As a writer, time is money. The shorter the time between books, the more money, potentially, I'll earn because my name, or my brand, stays in the readers' minds.
One thing that has helped me write faster is learning the secret to writing a draft from beginning to end as fast as possible.
It's taken years for me to get to the point where I can write a first draft of a full-length novel in a month.
Then I use the next month to make it "pretty" because William Zinsser was correct when he said, "Rewriting is the essence of writing well: it’s where the game is won or lost."
On Writing Well by William Zinsser is a book everyone—fiction and nonfiction authors—
should read. Get a copy. You'll be amazed at the succinct and relevant advice offered in this book.
On Writing Well by William Zinsser is a book everyone—fiction and nonfiction authors—
However, I'm not here to actually review this book, but to tell you how to write fast. The end product of your fast writing will be what you work on a la Zinsser's advice.
Zinsser explained it this way: "You won’t write well until you understand that writing is an evolving process, not a finished product. Nobody expects you to get it right the first time, or even the second time."
How to Write from Beginning to The End Without Stopping
The answer is between your ears—changing the way you think about yourself and your writing. In other words, change your attitude, and you'll change your writing life.
1. Once you start, NEVER go back to the beginning.
Do not go back to the beginning of a chapter, or the beginning of a book, and start editing or proofreading for typos. Doing that is just a way to procrastinate. Better to ask yourself why you're not moving forward.
That's another way to procrastinate. You're stuck in a scene instead of moving forward. The problem with going back to the beginning or editing as you write is that what you worked on may end up deleted!
As a story develops, unaticipated changes happen. You're wasting time rewriting something that may end up on "the cutting room floor."
3. Once you start NEVER change your mind about your story.
Just about every author reaches a point when she/he thinks the story sucks. It's hopeless. If you reach this point and decide you want to change your story, you'll probably never finish that story. Push past that "my story sucks" attitude. A day or two later, you'll be "into" your story and wonder why you wanted to quit it.
4. NEVER wait for life to be perfect before you start writing.
Life will never be perfect. The house will never be spotlesssly clean, the kids happy and helpful, the yard looking like a master gardener lives there, and troubles will never vanish.
People you love get sick and have problems. Bills keep rolling in. Family and friends will never understand why you spend so many hours on writing when you have so little to show for it. 
In fact, start something challenging and exciting, and I guarantee that the storms of life will hit like a hurricane. You'll want to give up, but if you give up, you'll never win because there will always be something threathening to sidetrack you.
5. NEVER think about how what you write will affect others.
Don't start thinking how readers—or your mom, your husband, your kids, your neighbors—will view your book, and how they will view you! That's a way to guarantee you'll never finish a book.
6. NEVER sabotage yourself in any way.
Be careful what you say to yourself. Internal thought can be devastating. Your internal thought is often what people throughout life may have said to yourself. The problem with negative assertions made by others when you were young is that you internalize those statements.
When you're tired or feeling low, it's easy for your brain to release those negative affirmations. "You'll never amount to anything." "Romance novels are trashy." "You're not smart enough to write a good book."
Then arm yourself with some positive affirmations so you can fight back. Of course, you must recognize when you enter that self-sabotage phase.
7. ALWAYS wallow in positivity.
Some people wallow in negativity, self-pity, discouragement, and depression. Fight that tendency. Wallow in positive affirmations.
Listen to uplifting audio books. Read uplifting books. Visualize yourself achieving what you want most in life. Make little posters with positive thoughts and tape one to your bathroom mirror so it's the first thing you read in the morning.
You may think I've strayed from the topic of How to Write from Beginning to The End Without Stopping, but I have not.
If you take the 7 steps above, you will be able to sit down with your plot notes or chapter 
outlines and write from the first word to the last, without stopping. You'll be amazed the first time you've done this.
The second time, it will be even easier. The third time, it will be joyful.
Takeaway Truth
Your writing output is what you design it to be by your daily actions—just as Life is.
Joan, I could visualize you in front of me shaking your finger at me. I am so bad about rereading the previous chapter or going back to make story corrections when they occur to me. I am trying to overcome that habit.
ReplyDeleteAs frequently as you publish, I must say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." You're doing just fine without any advice from me.
ReplyDelete