Going With Your Flow – Part 1: Kick Your Productivity in the Pants

So, many of you know I gave a workshop in Australia in August and the FAB RWAus in Fremantle! It was great, and I really enjoyed my time in Aus, and with all the lovely conference people!

I decided to do a series of posts where I expand on some of the specific points I hit upon in the workshop. The overall theme was increasing your productivity while improving your writing, and your frame of mind. A tall order, sure. 😉 But why not try to have it all!? (If you’re entering So You Think You Can Write this year, hopefully you’ll find some of this helpful!)

I’ll give you the same intro I gave in my workshop to set up a little background on Why I Am Qualified (heh) To Speak On This Subject.

I sold in 2009 to Harlequin Mills & Boon, the Modern Presents line. I’ve since written 25 books for that line. I’ve also gone on to sell a 3 book single title series to Berkley and I’ve also written five novellas.

I’m going to start with this basic post, that’s something of an overview, then get deeper into some of the points later on.

I’m a fairly fast writer. This comes as a surprise to none of you, but there it is. I’m a big believer in maximizing your productivity. Success isn’t measured by whether or not you’re writing as fast as x person. Just because one person does a certain amount of words in a day, doesn’t mean you have to. That’s not really what I’m talking about when I say ‘maximize your productivity’. That means YOUR productivity, not anyone else’s.

What are some inhibitors to our productivity? The big ones for me are: Doubt, the feeling that things are disorganized, fear (Which I am arbitrarily assigning a different function than doubt. Go with it) and perfectionism.

So how do we deal with these things? I have TIPS. Handy tips!

Doubt: That’s the sinking feeling you get when you’re writing. The thing that says you aren’t good enough, you’re in impostor, this book is a terrible idea. (I’m struggling with this right now…)

* Go for a walk. Sometimes getting up and walking away is the only way to get your head on straight, and get back to business.

* Write through it. Contrary to the first bit of advice, sometimes you need to press on. Even if you feel weird, and doubty. Sometimes to ONLY WAY to deal with that stuck feeling is to write PAST the place you’re stuck in. You can back and fix later.

* Read positive feedback you’ve received in the past.

* Read something you’ve written to completion to remind yourself that you DO know how to do this.

* Stay away from the Internet. The Internet can be the perfect place for doubt, professional envy, insecurity, etc to get a hold of you. If you’re in a vulnerable mood, and you know that oftentimes things online affect you negatively…stay away for the day.

Magic Time: This falls under the organization thing. I get it in my head that one day I will achieve optimum organization and then everything will be easy from there on out. Uh…no. Life is fluid. Things change. What worked schedule wise one week, will not always work.

Don’t wait for a magic, mythical clock to reset. “Once I achieve this, I’ll start writing seriously again.” If you’re always waiting for the magic moment, it may never come.

I’ve learned to write wherever and whenever in order to get things done. The fabulous Emily McKay said this: Learn how long it takes you to write one page. If you realize it only takes you fifteen minutes to write a page, then you might take better advantage of the free minutes you have throughout the day.

Every minute can count. And it all adds up.

Fear: I MAY have said in my workshop that fear is like a dragon. You can hide from it, or you can harness it and ride that mothereffer to glory.

You see, fear isn’t always bad. Fear can simply be a sign that you’re about to break through and into the unknown. Fear can be your ally if you learn to recognize it as a sign of great things.

A brave choice in a MS might be terrifying, but for good reason. Because it’s growing you as a writer.

Fear of submitting a manuscript, because it might bring rejection, or acceptance. And it might push you into a new stage.

Fear is the sign of great things, and as long as you use it to push you on, not hold you back, it doesn’t have to be bad.

Ride the dragon, man.

Perfectionism: Looking for perfection is like looking for a unicorn in a dark cave. You won’t find it. Because it’s dark. And because unicorns aren’t real.

Likewise, perfection isn’t a real thing. At best, it’s a moving target. Because what feels perfect to you today likely won’t next week.

What perfectionism often does is enable procrastination and prevent us from admitting we’re proud of something we’ve done.

I think it’s a perfectly empowering realization that perfection doesn’t exist, and that’s okay. Write a book you love, write one you’re passionate about. That’s all you can really ask of yourself. Once you’re fiddling around with minutia endlessly, you’ve just fallen into the perfectionism trap.

And my advice for busting all these things?

Trust your voice: Don’t be afraid to let it shine. Your voice makes you unique as a writer. It’s your greatest weapon. Wield it. (Possibly while riding a fear dragon!)

Let yourself love what you write: I promise you, it’s a wonderful thing. You have to let yourself enjoy your achievements. You have to let yourself feel accomplished. Writing a book is hard work, and there has to be emotional payoff. I think often women particularly are taught not to take too much pride in what we do. But this is a self-defeating attitude. Plus, it’s exhausting! To work and work and not allow yourself any pride.

Don’t be afraid to delete: Love your book enough to put in the work on the tail end. To make it the best it can be. I was talking to Historical Romance author Lisa Hendrix last night and she said this: If you don’t have time to do revisions, you don’t have time to write a book.

I thought that was pretty brilliant because…the thing is, the refining of the book isn’t extra work. It’s all part of the work. Some books need less, some need more. But it’s not a negative. It’s all a part of the same process.

This mindset, that revision and even rewriting, isn’t a failure, has helped me write with more bravery, and more speed. 😀 (I think this is due a whole post as well)

So those are some quick productivity butt kickers for you, stay tuned for more!

My next post is going to be about protecting your joy. 🙂

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments!