If you're looking for help with your basic novel writing, here's the most important advice you might
ever receive ... write fast. This can be difficult for beginning writers to grasp, particularly for
those writers who strive for perfection in every word. However, there's a time for writing and a
time for editing. Keep the two tasks separated and you'll not only improve the quantity of your
work, you'll also improve the quality.
Let's consider how you might commonly approach the blank page. You write the first sentence. It
looks okay, so you write a second sentence. That one looks okay as well, so you write a third
sentence, but this one doesn't look okay. In fact, it's a poorly written sentence that jumps off the
page.
You slam on your writing brakes and read the sentence again. Everything comes to standstill now.
You're no longer a writer, you've picked up your editor's hat and completely shifted out of your
writing mode. You tweak this and move that until the sentence, at last, passes your editor's
approval. Then you remove your editor's hat and return to writing again.
But now the writing is more difficult. You've moved out of your writing mode, into your editing
mode, and getting back is suddenly more difficult than it was when you first began writing. It's a
struggle.
Does this sound familiar at all?
I tend to blame the computer for this dilemma. It's so easy to make corrections on the computer that
we've come to believe stopping and fixing things as we go is a natural part of the writing process.
It'll only take a second, we tell ourselves. And in that lies the danger. That second or two of
editing destroys your train of thought and your writing momentum. It's merciless.
So, not only for basic novel writing, but all fiction writing ... write fast.
See if these suggestions can help.
Have A Starting And Stopping Point
Know before you put a single word on paper where your writing will begin. One trick that many
writers use is to end their previous session in mid-sentence, so you have a great starting point for
the next session. Next, you'll want an ending point. Now, this can be a page, a word count, or a
specific place in your story.
For instance, if you're in the middle of a bar fight scene, you might determine that when your hero
gets floored that will be the point where you stop. And when you arrive there, follow your own rules
... stop. Or you may prefer to stop after one page, or 250 words. Whatever works well for you.
Write In Short Bursts
Set a timer and write until it goes off. When you're first starting out, you might want to try five
minute bursts. As you become more comfortable with the process, you might get up to fifteen minute
or half-hour bursts. Generally, you'll want to keep these bursts shorter, with more intensity. Once
the timer goes off, stop. Stretch. Get up and move around a little. Get a cup of coffee. And prepare
for the next burst.
Don't Stop Writing
This is the key. During your burst writing session you never stop writing. It doesn't matter if you
misspell words, get a character's name wrong, if you forget to put a period at the end of a
sentence, or write the worst sentence that's ever been written in the history of mankind. Just keep
writing.
