Freewriting Exercise: Quickly Sketch Out Plot Points

This writing exercise takes you from a very general idea to a more fleshed-out draft or outline. What you need to begin A rough idea of what you’d like to write Twenty minutes or so If your rough idea is a single statement, break it into three parts. Use these three plot points to freewrite… Continue reading Freewriting Exercise: Quickly Sketch Out Plot Points

How Writers Break Through the Flow State’s Crusty Outer Layer

One way to think about writing: You’re inputting text. From this standpoint, if you want to write faster, you need to type faster. But so much of the actual time it takes to write something doesn’t merely depend on whether you can type fast, but whether you can write seamlessly. Of course this means not… Continue reading How Writers Break Through the Flow State’s Crusty Outer Layer

Why it’s Essential to Unlearn How to Write

The Value of Deconditioning Practice can lead to improvement, but we don’t automatically get better as we write. Experience alone doesn’t lead to improvement. If we do the same thing over and over, years may go by and we don’t get better. If you drive your car in circles, you’ll put plenty of miles on… Continue reading Why it’s Essential to Unlearn How to Write

Can You Really Freewrite an Entire Book?

Certainly. Yep. Yep, you can freewrite a whole book. So there’s the answer. But maybe you were hoping for something along the lines of “how can I freewrite my book?” or “can you show me what freewriting a book might look like?” To which I answer: Certainly. Yep. Yep, I can show you that. Sorry.… Continue reading Can You Really Freewrite an Entire Book?

I Use This Rapid Outlining Strategy to Boost Productivity

People have all sorts of opinions and even emotional baggage when it comes to making outlines for a writing project. Some people love outlines, most people hate them. One of the biggest misconceptions about outlining is that they are somehow separate from the creative process, that whereas writing is creative, outlining is something done only… Continue reading I Use This Rapid Outlining Strategy to Boost Productivity