I’ve been writing all day every day for over 20 years. I’ve written just about every type of nonfiction, industrial, and commercial piece you can think of. I routinely write 8 or more hours a day, varying between projects, professional communications, and my own MG and PB works. Many times my to do list includes multiple multi-hour (or multi-day!) undertakings, like training module script, a proposal, an RFP response, a scope of work, or a programming specification. When it’s flowing, my fingers are flying over the keyboard and it feels like I’m ripping the content out of my soul and physically hurling it onto the page. It’s exhausting. It also feels amazing. I can go 90 miles an hour for hours on end, ignoring everything around me (and I mean everything, just ask my amazingly supportive husband). If I’ve got experience with anything, it’s with what I call endurance sprint writing. That’s the ability to write fast for long periods of time. Here’s my 12 Step Plan to Endurance Sprint Write.
First, a caveat. My child is in middle school during the day. I am able to devote almost a full day to work until I have to run him around mid-afternoon then I often work after I make dinner. If you have young children and you are trying to write, I have been where you are and I understand. It is so hard. My only sage advice from my experience — write when you can and don’t feel guilty about it. When your child is older, there will be a day when they surprise you by saying how proud they are of how hard you work / how you chased your dream / how you wrote that book / how you got that article published / how you are an example and inspiration to them. And if you just can’t do it because the tiny humans need you, don’t feel guilty about that either. Everything you are experiencing is finding its way into your writing. Maybe it won’t be today, but it will be when you need it.
OK, endurance sprinting. Here’s how I do it.
1. I have to be in the mood. This was a weird realization for the practical, empirical, very non-woowoo person that I am. I am often able to let what I feel like writing dictate what I pick off my to do list. Sometimes I can’t. There’s a deadline or a priority I can’t control. But if I can, I do. Because being in the mood is my entry key to the room where I’m going to buckle down and let it fly. It will come pouring out of me if I’m excited to work on it. So, if you can, work on what is exciting you right now.
2. I eat something first. Food is brain fuel. If I’m fueled up, I can think clearer and go longer.
3. I get a giant glass of water. I can get so possessed writing that I literally forget about everything around me and I look up and it’s been three hours and I never got a glass of water. Hydrate, people. Hydrate. Put it next to you and just keep sipping.
4. I often work in silence but if I want to jam out words, an underlying soundtrack can help keep me moving. See this post for my feelings on songs to write by. Alexa, play The Eagles…
5. I get away from the desk. Yes, yes, I write for long stretches at my desk. But I like a comfy spot. The place most people consider their reading nook (comfy chair, footrest, side table, good light) is where I like to write.
6. I clear my calendar and silence my phone and shut off my email notifications. No distractions. I want to be locked in. I’ve even told colleagues I’m going to be unavailable that day because I have XYZ to do.
7. I sketch it out. Sometimes I mean that literally. If it’s a website spec or a design for a new application, I draw it out. Full disclosure. I am a terrible artist. Really I am. I am an excellent designer, oddly good with logo concepts (the theory, not the execution — I have wonderful art directors for that), and very visually-driven. But I cannot draw to save my soul. My house has two wonderful artists in it and I am not one of them. But I do not let that stop me. I find that drawing things out is how I work out what they are supposed to be. Or it’s the best way to get what’s in my head out. Sometimes it’s literally pencil and paper, old school. But often I block things out in Photoshop before I write them up. I need a plan, even if I wind up abandoning it.
8. I set a goal and a time. I want to finish X section, or write Y number of pages, or get to this point. I don’t always reach it but very often I surpass it. And I don’t beat myself up if I don’t. I also have an end point — I need to be done by 2:30 to meet my son at the bus stop or at 5:00 PM to put dinner in. I break up the time between my start time and my end point into segments (say 30 minutes) and that’s my sprint interval, like a track athlete (which I am not lol). I check in at the end of each interval. Do I need a break or am I in the groove and going to go to the next interval? Do 4 or 6 intervals and, hey presto!, you’ve written for 2 or 3 hours straight. You have just endurance sprinted.
9. I start anywhere in the piece and just go like I’m possessed. Sometimes that’s the beginning, but I often jump around. Following with the theory behind #1 in this list, I write the parts that are coming to me first even if it’s out of order. That might be a chapter of a book (or even a part of a chapter) or a section of a proposal. I don’t force myself to write in order if it’s not coming to me that way. I respect how my brain is trying to wrap itself around the piece and I follow my instinct. If I get stuck somewhere, I mark it unfinished and move on to a different part. I can smooth it all out on an editing pass later.
10. I focus on getting it out of my brain and onto the paper. I don’t have to get the words perfect. I am a lover of editing. I can come back later and tweak it (I always do). I focus on getting the idea out even if the wording isn’t perfect.
11. If I don’t know or aren’t sure, I turn the text red and keep moving. Red text is my convention for something I need to come back to and either do or fix. It might be that I can’t find the right word at the moment. Or that I have to look something up. Or that I need to confirm a detail. I don’t let it bog me down. I turn it red, make a note if I have to so I remember what to do, and keep rolling. I will come back to it later.
12. When I feel antsy, I get up and walk. Yes this can happen for physical reasons. But I find more often that the urge to get up is because my brain needs a minute to think something over before I can write it. So I walk and think. I might even do a quick manual task like fold laundry or tidy the dining room table or get the mail. That switch to a task I can do on autopilot gives my brain a chance to switch gears and work on whatever it needs to work on while I’m not thinking but doing instead.
And at the end, I treat myself. I deserve it! I just wrote a bunch of stuff! I might read a cookbook, bake something I’ve wanted to try, play a game with my son, watch a Star Wars series episode with my husband, take a long walk, call or text with a friend, or knit or crochet a bit. Just something for me.
I hope something in my plan to endurance sprint write resonated with you. Every writer has their own process and I love hearing what other people do. It gives me ideas to try out to see if they work for me. Go write!