I’m tellin’ you, folks. If you’re not jumping on the following 3 ways you can immediately produce better writing results for yourself, you’re absolutely MISSING OUT. And my job today is to make sure you leave this reading session understanding that there are some simple but fundamental building blocks to creating a writing environment that caters to your best writing output right out the gate. So, let’s get right into it. Write? Right?
INCENTIVIZING THE WRITER IN YOU IS THE OVERALL AIM HERE.
What incentivizes you to write? If you know, you know and I say “move in your zone of writing genius.” And if you don’t know, let me share some universal writing tips that work across the board for everyone no matter what you’re writing about.
Number One: Write during the time(s) of day where you’ll get “real” work done.
Number Two: Write on subject matter you enjoy.
Number Three: Write during the time(s) where you have the most opportunity for uninterrupted writing sessions.
Did you guess those were the three tried-and-tested ways you can get the BEST out of your writing output? Maybe not? Either way, I’m pressing on with some more info for you, so keep on reading for the meatier content on “Number One” out of the three.
Okay . . .
Number One: Write During Your Best Time(s) of the Day to GET REAL WORK DONE
There’s nothing like coming into a writing session with a fresh mind and body, rearin’ to go. You have energy to spare. You’re well-rested and motivated to work those writing chops. And it all goes down early morning, or mid-afternoon, or late at night when it’s quiet and peaceful, or during multiple points of time throughout the day.
Whatever time it is that allows you to work in your most creative state, where cognitive skills are clicking and the thoughts are connecting to the fingers that are writing (or typing) words on the page — DO THAT! Stick with that time and let that time be the driving force for determining when (in your day) you do your writing activities.
Believe it or not, you expend energy when you write. Now, I’m not a scientist and I haven’t studied the brain of people while they write, nor would I want to write a case study about that topic even if I did. But from personal experience, I will say that my brain IS at work when I’m writing and the optimal amount of energy is required for me to produce written content I can willingly push the “Publish” button on. I know that for a fact.
Writing requires effort, and what part of the day can I put forth my best writing effort? That’s what you and I should be asking ourselves every time we have a writing opportunity staring us in the faces. I’ve answered that question for myself — finally caught a clue with some trial and error-style training.
I found my writing flow to be fully-functional during the hours of 5am to noon (Monday through Friday). Now, I don’t usually get ALL of these hours to write, because there’s such a thing as getting my husband off to work, preteen off to school, and so on. But, the hours within this timeframe lend themselves to being my most writing-ready periods to work.
If I have to, I can work outside of those hours; but I already know that I’m not going to get the type of quality written output I want to. And, the output I create during my non-peak work times will tend to get rewritten or reworked anyway, during my optimal writing times. So, why work outside of my true writing zone.
Does that make sense? I hope so, but you can totally tell me if it doesn’t. Let’s just say that I’m the most alert, rested, focused, energized, and motivated to write during my peak hours (5am to noon). And, my writing flows during this timeframe like no other.
But, what about you? Have you figured out that time or those times for YOU? If not, I want you to experiment with writing during different parts of the day and nail down that optimal time for yourself. It won’t take long for you to figure it out.
Actually, try this out for size. I want you to take a few minutes to consider the following questions that you probably know the answers to already. I want you to consider . . .
- when in the day does your energy seem to be on the decline?
- when in the day is it harder for you to come up with ideas or flesh out written ideas on the page?
- when in the day is it harder for you to mentally focus, concentrating on the written topic at hand?
- when in the day does writing become less interesting to you, where you’d rather be doing anything else other than writing?
If you know the answers to these questions, then you absolutely know what your best writing times ARE NOT. So, do your writing at the times opposite of those no-no times. Simplify things and just don’t write when you know good and well that you’re not going to be at your best writing self. Wait and ready your fingers for your best time(s) when they come around again. Time, naturally, has a way of showing you when those times are. And when it does, take advantage of them.
(Oh, and next week, the plan is to continue with the discussion focusing on:
Number Two: Write on Subject Matter You Enjoy)
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