A lot of the craft consists of just slogging along. You’d rather be outside, or watching TV or even cleaning the house. But writing is a profession like any other, and the work must be done. So you sit until your backside is numb and type until your fingers have calluses. You plug away at the boring parts and edit line by line until it’s done.

Here are some good tips to help keep you from going nuts during the boring bits:

• Keep a calendar – write down due dates for a scene, a chapter, an edit –  deadlines (even if you’re making them) are a great way to put on a little pressure
• Keep track – track your word count, chapter count, and edits – this will give you a running total that shows you how far you’ve come toward your goal
• Chart the course – make yourself some colorful charts and graphs to show progress
• Pay yourself – give yourself a reward now and then when you reach a goal – this can be as simple as a 30-minute break or as elaborate as a celebration out on the town

What’s your best tip for getting through the boring bits?

It’s easy to write when the words are flowing, when ideas just seem to leap from your mind into your fingers. It’s not so easy when you sit facing the empty page, second-guessing every word and feeling like deleting the entire work. Here are five tricks to help get your writing back “on a roll.”

 

1. Write every day. You’ve heard it over and over – and it’s true. If you write something daily, whether you feel like it or not, it gets to be a habit, and your brain expects it. That’s when it starts coming up with the good stuff on a regular basis, not just “when the muse strikes.”
2. Write anything. Sometimes you put too much pressure on yourself when you expect to finish a work without stopping. When you get stuck, switch to some other project and work on that. So long as you’re writing, it doesn’t matter so much what that writing is, at least until you get into the habit of writing on a roll.
3. Free-write. Set a time limit – say, ten minutes to start out – and write whatever comes into your mind. If you think “this is stupid,” then write that down. Don’t try to make a coherent story. The idea is just to learn how to write without stopping.
4. Exercise. No, not physically, though that does keep you healthy and help the overall writing process. Writing exercises are short assignments, and they can help you get into the habit of writing. If you have trouble thinking of topics, writing exercises and prompts can give you a needed boost.
5. Stop editing. Many writers fall into the trap of editing as they write, which delays the work and gets very frustrating because you never seem to reach the end. Just get everything down first, then you can go back and edit after you’ve finished.

 

Remember that writing is like any other craft: you must practice in order to improve. If you wait for some mystical muse to light a fire within you, you’re going to be waiting a long time. Learn to depend on yourself for inspiration, and your writing will benefit.

What are some tips you’ve learned that keep you writing?