Yesterday I had a writing day. I cleared my calendar, scheduled it in, met up with an author accountability buddy in the most perfect literary library, and I spent the whole day — not writing.
It was the most productive writing day I’d had in months.
The riddle of not writing
As a coach specialising in ‘writing productivity’ at Prolifiko people come to me struggling to make time for their writing. But when a lot of writing is not writing, it becomes even harder to make time for the necessary not writing of writing.
It sounds like a riddle, so let me explain. In order to write we need to go through a process from idea to output. That’s the case whether we are working on a creative work such as a novel or poem, or non-fiction like an academic article, a business blog or a narrative book.
Much has been said on the process of bringing an idea to life, the number of stages involved, the definition of them, whether they are linear or iterative, but for the sake of simplicity let’s say there are four phases of writing: ideation, incubation, drafting, revision (more on these below).
When we think of writing we tend to focus on the final two stages, the words-on-page part of drafting and revising. There is often a clear output, which gives us a goal to work towards — write an X. Having a deadline helps to focus the mind by exerting pressure to get it written, submitted, posted or shared with a reader in some shape or form. There is clarity and a sense of purpose.
The other two stages are vague in comparison. Who knows when an idea will spark and how long it will take to develop? There is no clear goal, no specific output or deadline. So, how do you make time for the not writing part of writing?
Prioritising the ‘not writing’ necessary for writing
Consider the four phases of writing:
- Ideation: the original spark of insight that sets a writer off.
- Incubation: the research and note-taking, free writing or creative exploration that develops the idea.
- Drafting: the composition stage that puts the idea on the page, perhaps an outline, 3-act plan, a proposal or writing a messy first draft.
- Revision: writing, rewriting and endless editing to hone and develop what becomes the final output.
Do you value them all equally? Are some easier, more fun or feel more productive to you? Think about how you can create space in your life to have ideas, to store, explore and develop them.
Permission to not write
It’s important to acknowledge that ‘not writing’ is still writing and to do good work you need to prioritise and make time for it.
If you need it, I’m giving you permission to not write in order to get your writing done.
There’s more writing tips, inspiration and things to read, try and explore in the Prolifiko newsletter Breakthroughs and Blocks. You can read the latest issue here: https://mailchi.mp/prolifiko/prolifiko-newsletter-breakthroughs-blocks-nov-23-2022 And sign up to get the next one here: https://prolifiko.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9ff0b77d93edf85f96e6b3f0d&id=b5e1f6a0ef
Photo by Jan Kahánek on Unsplash; Four stages of writing from Prolifiko
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
