How to Write Faster by Writing Slower

What if I told you that by writing slower, you could, in a sense, write faster? That instead of stressing and cranking out those words, you could get more written by relaxing and taking it slow. Would you think me insane? Probably. I think that of myself most of the time. But stick with me because I’m actually very serious about this.

Think about it. When was the last time you felt you really had to crank those words out to make your word count for the day? Maybe it was as soon as yesterday. Maybe last NaNoWriMo. Or maybe it was another time when you were doing a fun challenge with friends. Think back to how you felt.

Did you ever get really stressed and maybe even panicked that you wouldn’t be able to meet your deadline? Or that if you didn’t get three hundred words in the next five minutes then there was simply no hope for you? I’ve been there. I’ve been in that position—that feeling of, “you have to write faster!”. But now think back to what happened.

You froze.

You had become so concentrated on the amount of words needing written that you worked yourself into a stressed/panicked state of mind. And you forgot to let the story flow naturally. That is the key right there, letting the story flow naturally.

Now remember one of your best writing days. Were you focused on your word count, or were you focused on the story? My money’s on the side that says you focused on your story. Because that’s what happens when you let the words unfold on their own timing and let the story tell itself. They come naturally.

I used to sit down at the computer and think “okay, I want to get this amount of words written and I can’t get up until I do”. Now I sit down and think “what’s going to happen in my story today?”. See what I did there? I focused on the story instead of the word count and that is where your focus should always be. And, as a bonus, I always get a higher word count as a result of it.

But, by the end of the day, I no longer care about how many words I got, I care about the quality of my work. I always feel I write my best on those days. With your focus in the right place, you can too. It’s all about quality over quantity and, in the end, you can have both.

Your turn!

When do you feel like you write best? When you have a definite word count that you need to reach or when you let yourself relax and the story flow on its own? When do you feel like you get more done?

Blessings, Allyson

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