1 Way Procrastination Improves Your Writing
First, you have to practice every day.
I used to start my writing at 8 pm.
Then 9 pm.
Then 10 pm.
Now 10:15 pm.
My procrastination finally caught up with me. Don’t worry, I’m slowly getting back into the 8 pm groove, but writing later every night increased my writing output beyond belief and I’m sure it can for you too.
Here’s why.
My minimum word count per day is 500 words and I give myself one hour to write that.
When my procrastination took over, I gave myself less time to write 500 words and I had to crank everything out in 45 minutes or less . I can’t lie, it took a while for my fingers to get used to the stress. They’d crack in pain after every session. But after a couple weeks of implementing this new routine, I saw massive results.
My word count increased in that 45-minute time block from 500 words to 700 words to 1,000 words. After that, I gave myself a full hour to write again to see how much I could produce.
I couldn’t believe how many words I wrote — 1,200 words in one hour. I used to struggle to write 700 words in a day. The fact that I can write 1,200 words in an hour without breaking a sweat proves how much it pays off to practice your writing every single day with a time constraint.
Now I’m fully confident that if I wanted to write a measly 500 words, I could do so in thirty minutes or less.
Giving yourself less time to write with a minimum word count increases your output as you practice every day.
However, I’m not raising my minimum word-count.
If you get excited and you want to raise your word count to 1,000 words instead of 500, that’s amazing and something you should aim for.
But beware of burnout. It can be a real bitch if you get too carried away raising your word count abruptly.
Even though producing 500 words is beyond easy to me now, raising it to 1,000 doesn’t seem feasible because I’m not completely used to writing 1,000 words a day. BUT, that’s not to say I won’t get there eventually.
Don’t raise your minimum word count until you become completely comfortable with producing that output per day.
Final Thoughts
It may seem silly for me to say this, but procrastination works wonders for your output.
If you give yourself a smaller time-frame to write with a minimum word count, you’ll start to feel the pressure to write more. Once you practice being under that pressure every day, your minimum word count will be child’s play and you’ll be able to write more in a shorter amount of time.
You don’t have to get carried away and raise your minimum word count yet if you’re not completely sure you can write that amount every day. But with more practice, I’m sure you’ll be able to raise it in due time.
Soon you’ll start producing 10,000 words a day. For now, let’s sit down and see how much we can write in an hour, because every word counts.
