How to be efficient when writing

How to be efficient when writing : music recommendations, how to organise your drafts, your workplace, your schedule & so much more

Hi everybody, Mary here !

So, as NaNoWriMo has ended for me, I've decided to give you some plans for your writing, to increase your productivity, give yourself some motivation, and have, in the end, the best work possible !

So let's get started, shall we ?

Outlines & Drafts

• Some people write and plan as they go, I prefer to have a little outline. You know, nothing too tight, just a few guidelines to know where I am in the story to avoid incoherences & repetitions. But it's all up to you.
• I prefer to go right away in terms of drafts, but it's always better to have a little draft before writing the final version.
• Always keep ideas for your current work and save as often as possible. During NaNoWriMo, I accidently forgot to save my work as I had finished a chapter and I had to rewrite 3k of my work. Be careful.
• Keep any ideas floating in your minds before they go away. They might solve a future problem with your work.

Workplace :

• Don't trust me I write in bed
• Seriously just have a neat place free of distraction (the Internet, your TV, video-games, family, friends, social life, the Internet) and it'll be alright
• A computer is largely enough to do so, even in bed. And you can even write faster than your handwriting (at the very least for me !!!), so... win-win ???
• But seriously, turn off the Internet. It's the biggest distractor ever. And trust me, it was really hard not to go on social media when I was doing NaNoWriMo, but believe me, you're just procrastinating, you're not doing actual work.

Schedule :

• Unlike other jobs, being a writer/author (can I consider myself an author now I've finished a short story + a novel and « published » them online ?) is all about your motivation at the moment. Some people prefer to write early in the morning, others during the day, and finally, some prefer to write late in the evening/night (I'm in the last category because I kept putting off everyday, but really, since it's calmer at night, I prefer to write then).
• Just follow your natural schedule and don't feel pressured by anything. Being under stress actually increases the stress and can even induce a writer's block where there wasn't one before.
• Don't worry about your fear of the blank page and just blabble some words. You'll see, it'll pass away after a while. Maybe you'll end up hrowing away what you've written to re-write it, but it will be really worth it when you finish your work.

Music recommendations :

• The biggest question of the universe : should I write with or without music ?
• My answer : if you prefer to write in silence, feel free to do so ! Most of the time, I didn't like having music in my ears since they would distract me from my work.
• BUT ! If you need some music, you should try to avoid songs with lyrics, since the words will distract you from your work (especially if you adore them, because you'll eventually stop working to sing the lyrics, just like me). Instrumentals are awesome to boost your motivation. You just need to find some that are going with the mood of your writing and it'll be perfect !

Links to OSTs YouTube channels where you can listen to awseome music :

• HD Musicization : https://www.youtube.com/user/HDMusicization/videos
• MrEpicOSTs : https://www.youtube.com/user/MrAnimeOSTs/videos
• Epic Music World II : https://www.youtube.com/user/RogueOfAvatar/videos
• HDSoundI : https://www.youtube.com/user/MarK1Ira/videos

Awesome modern composers :

• Fabrizio Paterlini : my favourites are Far Away From Here, Soffia La Notte, Still Travelling, Veloma, and My Piano, The World
• Ludovico Einaudi : my favourites are Divenire, Experience, Fly, I Giorni, and Una Mattina.

Other things :

• Don't worry about your writing. You may feel like the worst but it's because : 1) You are the one who wrote it, 2) You read it over a trillion times so you know what's going on by now. It's just like revising an old lesson so many times that the words are going out of your orbits like some weird vomit, 3) share share share, don't keep things to yourself, get some support, it's very important when you're a writer.
• You will be okay.
• You will be okay.
• You will be okay.

Okay, that's it for today ! I really hope you liked this post and I'll see you soon with a new one !

And as usual, our last word : KIDNEYS !