Today we’re talking about The One True Path To Productivity… or how we think there isn’t one. 

Donna Says

On Wednesday of this week, the fabulous Lauren Dane blogged about the writing process. Actually, what she said was simple: put your ass in your chair and write.

Lots of people want to know what the big hush-hush secret to writing is, and the truth is that there’s not one. You come up with a story and you write it. That could entail extensive plotting and weeks of character development, or you could be the type of writer who prefers to fly by the seat of her pants and just go at it. I’ve seen writers do it both ways and have those books go on to sell–and sell well. So the secret isn’t to do it one way or the other, it’s to do it the way that works for you and your talent.

And that’s where my secret comes in: I can’t finish a damn thing by myself. It’s true. I have more discipline than I used to have, but maaaaaan. It’s not much. If the only person I’m hurting by not getting my book done is myself, it’s not getting done. I need accountability.

Having a writing partner to develop ideas and work with is awesome, but I really do think the biggest advantage Bree and I garner by working together is that accountability. If I don’t get my crap done, Bree suffers for it. And that’s something that, personally, I can’t let happen.

So there it is. LOL No amount of me putting my butt in my chair was going to help me see a project through to its end. That’s just the way I am. For me, the answer was a partner. For obvious reasons, I don’t think that would work for everyone. Probably not even for most people.

This is the key, right here, the “secret”–find your motivation. It sounds like dopey drama major freshman-workshop BS, but there it is. Once you find that motivation, you’ll know if it’s enough to carry you through the hard work and the rejection…and worse.

Bree Says

I’m with Donna.  This is not a business for the faint of heart, and I’ll be honest.  My heart can be a little faint at times.  Maybe admitting this makes me seem less bad ass, but I don’t care.  I have massive respect for the people who do this alone, because most days I think that I could not.

Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.  Some people can write 5k a day, over and over.  Some people struggle with 1k.  Some people make worlds come to life and some have characters so real you swear they’re breathing.  Some people cry every time they have to write an action sequence.  (Oh wait, am I admitting that out loud?)

I believe pretty firmly that one of the first breakdowns in productivity comes when you get obsessed with how everyone else is doing it.  I don’t care how slowly you write, if you spend an hour worrying about how much or how little someone else has written, that’s an hour you could have been writing.   And then you have no one to blame for it but yourself.

In the end I think it should be about finding your strengths, what makes you want to write and keep writing, and play to them.  Donna and I have a partnership that is based on playing to our strengths.  Donna is great at tackling edits and picking up typos.  I’m good at websites and graphics.  We each take the tasks we’re most efficient at and we do them.  We don’t worry that we’re not doing things the same way other people do–that’s not productive.

So there’s the big secret.  The best way to write is to experiment until you find out what works best and to do it.  Over and over again.  Boogie ’till you just can’t boogie no more!

Or maybe it’s not. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? There is no best way. So go out and find yours!