Stolen tips

Read these on The Write Practice and thought I'd put them here as a reminder to myself of things I know, but so easily forget to do. They asked me to free write and then post it in the comments of the blog. But I'm far too lazy to do that  hahaha. Not very bloggy-spirited of me I know but never mind.

Five tips for writing when you think you never have the time:

1. Whenever you have five minutes …

Whenever you have five min­utes and there is a com­puter or some paper and a pen­cil nearby, sit down and write. It doesn’t mat­ter what you write, just write.

2. Blog

If you are a writer, you prob­a­bly already have a blog. If you don’t have one, make one and blog con­sis­tently about your life, your most recent writ­ing project, your pet, any­thing. It doesn’t mat­ter what you write, just write.

3. Wake up early.

Even on week­ends. Set your alarm clock and wake up before any­one else to give your­self some time alone so you can just write.

4. Free write.

If you’re stuck in your novel and don’t know what to write next, grab a clean piece of paper and a pen­cil and write down what­ever comes to mind for ten min­utes. Most likely you’ll real­ize what you have to write next. If you still don’t know what to write next, you haven’t writ­ten for long enough. Write for another ten min­utes and keep on writ­ing until you’ve over­come your writer’s block.

5. Block out distractions

Take your lap­top to a quiet cof­fee shop and turn off your inter­net. Use a pro­gram that will turn off your email, Facebook, Twitter, and any­thing else that will be a dis­trac­tion for you. After you’ve done that, just write.