Hey everyone, it’s Abby with another writing post! Today we’re talking about writing, but in a different way – this post is about the writer, not about what’s being written.
It’s so easy to get distracted while writing. We do it because we love it, but sometimes it’s hard to stay focused on the screen or paper in front of you. Today I’m here with some tips to combat this situation we all find ourselves in at one point or another.
The most important thing to remember is that we all have good and bad days. If today you wrote 5,000 words but you can barely get 500 tomorrow, that’s okay. We can’t expect or be expected to be at the top of our game every day of the year. The best thing you can do here is know your limit. If you just can’t go anymore, or there’s something going on outside of your writing that needs to be taken care of, this should become your number one priority. Even if you don’t completely acknowledge it, stress is terrible for you; take care of everything else and make sure you can attack your project with a healthy mind.
If your schedule is constantly full, block out a time for writing. If you write at about the same time every day, it’s easier for you to fall into the creative mindset during that time that longer you follow that schedule. Your mind will go, it’s time to write, and you’ll be able to write. Schedules are so incredibly important, especially if (like myself) you’re working on more than one project at a time. Even if you can’t schedule, make an effort to write every day – it would be 10 words, it could be 10,000 words, as long as you’re getting ideas down on that page.
This next one should already be understood, but I’m going to go over it anyway: Work in a place of comfort. It’s easy for us to be distracted by our surroundings, so surround yourselves with things that will put you in the writing mindset. Get comfortable. Make sure the room isn’t too but not too cold either, your chair isn’t digging into your back, things like that. The less time you spend worrying about your environment, the more time you can spend writing.
You know things about yourself by now. You know your habits, what you eat and drink and whatnot. You know what foods or drinks you like and don’t like, which ones are the least “distracting”. When you’re writing, have these foods/drinks with you. This applies especially if you’re in for a long writing stretch; you can only will away your hunger for so long before a want becomes a need. If you have these things with you, you can take care of yourself and continue writing; I’ve found that getting up in the middle of a writing session is very distracting.
So, that’s all I’ve got for you today. If you want to see me cover another topic in my next post, please don’t hesitate to drop a message in my ask; until then, much love! <333
Good advice
NineofShades 