The Little Writer's Group

How to Write Faster

For years people have been telling me to not worry about perfecting my writing on the first draft. I tried to listen but my perfectionist side dragged me down. I would spend too much time writing a paragraph, editing that paragraph, and repeating the process. All I achieved was one chapter by the end of the month and it still wasn't perfect. Only this year did I finally learn the secret of getting rid of that perfectionist side to write faster.

The first step is to think of an idea and turn that idea into a goal. Ask yourself why am I writing this book? Do I want to spread a meaningful message or make readers feel a deep emotion? Your goal can as simple as making your readers laugh. Make a basic outline of your novel so you don't stray away from your goal. Don't worry about following your outline too closely or your story could turn out a bit mechanical.

You could also do outlines for each of your chapters but I feel that isn't necessary when writing the first draft. The point of a first draft is to get the base of your story down on paper so you can later fill it with flavour and colour. However, you want to have a goal, conflict, and outcome in mind for each of your chapters. Most importantly, you want each of your chapters to be valuable to the plot whether it holds back the character from getting what they want or shines a light towards the truth.

If you're struggling with where you should end a chapter, an easy method is to think of each chapter as a paragraph. A new paragraph begins when a new time, place, view, idea, and event is introduced. It goes the same for chapters but only for extravagant changes. You may end off your chapter with a cliffhanger or important message and begin the next one with another POV or with the main character in different setting.

Now that you have an outline of your story, a goal, and an overview of writing chapters you are almost ready to write. Before we begin, set a reasonable deadline for yourself and make it your priority to accomplish it. It could be to finish the first draft by the end of summer or finish the novel before Christmas. Avoid making challenging deadlines because it will only stress you out to the point where you never write and it's unrealistic. If you enjoy the stress of short deadlines then go ahead! I won't stop you.

Before you start your writing sessions you have to get rid of that horrible perfectionist leaning over your shoulder as you write. Don't be scared of mistakes and terrible sentences! Challenge yourself to leave every red squiggly line alone and to not scroll up to edit your progress. The best way to do this is to set a timer every time you sit down to write for twenty or fourty-five minutes and write furiously until that time runs out. Doing this helps to get your thoughts on paper without wasting time editing. Pro tip: Sometimes the brain moves faster than the pen. If you find yourself skipping ahead and don't know what to write in the scene beforehand, write down 'something happens here,' or a few keywords to come back to later. This way you don't waste time lingering over one scene when your head is eager to spill all the other thousands of ideas you're holding back.

Timing each of my writing sessions has helped me get so much more writing done even as someone who isn't able to write 200 words per minute. My first novel took ages to complete because of the excessive editing and rewrites. Every new writer makes this mistakes and for me it was because I was comparing my stories to famous, well-written, published authors which is the worst thing you can do to yourself. Everyone has to start out somewhere and yes even your favourite author's first book was most likely not worthy enough for the eyes of the world. So, the lesson of this chapter is that your first draft does not have to be perfect.

I hope this week has us all writing furiously and consistently. Remember to come back to this week whenever you find yourself struggling on your first draft. I will try my best to answer any questions and don't hesitate to share any knowledge you may have on writing first drafts and chapters. Thank you for attending yet another chapter!

Question of the week: What is your favourite music genre/s?