How Prof P learnt to love writing 5000 words a week
Prof Partout normally hates articles that begin with ‘How I…’ as if everyone has the same problems and their one solution fits all. This time though, he thought he would offer some ideas on how he got into the habit of consistently writing a sizeable chunk of text each week. These tips worked well for him, but remember to set your own goals for what you need to get done and bear in mind the context in which you are working. He also offers some provisos on why it might not work for you or you need not worry about it.
The provisos out of the way
- The target of 5000 was a choice. Some can write more. But this goal meant 1000 words a day. Not that he didn’t write on weekends when the mood hit. Also no beat-ups for not reaching the target. Encouraging self-talk only.
- Writing is the most obviously productive thing in the research process. You can look at your document and admire how much it has grown (or not). Thinking, organising and reading are all equally as important. After all, you would have nothing to write about if you didn’t do those. So do not measure your productivity by you word count.
- Projects are rarely linear. It is not likely to be the case that you can get everything done and then just write. You will go back and forth between analysis and thinking and the writing process.
Find your optimum time for writing
Each of us have our own rhythm when it comes to doing tasks. Prof P knows his best writing time is between 4 pm and 8 pm and not just to get out of cooking dinner. His worst time? After lunch. Useless. Can’t do a thing. Full disclosure: he is writing this article at 1 pm. And it feels painful. Reading for him is a morning or just before bed task. Having said that he was happy to break out the writing when spare moments cropped up.
Don’t write in order
Develop different sections of your text at the same time. That way, if your flow fizzles out you have some place to go. If you only write sequentially and the words stop coming, it is hard not to pack it in/give up for the day. When you have another place to jump to, maybe the wellspring of text will flow again.
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If there is no flow anywhere, time to edit. But don’t edit what you have written most recently. You will remember the text in your head and edit that, not the actual text on your screen, i.e., you will read what you wanted to write and not what you actually wrote. Surprisingly, for Prof P, a change of scene also helps with editing. Move rooms; go to a café; haunt a library!
Don’t trip on the glitches
Never Person of Porlock yourself. A Person of Porlock is someone who interrupts you …long story. Most often that person is you. If you stumble on syntax, a needed citation of lost train of thought, use XXXX and EGAT or the comment function to make note of them but keep on writing. Don’t stop the flow. Then you can come back and fix things up when the flow has dried up or set up a time in your writing schedule to do a bit of this kind of housework (but be flexible). Prof P set aside half an hour of his writing time to find and fix these writing glitches.
Be methodical and accountable
Pomodoro technique, to be precise. Do 25 minute blocks of writing interspersed with 5–10 minute breaks. Once you get used to this chunking, try extending it. Your writing focus will expand as you become habituated to the routine. Prof P also greatly benefited from an accountability squad on Twitter. (Hey team!) Posting his intentions in the form of a to-do list helped him keep to his weekly goal. Also encouraging others is good karma. Find writers anywhere you can for this kind of mutual support.
Dear diary, I have a plan
Above all, plan what you are going to write. Yes, obviously write a mega-plan for the whole research text. But diarise the sections. Know what you are going to work on before you open the document. Also keep notes on what you have written. The last thing you should do before you shut down the computer (Prof P hears you laughing) is to note down the ideas you actually finished writing about and what was going to come next. These will be the seeds for the next day’s flow.
All this is what worked for the Prof. It may not all work for you. Some things like scheduling writing for your best flowiness may be out of your hands, for example, but try and find a time which you can keep regularly. If other things have worked for you, let the Prof know!
If you need help forming a writing habit, contact the Prof? He’s ready to train you!
Originally published at https://profpartout.com on November 25, 2022.
