Twenty On, Twenty Off

 

Do you need to grind out a BUNCH of words?  Do you find that when you sit down to write, you stare blankly in between Facebook and Youtube and the Wikipedia research rabbit hole?  This might be the strategy for you.

Humans can’t focus on one thing intensely for an indefinite amount of time.  This is a great evolutionary strategy so predators don’t get you, but it’s not that great for your word count.  Wht ARE we good at, aside from power walking a mammoth to death?  Short bursts of intense concentration.

Pick a time. Fifteen or twenty minutes is a pretty good bet, but you could go shorter or longer to suit your needs.  Set a timer.  Write like the wind!  Then when the timer goes off, STOP!  Reset the timer.  Now do something else.  Anything else.  Play on Facebook, check the forums, text your friend.  Go to the bathroom.  Get a snack.  Get up and stretch your butt.  Or go knock out a few minutes worth of chores.  But whatever you do, do NOT look at your novel again until the timer goes off.  Personally, this is the only way I manage to get any laundry done during November.  (Especially if I’m at a frustrating point in my writing.  Then folding that laundry becomes REALLY IMPORTANT.)

Repeat as often as you need to until you have all the words you need for the day.  You’ll be swimming in words before you know it.