Seven Tips to becoming a More Productive Writer
I just read a magazine article from the Poets and Writers about the life of would-be novelists. To really get into the mood of writing, to truly explore the nuances of the craft, tap into the unconscious mind responsible for the exploration of various human interest stories, the writer needs to write daily!
Walter Mosley writes in an average of 3 hours a day. He recommends the same level of devotion to people who really want to hone their craft and develop the skills they need to sustain them in their writing career. Mosley writes at least three hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year! That is a surefire way to establish one’s writing career!
Brad Thor, another novelist, advises the same thing. He is publishing one novel a year. For a best-selling author who has reached the top spot of the New York Times bestseller’s list with his seventh novel, that is certainly a remarkable feat! Writing indeed needs dedication, constant practice, patience and intense discipline.
In the Ilocano writing community, I could point to at least one person who writes regularly day after day after day! According to my good friend, Ariel Tabag, the award-winning writer Reynaldo A. Duque is a disciplined writer who wakes up in the morning and the first thing he does is write. No, I don’t know if he drinks his coffee first or goes to the bathroom upon waking up. But if his writing output were to be the criteria, I would say that this guy is for real! He is a Hall of Fame Awardee of the Don Carlos Palanca Literary Awards.
For us, ordinary folks, how could we even attain such remarkable feats of creativity?
1. Resolve to write daily!
It starts with the mind. If you and I decided one day to write daily and do everything in our power to explore the creative nook and cranny of our minds, then that is certainly a good start. Just like a good relationship, we don’t really know where such decision will lead us. But it’s a decision nonetheless.
image credit: www.officemuseum.com
2. Decide on the best time to write.
Making a decision is easy. But it is more difficult to follow through and deliver. To make sure you deliver, observe your moods and your output. What time of the day do you work best? In the morning before hitting the rigors of your full-time job or do you work best at night when everyone’s fast asleep and nobody’s there to disturb you?
If you decide to work in the morning, then that might mean getting up an hour earlier than you’re used to. Or if you decide to write at night, you will have to let go some social calls like after work sessions with drinking buddies or seeing late night movies with the lover. Hmm… I suggest working in the morning! 
No matter what time you decide on, you better stick to it like sacred time! Otherwise, you won’t really get into the habit of writing daily.
3. Setup your workspace.
Your workspace could be a bare desk in the living room. Or it can be a notebook—not the electronic type with a keypad in it, but a good ol’ fashioned one complete with blue lines on the pages. If you can afford it, you can even rent a room to serve as your writing laboratory. But in a country as ours with economic realities impinging so much on our ideal state of life, it would be best to simply work on the home computer. Just make sure nobody disturbs you when you’re working there. You have enough room for your notes and some reference books and materials you’ll need.
4. Show up at your workspace on the appointed time and place.
Try doing this for at least 3 weeks. Before you know it, you will have gained this habit and will start producing the short stories, the poetry and perhaps even the novel that you have dreaming about. Even if you don’t know where to start, by simply sitting in front of your desk and staring into the blank computer screen for hours, you will eventually grow tired of that blank space and start banging away at your keyboard like an enraged musician.
5. Read, read, read.
To be a good reader, you should also be a good reader. You should learn the techniques and the tricks of the trade. How other writers express their stories. Which ideas are worth stealing and improvising on, and how you can develop your writer’s voice.
6. Write, write, write!
No matter how many hours you sit in front of the computer and stare at the screen, nothing will happen unless you start writing! That’s what really matters, the next word you put, the next sentence, the next paragraph, the next page, until you craft a complete story worth reading by other people, not because they are your family or friends, but because they are interested in the story you want to tell them.
7. Persevere.
Sure, you’ll hit some bumps along the way, but for every fall, make sure you stand up right away and concentrate on writing again. Nobody said it would be easy. Besides, look at the memoirs of most writers and they’d tell you that writing is a lonely pursuit.
Daunted? If so, you better quit now. If you’re up to the challenge, share additional tips on writing consistently by hitting the comments box! I wanna hear from you. 
by Sergei Lukyanenko 
by Mark DeVries 
by Stephen R. Covey
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