![]() ![]() Writing for The Guardian in the ‘Book Club’ pages, author Jonathan Franzen says: Add an extra obstacle that makes it harder to reach for the easy distractions. Switch off your phone or leave it in another room. Writing focus is hard if there are easy distractions near. How many times have you sat down to write and found yourself ‘doom-scrolling’ the news or doing something else? With a plan in hand, you’ll have the rough guide to each scene you need to focus on getting your rough draft down. Use Now Novel’s story outlining tools to create a PDF plan for your stories that grows as your ideas do. While making dinner, driving to work or waiting in line, ponder character motivation, plot twists and structure.Ī notes app on your phone is a great solution for jotting down ideas and preliminary sketches when a computer or pen and paper aren’t nearby. ‘Quiet Murders Suit Miss Christie: Visiting Writer Still Prefers to Keep Crime in Family’, by Howard Thompson, New York Times, October 1966. ![]() Walking or just washing up, a tedious process. When asked in the October 1966 edition of the New York Times how she came up whodunnits that had sold 300 million copies worldwide, Agatha Christie said: Many authors plan ahead – and this doesn’t necessarily mean written planning. Simple movement – walking, swimming or other low-impact physical activities – will relieve stress, benefit your overall health and help you stay more focused on your writing.Įxercise is also vital for good sleep and getting enough sleep is essential for both focus and the mental agility you need when hatching grand plots and dodging deus ex machinas. You don’t need to run marathons to build writing focus, necessarily. Keep activeĭistinguished Japanese author Haruki Murakami is also a dedicated runner, and according to Murakami, the endurance and focus required for running is reflected in his writing and vice versa. Try it and let us know in the comments if it helps. ‘Marie Kondo’ chatter and replace it with focused writing for the remainder of your session. Your initial freewriting will help you unclutter your minds. In her book The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron instructs writers to do three pages of freewriting each morning on waking.Ī strategic concept behind this is that you will dump out a lot of the thoughts, emotions and negativity that may be blocking you. What is freewriting? You set a timer and write whatever comes into your head for five to ten minutes, either freely following associations or choosing a topic, place or idea beforehand. Try these 9 strategies for the busy writer: 9 ways to build your focus to write: Improve your writing focus so you can get to work and finish your story. When you’re writing, your focus isn’t ‘on’ every day of the week. ![]()
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