Writing Routines for Real People Series: Tips for Getting Words on the Page
Okay so we have a writing goal (that may or may not have been a resolution from months ago, but who’s counting). Now it’s time to actually put words on the page… How do you do that again?
SPS Publishing Consultant, Emma Navone, shares her tips and tricks for getting our words out of the brain and onto the page!
Sometimes we’re lucky and the Muses themselves sprinkle down onto us all the motivation and inspiration we need to complete a productive writing session. Other times, we sit down to write, and the inspiration comes slow, and the words come even slower. For times like those, when words dribble forth from your fingertips rather than gush out like a mighty deluge, here are some strange tricks that may get things flowing.
1. Write in the dark. It sounds crazy but it’s a good way to blind the inner critic. Either turn the brightness on your computer screen all the way down and type, close your eyes and type, or close your eyes and bring pen to paper the old-fashioned way. Put as many words on the page as possible before curiosity gets the best of you, and you peek at all the typos you’ve made or the lines you’ve written that slope down rather than across.
2. Write your inner monologue. Staring at a black page? Talk about it! I’m staring at that annoying blinky cursor thing, and I think it’s mocking me because I haven’t written anything yet but here, I have just written something so it can’t mock me anymore. Now for my character who, last I checked, I left in the pit of despair and need to figure out a way for them to rise up again…
3. Jump around! If starting at the beginning is not working, try to pick up in the middle or end. The beginning will be there when you’re ready for it, and it may even write itself if you’ve gotten the middle off the ground.
4. Think about your enemies. Now this one is silly, but spite can be incredibly motivating! Imagine that your arch nemesis is going to read your writing, or better yet, they are writing the same thing as you. Let the fire of competition, even imaginary competition, fuel your writing engine.
5. Get help from a friend. Write what you’ve been trying to say 5 or 10 or 20 different ways and then let a friend who has kinder eyes than you look it over and highlight anything they find compelling. Sometimes we're on the right track without even realizing it, and a good friend can help us see that when we can’t.
6. Alter the environment. If you usually write in silence but the words aren’t coming, try putting on some music—lofi or classical or those weird Youtube playlists with oddly specific titles. If you sit down to write in your pajamas, try putting on an outfit that makes you feel serious. Or, if you’re in serious clothes, put on your sweats and a hoodie and get cozy. Turn on a lamp you usually leave off or finally light up that candle you’ve been meaning to burn. Sometimes changing up the sensory input around you can coax out some words onto the page.
7. Let yourself write something BAD. Gasp! We’re not saying you’ve ever written something bad, because we know we’ve never written anything bad ourselves (ha-ha). If you have an idea you’re hesitating to execute because you just can’t find the right words, use the wrong words instead. Don’t worry about strong verbs or active language, realistic dialogue or scene transitions. All of that can be ironed out in the editing stage. When drafting, embrace the messiness and worry about polishing it up later.
Whatever gets words on the page is progress in the right direction. You don’t even have to keep the words you’ve written! There is no commitment and no debt owed. At the end of the day, writing comes from messy first drafts created by writers who carved out space to try and fail and try again.