How to Get More Writing Done

I'm back from my little experiment. I took off nearly a week from the internet in order to get more writing done.

First, if you think you might want to do this, you need to realize that if you shut down your internet access (and, as I did, your computer access) that a bunch of other things will try to fill in your time gap. I had no idea how many things I wasn't doing. Seriously.

But, not having the distraction of the computer did help my writing. No question. I revised a huge chunk of my book and wasn't pressured by my goal of fifteen pages a day. I hit the mark with ease :)

I was more focused when I wasn't working, too. If I was doing something else, my mind was a little clearer and I could think about my writing and what I wanted to change, and all that good stuff, so I was more efficient when I did sit down to work.

And when I came back? I turned on my computer and sorted through emails, checked (and read) the blogs I follow, checked and replied to a slew of forum posts, checked facebook, etc... all in about three and a half hours! Over the course of five days, I usually spend closer to ten hours doing all that stuff. An amazing time saver, though I may have missed some stuff.

So, I'm halfway done with the hard copy edit of my ghost novel. My goal is to finish by the end of the month, then do my soft copy edit. (Basically, going back and typing in all the edits and notes I made on the hard copy.) That leaves me with querying agents. I should be done with plenty of time to plan my phantom novel for November.

So, my next post will be on revising a manuscript. I've searched for different methods in preparation for what I'm doing now, and I'll share the best of it with you.

Tomorrow. I'm exhausted.

Hope all is going well with your writing!