Writing can be somewhat difficult to start, but if you know
the tricks it can be a lot easier. In this article we will work through five
different things to make writing more fun. You may want to achieve this to
build a daily writing habit or to get a bit of work done. Either way, having a
writing habit can lead to a higher level of productivity and happiness. I think
part of the trick here is also knowing what it takes to make writing not feel
like work. The more fun you have with writing, the better. In addition, the
easier you make it to pick up the keyboard and produce, the better. Ultimately,
writing is fun for a number of reasons, but every writer has to start
somewhere.
1.)
Setup a routine of inspiration (music, art, etc.)
Writing is often the best when you are fully inspired to do
so. This may not always be the case. However, the internet is full of potential
inspiration for your next writing project. This can range from cool images, to
amazing art, to 3D creations and more. There are so many different things that
can be used to help you get inspired and write that next piece. If you write fiction
you can read / audiobook a selection of stories to help inspire you. If you are
non-fiction, or just want non-fiction information, then podcasts can provide
you with a wonderful source of enthusiasm. Either way, one of the best ways to
make writing fun is to break if off with the ordinary and observe something
that inspires you to action.
2.)
Build training wheels (outlines)
Many times the hardest part of writing is the first few
moments the cursor is blinking. This is an intimidating time where you may be
wondering what to write. The best way to solve this problem or hurdle is to
have a rough outline accomplished. However, even that can be difficult to
build. If you can’t find the right place to even start an outline, you can make
an outline for your outline. While this sounds redundant, I can explain. You
can start with a goal or general structure. For example, if you want to write a
short story, you can determine what the word count needs to be. From there, you
can separate the word count into how many chapters and scenes you need. From
there, you can separate these into beginning, middle, end. Now that you’ve made
the outline for your outline, you can add in the components. What inciting
incident starts the story off? What kind of hero journey or story is told? What
kind of question do they have in the middle? After you build these questions
onto a frame, you then can start typing up the first chapter. You have a rough
outline to use to make things easier, but if you deviate off that path, no
worries, because you know where you want to go by the end. This can make it
easier to write as you know where to go.
3.)
Point A to Point B (have a purpose)
Speaking of going somewhere, it can also be helpful to
answer the question “why”. Why is this being written? Is it for a blog article
or a book or a report of some sort? Being able to determine the ‘why’ can help
you with motivation and with building the correct quality into your work.
Beyond that, you can measure what you are writing while you are writing it. For
example, some genre’s will require that you cite your facts while others may be
fine with simply stating a fact. Knowing your purpose is a wonderful way to
break the ice with writing.
4.)
Pavlov response (treat yourself afterwards)
I feel like this one is the most common for advice. After
you do something you want to maintain, give yourself a treat. The next time you
do it, give yourself another treat. Soon enough, your brain will associate the
positive action with a positive feeling. While I am not fully sure this works,
I do think that rewarding yourself can be a wonderful thing. The trick is to
reward yourself with a relevant thing, and not just some random goody. Giving
yourself a hit of sugar for writing may not associate writing with the feeling
in your brain. Instead it could associate getting that sugar in the store with
that feeling in your brain.
5.)
Forget perfection
This is the biggest way to have fun with writing. When you
need everything to be absolutely wonderful, you end up with very little.
Truthfully, wonderful writing never happens in the first draft. Instead, you
see the sparks of wonderful in the first draft and through revisions you unbury
it. Giving yourself permission to run the metal detector of wonderful against the
beach of your brain is a good thing. Sometimes you just need to wander around
for a bit to discover the really important components.
Bonus: Daily Creation
I think there is a major component to not wasting your life being
“just a consumer”. In a consumer mind set, you are determined by your opinions
on products. You’ve found product X doesn’t have the proper features. You now
know that product Y is the correct price point for this problem. The knowledge
of products goes on and on. However, this is not the only mindset out there.
The producer mind sent has a different set of questions. In
that mind set, it’s more about “what good can I do”. In that framework, questions
like “can I build this better or faster? Will people enjoy this? Can I sell
this so I can make more of my ideas?” are common to the producer mind set. When
you are building articles, books, or more, you need to move to a producer mind
set. If you get stuck in a consumer mindset, and try to write, you will be
looking for which products work best for writing. Does this promotion or tool
work better than their competitor? I am not saying that it’s not useful
information, but you can get swamped down in the details with this train of thought.
It is best to keep your mind on building and producing things than to simply
consuming them. If you do consume products, then you can ask things like: “How
can I reproduce this? How does this reflect on what I am working on? What do I
like about this and can I bring it into my own work?”
