that much easier and creates for a much smoother editing process. I'm not saying I'm writing a bunch of shit just to make my word count, don't get me wrong. But I forget about the 'less is more' rule. While I'm writing the first draft, anyway.

So, it's simple, really. 500 words per hour. 2,000 words per day. Meaning I'm writing for four hours a day and I'm able to call it quits after that short but very productive time spent in front of the computer. Before I would stare at a word document for a few minutes, come up dry, then go do something. Wash, rinse, repeat, and I would end up giving up, not writing anything and chalking the day up as a loss, telling myself I'll do better tomorrow.

Tomorrow is now. This is some of the best writing I've ever done, and it just keeps going. I'm super happy about it and I'm glad I can share my progress with you all.