10 Writing Tips for the Modern Writer

If you're a writer with an innate talent for procrastination (like me), you probably realized that you need to exert MORE EFFORT to attain a certain state of focus in writing. Okay, so you push yourself harder, nag yourself more, like how any other writers do, but do you know what the difference is between us (the procrastinators) and the professional prolific writers?

DISCIPLINE.

And PROFESSIONALISM.
 

PROFESSIONAL
: engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.
: having or showing the skill appropriate to a professional person; competent or skillful. 

Here's my deal: I don't write just because I love it, nor do I write just to earn money. I write for both, because I want to live by doing what I love. 

Do you?

If writing's what you love and you want to live (translation: feed yourself, get you a roof above your head, have a garden where you can plant and harvest your own tomatoes) by doing it, you've got to be serious about it.

And I mean DEAD SERIOUS.

How?

DISCIPLINE.

Big word. But since most of us are finding it hard to live up to it, with all the tempting stuff to do in this modern life, here are a few tips to burst your lazy bubble and get your hands and mind moving:



1. DITCH THE INTERNET
And I don't mean "minimize that Facebook window" or something. UNPLUG your internet connection. Live without internet for a couple of weeks. After all, you won't need it that much while writing your first draft. Try it. I'm sure your internet friends will understand.

2. DITCH THE INTERNET
Oh. I said that already? 

Well, what the hell are you waiting for?

UNPLUG IT THIS VERY INSTANT!

3. DITCH THE COMPUTER
I mean, set it aside. Use it only when you're editing, researching, and confirming your facts, which you do AFTER YOU FINISHED YOUR FIRST DRAFT.

In fact, WRITE IN FREEHAND.

You know, pen and paper? I know some of us are not fans of our own penmanship, but believe me, it's better than staring at the word processor where your thoughts only keep on drifting to your latest Facebook status. Wondering how many likes and comments it has at the moment.

It's your MANUSCRIPT whose word count you have to increase.

4. WRITE IN FREEHAND
Geez. Am I annoying or what? But this is the most effective answer I've come up with in increasing word count. Or you can use a typewriter, as long as you can keep your focus and productivity.

*cursive writing will make you curse, but it's worth it

5. FINISH YOUR FIRST DRAFT

FIRST DRAFT

: crap
: ore (unrefined forms of classics, bestselling novels, etc.)

Forget about perfecting that first sentence. WRITE THE WHOLE CRAP FIRST. Write it until your soul hurt with that cringe-worthy output formed before your eyes. Cry as crappy sentences that make your stomach churn appear before you. In this world, you bring out the garbage first and sort through it for gold later.

Don't reread your crap. RESIST EDITING IT. Punch your editor persona to sleep.

The important thing is to FINISH THE FIRST DRAFT.

There's time for murder later.

6. LEARN TO DETACH YOURSELF
There are probably two situations where one can attain the "writing zone":

• in a noisy public place 
• in a quite as the dead place

For me, television is my enemy. Music only helps if I have the headset or earphones on.

*my poor, injured earphones

But since you don't always get to be lucky, you have to learn to adapt. Teach yourself how to concentrate and attain focus in every situation. So you can write anywhere, anytime. Do this and you remove more than half from your MY-EXCUSES-WHY-I-CAN'T-WRITE list.

Do this and you'll finish a manuscript. AT LONG LAST.

7. KEEP TRACK OF YOUR WORD COUNT
At the start of the year, first thing I bought was a small (A4 sized?) desk calendar, like this:

*this month is only filled with hospital appointments and 
birthdays since I'm already in the sorting-my-first-draft stage of the
 novel I'm working on. (no, I'm not "nearly done")

Those cute pocket planners are tempting, but procrastinator that I am, I'm too lazy to browse over every page. I'd like to see my progress in a glance. And I don't go out much anyway so I don't need to take a planner with me. Yet.

SCHEDULE your activities. MANAGE YOUR TIME.

One thousand words a day isn't bad if you're writing full time (depending on your deadlines). But even if you don't reach your quota, write it down so you could use your disappointment as motivation the next time.

8. KEEP FOOD and WATER BESIDE YOU
So you don't have to be tempted to get up and do other things than write (except when you really need to pee, but then we have the ¹arinola for that if you want to go extreme). But not junkfood or soda. Being a writer doesn't give you an excuse to indulge in fast and processed food. Or caffeine. Sure, that helps, but what are the effects to your health? You also need your body in writing, in case you haven't realized it yet. Unless you're buddies with this guy:

*Krang of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 
image from www.absolutelyfobulous.com

Pray he teaches you how to make an age-resistant body for your brain.

9. DE-STRESS
Give yourself a break, say, once a week. SCHEDULE IT. It's really a good time to develop an obsessive compulsive behavior when it comes to your writing schedule. 

Work on weekdays like you're working in an office, and have the weekends off. 

GET ENOUGH SLEEP.

Those late night hours spent to accommodate your muse? Bullcrap. DON'T BE HIS SLAVE. Teach him how to work for you anytime you want.

10. LEARN TO SAY "NO"
When it's time for you to write, guard it like a mother grizzly bear guarding its cub. Let's admit it, not everyone around us will support us in this painstaking journey of living through doing what you love (ahem, writing). Concerned citizens, especially your family, will keep pulling you towards the life of the normally employed. `Cause they care about your future, they say.

But YOU hold your future. YOU decide what you become.

RESIST the opposition if you have it in you. 

Schedule your date with friends. Or your boyfriends/girlfriends if you can. You have to make time for writing especially if you're going at it full time (like me).  

"Living through doing what you love." 

Still the best way to live, IMO.