Ideas to increase productivity?

[Amanita]

Well, in my case, starting to write is the worst part. I'm more busy than I used to be at the moment, but there still would be enough time to spend an hour or so writing per day, more on the weekends.
Still, I often don't even start because I think I'm too tired or because I'm looking through the internet or because I think it's only a waste of time anyway because no one wants to read and that's why it's quite fine to let it stay in my head.
If I do get started, I usually manage plenty of words, but I definitely need more discipline. At the moment, I wanted to write rather than be on the forum too.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

The Crystal Ship is being filled...

The Crystal Shrimp is being grilled...

Sorry, that's what I hear in my head every time I hear that song. (Big fan of The Doors, don't get me wrong; Manzarek is a good friend of my dad's.)

 

[Steerpike]

The Crystal Shrimp is being grilled...

Sorry, that's what I hear in my head every time I hear that song. (Big fan of The Doors, don't get me wrong; Manzarek is a good friend of my dad's.)

Hey, I'm just glad someone got the reference. I was starting to feel old!

 

[Phin Scardaw]

The Crystal Shrimp is being grilled...

Sorry, that's what I hear in my head every time I hear that song. (Big fan of The Doors, don't get me wrong; Manzarek is a good friend of my dad's.)

I got the reference too.

I think The Crystal Shrimp should be the title of a fantasy story, no?

 

[rhd]

Decluttering mentally works for me, it helps me organize my thoughts and get into the peaceful mode for writing (or drawing), because I usually can't decide between writing and drawing, so I need to go with the strongest impulse at the time (sometimes I feel like I'm being torn in two, and land up doing nothing, very frustrating!). I declutter with breathing exercises, nothing mystical about yoga, just in case anyone's wondering. It's boring while you're doing but I believe it's helped me organize and increase efficiency. Also, as far as discipline goes, I seriously need to narrow down on a minimum one hour of writing a day, whether something comes of it or not. Plus de-Facbooking myself saved me an hour a day, a serious waste of time.

 

[Philip Overby]

I like the idea of Pomodoro. I'm definitely going to try that. Especially during NaNo season.

I find what's good for me is something similar. I'll set up Youtube or Jango or something (because I like listening to music while writing) and then when it gets to the end of my playlist about 30 minutes or so later, I'll take a break for a bit.

Outlines have done wonders for me as well.

 

[Kit]

The guy who develops Liquid Story Binder has a free program called Momentum Writer. It is basically a text editor with no backspace functionality; no way to go back and edit what you've written. So you've either got to just keep going or else close the program and open the document in another program to edit it.

OMG!!! I would slit my wrists within 20 min!

I am guilty of editing everything to within an inch of its life.

 

[Caged Maiden]

When you're in an altered state your brain makes connections that seem obvious or even profound, but when you read back over it sober you might be wondering what on earth you were on when you created such gibbering drivel! This happened to me a lot in my 20s - I'd write something during the souped up witching hour which struck me as the deepest insight in the history of literature. Then I'd read it the next morning and just shake my head at the pointless banality I'd scrawled over an envelope reeking of bongwater.

AHAHAHAHA! No kidding.

Admittedly this was a long time ago, but in High school, I was pretty... err, altered, most of the time. One time, we had to take notes in Biology (right after lunch break) on a video that was ABSOLUTELY pertinent to the final exam.

I wish I'd kept that notebook... The video went faster than I could write in my very amused state, and the next day when I tried to decipher what was going on, the pages were filled with incomplete thoughts, sentences which began on one subject and ended on another, and some of what I can only imagine were my own words and interpretations. (Not to mention some very cute doodles)

Yeah, good times.

 

[Kit]

Which begs the question, how did the exam go?

 

[The Dark One]

Sorry if this is a teensy bit off-topic (if I was wasted then no doubt I'd see the connection)...

I remember when I was about 25 waking up in the middle of the night from a really coherent dream that told the most fantastic story. I was just blown away by both the profundity and the novelty and knew that if I could get it down on paper then the germ of a sensational book would be ready for me to exploit and become a million-selling megastar.

I leapt out of bed and strode into my living room, but alas! In those days I was still a smoker and discovered to my horror that I only had two cigarettes left. There was no way I could write with only two cigarettes, so I threw some clothes on, jumped into the car and drove up to an all-night petrol station to get some cigarettes.

Of course, by the time I got back, my brain waves had entirely altered and do you think I could remember the dream?

What ever you do...don't smoke!

 

[Philip Overby]

I think I wrote this somewhere on the forum before, but these rules will typically smash writer's block to smithereens and potentially increase your productivity.

1. Kill, wound, or maim someone in your story.
2. Introduce a new character.
3. Delete a scene that is blocking you.
4. Change the scenery.
5. Have a romantic interlude.
6. Stare at the ceiling for 5 minutes.

Take a die and roll it. Whichever number it lands on, do that. Sometimes randomness gets your creative blood flowing again.

 

[Ailith]

I think I wrote this somewhere on the forum before, but these rules will typically smash writer's block to smithereens and potentially increase your productivity.

1. Kill, wound, or maim someone in your story.
2. Introduce a new character.
3. Delete a scene that is blocking you.
4. Change the scenery.
5. Have a romantic interlude.
6. Stare at the ceiling for 5 minutes.

Take a die and roll it. Whichever number it lands on, do that. Sometimes randomness gets your creative blood flowing again.

Does #5 apply to me or to my characters?
Guess it could work either way...

 

[Philip Overby]

Originally, I wrote "Kill someone." Of course that is bad advice. Having a romantic interlude? I'm sure that will help you one way or another.