PeaceBang

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1. It’s a wonderful question, Victoria. I found I had to be totally disciplined about working on my books. I wrote every day from 5:30 am to 7:00 am, before I began my work day. I scheduled several writing vacations in beautiful places, and then made myself do research/write in three hour sessions two or three times a day. When I wasn’t feeling creative, I wrote the necessary boring parts or compiled resources or formatted the footnotes, but I made sure that something got put on paper everyday. And at the end of every day, I pushed the “word count” button to measure progress! And in between the sessions, I treated myself to walks, good coffee, times outside, and so on. The discipline may sound excessive, but it’s gotten me through six books while holding full time jobs.

   Comment by Rev. Debra Haffner — June 18, 2008 #

2. One trick I heard for writing a thesis (admittedly a shorter project than a dissertation) was to sit down and write a letter before you tackle writing. Just to start.
   But you already blog, this may not work, and the blog might be so Tempting to tweak instead of working.

   The only thing that works for me when I have to focus on something I do not want to do is to do it during the Saturday afternoon opera broadcast. I sit down and I can’t get up till it’s over. Of course this only works once a week! :>) Maybe that is why my thesis took tooooo looong.

   Love to you I have no doubt that you will figure it out!
   Biscuitx

   Comment by biscuitx — June 18, 2008 #

3. I never write.

   I take notes (on reading and my own thoughts). I go back and re-read the notes. I see what argument they’re making and create an outline based on that. I drop all the relevant notes into the right places in the outline. I fill in connections. I polish bits and pieces. I polish some more. And some more. I figure out where things are missing and fill them in.

   Eventually, I have a dissertation. Or a book (current project). But at no point am I faced with the existentially terrifying notion of “writing.” My process segues from notetaking to editing without ever passing through that stage.

   Usually, I do this while also doing some other mundane tasks, like cooking, so that I can get up every 20 minutes or so and turn the baking vegetables over, or wash some pots, or add carrots to the soup, or something. Something to give me frequent breaks without getting someone else’s voice in my head. If I already have enough prepared food, I cook stuff to freeze. We eat well at Chez Conduct when I am on deadline.

   Writing outside the house (e.g., at a coffee shop WITHOUT WIFI) is a big treat that I give myself when I really can’t get motivated.

   I also find I need to be awake for a couple of hours before the brain’s fully loaded. I think that writing first thing in the morning thing might work for creative writing, but for more logical, non-narrative prose, a walk and a scan of the day’s papers and taking care of some paperwork and correspondence are a good warmup.

   Comment by Miss Conduct — June 18, 2008 #

4. 2,000 words a day, same time of the day, every day, no days off. I’ve written two novels and a short story collection this way.

   I also did most major academic papers this way, too but skipped the same time of day rule.

   Comment by revtony — June 18, 2008 #

5. I never would have finished my dissertation without my little writing group. The four of us would meet for a pot luck dinner once a month and one or two people would share what they had written. What worked for me, I think, was that I was able to use the group’s meetings as mini-deadlines for getting another piece of the project done. And it made a solitary activity a bit more communal . . . best of luck with it!

   Comment by theater prof — June 19, 2008 #

6. I worked as a tech writer for years and have written 6 novels on the side. I’ve been most productive setting a time each day to write and sticking to it, rain or shine, no matter what. Some days I write crap but as you must know from sermon writing, fixing crap is better than staring down a blank page.

   To structure your day, use your own body clock. I think best in the morning, so I do my brain work then. In the afternoon I sag, so that’s when I try to exercise. I do not have any midnight oil to speak of, so my evenings would be for rest or idiot work (filing, googling and printing research for later etc).

   Good luck! Liz

   Comment by Liz Hill — June 19, 2008 #

7. Three of my favorite authors, all prolific writers with multiple books per if they can swing it, use the same method (as mentioned above by revtony): Sit down at the same time every day (I hear morning often, but really whenever you’re at your best) and write a minimum amount that you have designated. Some days you’ll write pages and pages, and some days you’ll have to battle for every word, but it means you’ll be writing every day. And that in itself means that, eventually, you will finish your project.

   Comment by Stef — June 19, 2008 #

8. Yeah, another vote for the “make yourself write X amount” every day” plan. That’s the only way I’ve ever been able to do a long project, plus it gave my day a pleasing structure during a period of unemployment.

   The only other method that has ever worked for me is to give myself a specific assignment (E.g. “Write the scene where Ramsey wakes up knowing that he loves Ava and is going about his morning routine thinking about what that means for his life”) and carry around a legal pad, scribbling away at odd moments until you have about five drafts of the scene, then put the best stuff together.

   CC

   Comment by Chalicechick — June 19, 2008 #

9. I second having a writing group (I’m finishing a social science dissertation). Knowing I’m accountable to other keeps me focused, as does knowing that I’ll be able to give and receive high-quality criticism and enjoy my colleagues’ company.

   I get hung up on the numbers of pages that I’ve written as some magic measure of productivity. I end up being angry with myself for not finishing a certain amount of pages, which ends up being counterproductive. I tend to write in longhand first, and then sit at the computer and type. It keeps me away from too much Internet browsing and eyestrain, and I end up working through intellectual problems better when I’m just letting my pen/pencil flow.

   Comment by Donna — June 20, 2008 #

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