How to Be a Prolific Writer — Today

Simple hacks to boost your word count, no matter what you write

I don’t type fast (I never learned to touch-type), but nowadays I manage to write 2,000–5,000 words per day without taking much time away from my family, or my full-time job.

If you stick with me six minutes, I’ll share how I became a prolific writer without typing faster or cutting into my family time.

This won’t be a painless process, but I’ll uncover hidden writing places, where you can get more done in less time, and keep that word count up. I use these methods myself to publish non-fiction stories every day — as well as work on my fiction projects.

This story includes a collection of helpful posts I’ve written to help writers write more, write better, and save time while doing it, so make sure you check out the supporting material, because they’re an integral part of this piece.

You may want to bookmark this piece for later reference.

I write every day. You don’t have to write every day, but this simple practice will help you develop a prolific mindset. You can start with smaller goals to develop the habit first, then worry about boosting word count later.

Here’s a story I wrote about developing the daily writing habit:

Start with your writing goal

Why are you writing?

Becoming a prolific writer is a lofty goal if you don’t have a specific reason for doing so. Whether you’re working on that final manuscript, or you want to make some side income through freelancing, here are some common writing goals:

• Freelance articles
• Crafting a manuscript
• Journalism
• Copywriting
• Social media expansion

No matter our writing goal, we should go into our daily practice with a plan. If you want to be a prolific writer, you’ve got to know what you’re going to write before you write it.

Where will you write?

A large component of prolific writing is our writing environment. One of the reasons I can write so much in a day is I use my phone a lot. The bulk of my fiction is written on my phone.

Mobile writing can be an odd transition from the keyboard, but the process allows you to increase your word count without taking more time from your day. Here’s a very popular post I wrote about mobile writing:

Here’s a second story about mobile writing and ‘stealing time’ to write:

If you write from your laptop, you’ll need to dedicate a writing space, either in your home or a dedicated public space. The location is part of the preparation. If you don’t have a location, you’ll scramble when it’s time to write.

Write one project at a time

There’s nothing that will slow us down more than trying to write more than one project at once. For a time, I attempted multiple books and short stories at once.

This is similar to having a tower of books on a to-be-read pile.

If we start writing a dozen projects, but fail to finish one of them, we still haven’t written anything.

This is a post I wrote about the power of writing one project at a time:

Multiple projects are tempting, especially if we do freelance work for multiple clients. But if we focus on multiple projects at once, we’ll end up spending twice as much time finishing the work, had we finished each project one at a time.

The power of cumulative effort

Sometimes it’s hard to feel progress, especially if we’re working on a novel. We might work for months and we’re still without a book.

However, if we build the daily, prolific writing habit we can’t help but create a large body of work. I write every day and I’ve got millions of words to show for it.

Plan your writing projects in advance. Understand the power of cumulative effort, and allow the daily practice to do its work. All you have to do is show up.

The daily writing habit

If we want to write prolifically, it’s a good idea to write every day. When we write every day our work accumulates more than if we write in frantic, inconsistent spurts.

I use a simple writing ritual to remind myself if I’m at my desk. This post has already helped a few thousand people. Maybe it will help you too:

Take chances with your work

We’ve seen it all. We’ve been there and done that. We need your fresh eyes and fresh ideas. There’s an invisible fence around our work and it’s up to us to decide if we’re willing to let it define us or challenge us to jump it.

Taking chances keeps the spark going. The risk helps you establish your writing voice. When you become a prolific writer, your readers will come to appreciate your voice and expect a consistent production schedule.

You won’t please everyone.

You won’t please most people.

But you will please a core group who respect your work. These people are the reason you write. They are your audience. The rest don’t matter. It doesn’t take a very large audience to build a lucrative business with writing. Take chances, develop your voice, and write every day.

If you get a few one-star reviews, it means you’re following the right path:

Don’t share your work too early

If you want to be a prolific writer it’s important to keep up your morale. Writing is such an emotional process it’s easy to slip into a hole when you feel down about your work.

Don’t share your half-finished manuscript, unless you’ve got a specific relationship with an editor. Significant others can be well-meaning, but one well-placed, raised eyebrow can ruin a sensitive writer’s month.

Your writing state matters

If you write while your angry or sad, these emotions will show-through in your writing, and onto your reader.

We don’t read to feel worse. We wan to be inspired or entertained.

When we write in a pessimistic, or negative state, our word choice will reflect our mood. Angry writing is harder to sell and it’s harder to keep long-term readers. You might convince someone to pick up your book once, but good luck if you want a lifetime customer (if all you do is come across angry).

Do the work

No matter how you decide to write, you can’t escape the part where the words go on the paper. Try not to miss a single day of writing, especially during the first fragile, 60 days of habit-building.

One missed day becomes three.

Three missed days become never.

We need your unique voice. We need your different viewpoint. We need your life experience and your brave ideas. It’s time to get started.

We’re waiting for you.