In fact, all writers are as unique as their fingerprints.
Just as our stories are (we hope) distinctive, so are our personalities and lifestyles—and, as a result, our working patterns. In pursuit of bettering our craft, we voraciously study the masters by reading every how-to book and author interview we can get our hands on.
But what we sometimes don’t realize is that even if a particular method or routine works for one author, that singular success doesn’t automatically make it a universal principle.
In general, human beings like the protective solidity of “rules.” We like to know that if we write one page every day, five days a week, we’ll finish a book in a year and be published in two.
But life doesn’t work that way.
It may be that writing a page a day is the perfect routine for you, and you will finish that book in a year. But it could also be that the rigidity of such a schedule will keep you from your ultimate productivity. It could be you will work much better if you allow ourselves more flexibility and less pressure.
In The Writer
Every author’s goals, writing schedule, and methods are different. Some of us can whip out 20 pages a day; others labor to produce five. You need to determine if you work best doing a set number of pages, or hours, or scenes per day or per week. Which kind of writer are you? You must determine how you produce best.
It’s vital all authors discover for themselves what kind of writer they are and which methods work best for them. Just because Margaret Atwood does X and Stephen King does Y is no reason for us to blindly follow suit. Read widely, learn all you can about what works for other authors, and experiment to discover which methods will offer you the best results.
My own writing routine is a continually evolving process. What worked for me five years ago isn’t necessarily what works for me now, and what works for me now isn’t necessarily going to still work for me in another five years.
With every new story I write, I learn a little bit more about myself and the routines that make me most productive. I’m constantly refining my work habits, always listening to my instincts, and paying attention when I feel I’m forcing myself to observe a stricture that just isn’t working.
Individual writers are the only experts into their own proficiency. Never feel as if you have to force your writing habits to mirror other people’s—no matter how successful they may be in their own right.
Find what works for you and stick with it.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! What kind of writer are you? What are some tips and tricks you’ve tried from other writers that haven’t worked for you? Tell me in the comments!
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