In recent years, people have asked me how I write so much.
Some of them are just being polite by showing interest. I like when people do that.
But some have really wanted to know: they are the people I love.
And it’s fair to wonder. At the time of writing this article, he is publishing at least ten articles a week. In 2019, I totaled around 240,000 words on my websites. That doesn’t include the ten (and counting) books I have through my sites and Amazon, or my other projects.
(I don’t know how many words went into Monster Mind Edukaré, my premium brain training product. But given that it has 19 modules, some of which contain multiple books, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are hundreds of thousands more.)
It also doesn’t include any freelance writing gigs he does.
And I didn’t used to be like that. When I was younger, probably in my early 20s, I tried to write a novel. I think it took me two years to write 40,000 of the worst words you can imagine.
That was also the peak of my literary production: a delicious combination of free time, ingenuity and pure inspiration.
Now though?
I write 40,000 compelling and interesting words every two months or so.
I learned how to make writing work for me.
Note that I emphasize “works for me”. This is not the only writing system that exists. Many people break all the guidelines that I expose here. If that works for them, that’s fine. But what I have here is a robust and reliable system that takes a lot of the stress out of it.
If typing is a hassle for you, try my system.
Let me share some of what I discovered, more or less by accident, that it makes it easy to write hundreds or thousands of words a day.
Imagine sitting down at your desk and directly starting to write. Without wasting time, without bullying your brain into coming up with something: you immediately know enough to get started.
And getting started is always the hardest part.
So let’s take a look at the first of the three steps:
Step 1: Brainstorming and Research
A common newbie mistake is to sit at your desk and try to think of something to write.
It is wrong for several reasons:
One, coming up with ideas requires a different state of mind to write. Writing requires a long and interrupted flow. Dreaming up ideas works best when your thoughts can jump from one notion to the next.
Two, if you stop typing to look up a fact or quote, you’re only making it difficult for yourself.
Three, the actual writing phase is the hard part. You want it to be as easy as possible; So easy, in fact, that you sit down and start writing right away.
What this means is that you come up with your ideas beforehand, do all the research you need… and then walk away.
How this will look to you is up to you.
For my short articles, my notes are usually no more than a few keywords. Maybe the title of the article.
For longer articles (like this one) or book chapters, I take more notes. Anything from a subheading list to a bulleted list of relevant facts and ideas.
You may find that too much structure kills spontaneity, or quite the opposite, so I invite you to experiment.
The key is to make the next step as easy and seamless as possible.
Step 2: Write
Thanks to your previous job, you can sit down and start writing.
This, more than any step, depends on your personal style.
Some people need to “warm up” or “get in the zone.” If so, I recommend writing in long blocks of time. I know it’s not always possible, but an uninterrupted hour or two will do wonders for your productivity.
Then again, some of you are like me: you can sit down and start breaking up words right away.
If you get lost in the flow of writing, great! You will do a lot and it will probably be pretty good.
If you have to force yourself, though? That’s where the Pomodoro technique comes in handy. Unlike the first group, you want to be interrupted, so set a timer for 20 or 30 minutes and promise to do nothing but write until it goes off.
No reading emails.
No daydreaming.
Just typing.
You can save all those distractions for your breaks. Take five or ten minutes to laze around, stretch your legs, and refill the water. Then reset the timer and start over.
Step 3: Edit and rewrite
Another classic mistake:
You write a sentence, feeling pretty good. Then you read it and realize it’s garbage, so you delete it and start over.
After an hour of this, you have nothing to show except maybe two overcooked paragraphs.
In step 2, I said that all you can do is write. That doesn’t mean you can rewrite. Rewriting implies reading, which is a bad idea.
Because?
Because editing requires critical analysis. Writing requires a creative flow. If you alternate between the two thinking styles, your brain will have a hard time doing either.
Plus, it’s bad for morality. Not every sentence (or paragraph) you write will be gold. That’s okay because writing is a numbers game. Write enough words and some of them will be good.
Now, I’m not saying you can’t catch typos or correct clumsy writing as you type. If you notice a quick fix, do it. The trick is not to look for them. And so as not to waste too much time fixing them.
The goal of step 2 is to create something to edit. If you’ve had trouble writing in the past, this could be why.
The Meta-step: Experiment and Innovate
Give this process a spin.
See how it works for you.
Sometimes you have a bad day, so stick with it and see how it really works.
Then start designing your own system.
Maybe you can compress the steps: you get out of bed with an idea forming in your dazed mind, you pour a coffee, and then you start writing.
Or maybe you need weeks in the research phase.
Maybe the music helps you focus… or not.
You can write better in the mornings or in the afternoons.
With a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.
I don’t know which system will work for you. And I doubt that any system is the only answer. Your tastes and lifestyle will change over time, which means your system will change with it.
(You do well to keep the same writing system after you have a child as before.)
And who knows, you might end up with a “system” altogether. You will reach the stage where if you want to write, you write.
I know that works for some people.
However, if you are struggling to get words out? I wouldn’t start there. Take this system of mine and stick with it – you’ll be surprised how much you write.