Inertia AKA Momentum

I got an unexpected day off a few days ago. I considered doing Day Off Story Challenge round five. Instead, I slept all day. Really needed some rest, I guess.

I still did some writing. The last few days I've barely made it over a thousand words, which is under my goal of 1,250. Of course, before that I had several days of 0. Zilch, Zip, Nada. So I guess 1k is an improvement in comparison.

Today I churned out 1,600, a good amount. I did still feel like I was working slowly, at a reduced pace compared to where I was at a few weeks ago. I blame inertia. I really feel like I lost speed, like an athlete who skips practice for a few days.

This is one of the many reasons that daily output is essential. It takes me less time to write a minimum amount if I do it every day. Binge writing can put my monthly word-count up quickly, but if it costs me my daily goal, it is probably hurting me in the long run.

What I need to do is keep a steady, sane daily word count (thinking of reducing my 1,250 to 1,000 just for this reason), and still have occasional blurts and power days. Either that, or learning how to get by on three hours of sleep a night.

One of the really nice things about being new at writing is that I'm not locked into any one set of habits. I can add new things to the mix, and keep them if they work, or ditch them if they don't. Or I can set everything aside and try something completely new and crazy for a while. All me, all my choice. Hmm...

One Simple, Easy Step to Increase Your Output

Many writers have found that the most creative and best time for them to work is as soon as they get up in the morning. I work early hours, so getting up early, before work, just isn't gonna happen. For me, "as soon as I get up" translates to "as soon as I get home from work".

If I get writing as soon as I get home, it's fairly easy for me to make my writing goals. Especially if I start writing first thing, before any distractions manage to take root in my mind. Online distractions being the chief culprit. These can ruin my entire days production.

So here is the one step to higher output - get up, and get going writing. No internet, no mail, no morning cartoons. But have coffee, for the sake of all that is sweet and holy. We're not barbarians.

 This works even better on a day off. You will amaze yourself with how much you can get done if you start writing first thing and keep going until you're ready to keel over. Or lunchtime, whichever comes first.

Make your daily word count the first thing you have to accomplish, every day.