How to Write With Focus & Efficiency
Wish you could crank out your stories more quickly? You aren’t alone.
Run a quick Google search for “how to write faster,” and you’ll find hundreds of blog posts detailing writing productivity hacks ranging from disabling your internet connection to dictating your first draft, practicing your typing speed, and writing while groggy to smother your inner critic.
These tips may prove helpful for some (or even many) writers, but the hack-centered conversation around writing productivity often fails to account for the full complexity of this topic — and in doing so, fosters an unhealthy approach to getting words on the page more quickly.
The simple fact of the matter is that more isn’t always better. There’s nothing wrong with seeking to improve your efficiency as a writer, but storytelling is not a mechanical act.
Any number of factors can impact how much creative work you’re able to complete in any given period: the emotional intensity of your latest scene, the level of skill you’ve developed, the amount of energy you’re able to commit to your work…
Quantity can easily belie both quality and progress, yet high word counts are often lauded as a sign of writing success. No wonder many writers struggle to maintain faith in their skills and stories.
A healthier approach to increasing productivity
Earlier this week, I watched a Youtube video from Joey Schweitzer of Better Ideas called “Why you’re tired all the time.” In the video, Joey explains how many people seek magic-bullet solutions to their low energy levels, such as a gluten-free diet or pills for iron deficiency.
These solutions may work well for those with genuine medical needs. But for most, the answer to their lack of energy is much simpler: eat right, exercise, get a good night’s sleep.
A failure to address foundational needs is where many writers go wrong when chasing increased productivity. A quick-fix solution such as completing writing sprints may work well for some, but achieving true creative focus and efficiency often requires a more foundational approach.
By my account, seven key aspects feed into writers’ ability to get good words on the page. Let’s take a look at each of these items together…
1. Time
You can’t increase your productivity without first making time to write, but not all writing sessions are created equal.
Where one writer excels with short daily sprints, another needs larger blocks of time to find their creative flow. Where one can hammer out hundreds of words before dawn, another finds inspiration in the bright embrace of midday. Figure out what works for you, and strive to create that time whenever possible.
2. Energy
The amount of mental and emotional energy you bring to your manuscript can radically impact both the quality and quantity of the work you produce. Honor this energy accordingly.
If you only have enough gas in the tank for ten minutes, then give that ten minutes your all. Try researching or brainstorming when you can’t seem to write, or consider taking a break to refill your creative well.
A mindful writing practice is a sustainable writing practice, and as we’ll discuss in a moment, sustainability is key to ongoing efficiency in your writing life.
3. Clarity
Writing is more than putting words on the page; it’s more than even polishing those words to high shine. Writing is thinking, researching, developing, and brainstorming — and it’s in these aspects of writing that we find the clarity we need to produce our best work.
Before putting pen to paper, consider what you’re going to write. You don’t have to know exactly what’s going to happen next, but get clear about what your characters want and why they want it. Give yourself a compass for the journey ahead, and you’ll direct yourself toward progress and momentum.
4. Enthusiasm
There’s incredible power in passion. When you’re excited for the work you’re going to complete (or, perhaps more accurately, for the results of the work you’re going to complete), you naturally write with greater focus and efficiency.
Each time you sit down to write, consider why you’re excited to complete the work to come. Will your characters finally confess their love in today’s scene, or will their argument lend lots of juicy tension to your story? Are you eager to paint a vivid picture of your story world, or are you simply excited to fix that passage that’s been bugging you for weeks?
If your search for enthusiasm comes up empty, consider why that might be. Is the scene at hand not working? Do you not know enough about the story you’re trying to tell? Do you simply need to take a break to refill your creative well?
5. Grit
Writing is difficult work. Despite the passion we hold for our stories, many writers struggle to simply sit down and write thanks to resistance, that strange internal force that pressures us to do anything but put pen to paper.
Learning to write despite the call of resistance is a skill we all must cultivate if we’re to finish our stories. I like to call this skill grit, the determination to push through internal difficulty to achieve a goal worth fighting for.
Developing grit requires passion and motivation. But more than anything, it requires the willingness to look within. To interrogate and resolve the limiting beliefs that hinder us from completing our best work.
6. Consistency
Momentum is the key to sustained efficiency in our creative work. The more consistently you write, the easier it will be to overcome resistance, maintain clarity, and develop the confidence you need to keep moving forward.
7. Strategy
Cultivating each of the aforementioned elements can help you repeatedly log fantastic and fulfilling writing sessions. But to truly make the most of each moment you write, developing a strategic approach to the craft is key.
This strategic approach is otherwise known as your personal writing process, the tools and techniques that best enable you to bring your stories to life.
Discovering your writing process can take time. Some tips and techniques may seem an obvious fit for your natural tendencies, but you’ll likely need to trial other options to determine whether they’re right for you.
It’s at this point that many writing productivity hacks come into play. Dictating your first draft, completing writing sprints, and other common techniques may help or hinder your writing process. There’s only one way to find out.
Not sure which techniques to try? Consider reading my articles on pre-writing, drafting, and editing to gain a better understanding of common approaches to the craft. Then test the techniques that appeal to you, and see what sticks. The more you explore, the quicker you’ll discover your personal writing process.
As you cultivate these foundational keys to writing efficiency, you might just find that what you’re actually developing is a creative practice. To hone your ability to write with focus and efficiency is, after all, to deepen your commitment to the craft. To become the writer you want to be.
As you develop your practice, bear in mind that efficiency isn’t always pretty. There will be many days when the result of your best efforts isn’t much to write home about, and that’s okay. More than okay. Because efficiency doesn’t demand a staggering outcome. It simply asks that you produce your best work with the limited resources available to you.
Time. Energy. Clarity. Enthusiasm. Grit. Consistency. Strategy.
Rarely will each of these items align in perfect harmony. Sometimes, you won’t have much time or energy to write. Other days, you’ll struggle with tough story issues or seemingly insurmountable resistance. Your writing process will fail you, and your enthusiasm will flag.
On those days, lofty word counts may fly out the window, but your writing efficiency need not. As bestselling author V.E. Schwab often says, “Show up, put in the work, let go of the outcome.” Rinse and repeat, and you’ll soon finish that story that’s been idling at your fingertips.
