Tips for Writing More Content
Nef House asked a handful of authors for their best tips to write more content. Here’s what they said:
Mike Leon: “Pick a well-defined genre and stick to it. It will increase your chances of success exponentially. Also, if you drink straight liquor while you're writing, the hangovers aren't as bad.”
Sena Andeo: “A key component of content creation is note-taking. Use whatever you have available. For example, if you use the back of an unpaid bill, not only will you remember that one cool line of dialogue, but you'll also remember to pay for the electricity you need to type it up.”
Robert Carnevale: “Use your guilt. Every day you don't write, or you procrastinate starting, let that guilt and shame build up to the point where you won't be able to look in the mirror until you sit down and make something of yourself by putting words on the page. And remember that simply writing isn't good enough; finishing a draft is all that matters. An incomplete story has no real-world value.”
Tony Acree: “Turn off spelling and grammar check and don’t make a single edit until you write the end. Keep your forward momentum.”
Bardlyre: “Get the words down on the page. I have an outline of all the beats I want to hit in a chapter and will then push through them all before stopping and doing a first edit. The biggest danger for authors is to endlessly edit the first fifty words until they are ‘perfect.’ But then you find three hours are gone, you have forty words you are still not happy with, and your motivation to carry on is finished.”
Penny Crane: “Set a schedule. If you can, try to write at the same time each day. Getting into a good writing routine is like going to the gym. You don’t make much progress unless you’re consistent.”
Kell Inkston: “Know your Why and your How - cut those down to three or four sentence of immutable personal agreement. All other details being secondary (because throughout life, they will be) you must know why you are doing what you are doing, and how you are going to do it. For me, I use a short range goal and a long range goal: Short: It's 1000 words a day, and then I get to enjoy my coffee the next day - coffee is for closers, so close. Long: You tricked yourself into writing dozens of books, /and/ you got to drink your coffee every day - see what I did there?”
Bruce Jamison: “In the earliest stages of content generation, even before the outline, a writer needs to understand how elements of a story can make writing easier or harder. If the story has connections to the modern world, one can use analogies and colloquialisms that wouldn't make sense to a story set entirely in a different realm. Along that same line, a crunchy RPG system can assist with character development, but it can also constrict your world building and rule sets. Plan accordingly.”
Stuart Thaman: “If you want to write, you will. No one is genuinely too busy. Some people, unfortunately, just don’t make writing a high enough priority. Maybe you cut back on TV or wake up 30 minutes early to get words on paper. Whatever you do, if you prioritize writing, it will happen. Even 200 words a day makes a novel in a year.”
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