Productivity books and blogs will often point to the Pomodoro Technique as an effective way to get things done. The method involves working (or studying) for say 25 minutes, taking a short five minute break and repeating this process three or four times. After three or four intervals of this, one can take a longer break of say 30 minutes. There are many reasons why people like this method, but I’ve found that there are two reasons in particular that make it effective for difficult work, especially writing.
Continue reading “Two reasons why the Pomodoro Technique is effective for difficult work (especially writing)”Why running is easier than writing
I never walk away from a running session feeling that I’ve failed.
Continue reading “Why running is easier than writing”When writing the dreaded first draft, be glad for the bad days
I’ve often noticed that when I write a first draft of something, good days are followed by bad days. I’ve noticed this countless times, especially at the start of a novel or short story. It’s almost like I need those days of stuckness and stagnation to get to the good days. But it’s easy to get discouraged on those days where nothing flows, not the story, not the dialogue, nothing—everything you write seems like garbage.
Continue reading “When writing the dreaded first draft, be glad for the bad days”When writing the dreaded first draft, listen to the right voice
Here’s how first drafts usually go for me: There is a voice in my head that has a lot of things to say about what I’m writing. The criticisms can be endless: this is not original enough; this doesn’t make sense scientifically; this is just plain lame; this is okay—but where’s the story going really, and on and on it goes.
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