For the last few days, I’ve given myself some “time off” writing to get to some projects that are just for me, an essay and a short story I doubt I will ever publish but that I wanted to write because it was a chance for me to imagine a future I’d really like to see come to pass. And it has been really productive. One day I wrote about 7,000 words before noon. And I realized it was precisely because I was writing for myself that I was so productive.
When people ask me how to be more productive, they expect me to tell them about some special writing system I have or ways to organize your life better so that you use those fifteen minutes at the doctor’s waiting. I haven’t found that to be the way to become more productive. On the contrary, more pressure often does the reverse.
This is why some writers only write one book. It’s why the second book is so difficult for most of us (unless you’ve already got it written before the first one comes out and the pressure really starts). It’s why writers sometimes take decades between books. (Yes, I know it could be quality, too, but I suspect it’s fear.)
If you can figure out some trick to convince your mind that no one will ever read your book, that it’s just for you, that there’s no deadline, no fear of reviews, no worries about if it’s good enough, trust me, you will be amazed at the creativity that pours out of you.
Write like you’re a kid again.
Write like it’s a crime.
Write like it’s your journal.
Write like you’ve never been published.
Write like no one ever told you about comma splices.
Write like it’s your favorite decadent treat.
Write like it’s breath.
And it will be.
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