Stress Yourself Into Writing — Why I Write With A Stopwatch Staring At Me
The Gods of Creation work in mysterious ways, don’t they?
Many aspiring writers blessed with the literary dream are also damned with a lack of time to hone their craft, a dearth of lightning-struck inspiration, or some other artistic handicap.
If an idea doesn’t keep us up at night, distract us from our day to day tasks, or constantly nag at us to be explored, we often put off writing until we find ourselves in this situation, regardless of how long it takes to be found in the grip of our Muse.
Speaking from my own experience (up until recently, that is), when I did find the time to write, my inhibitions would kick in, my inner critic would censure every word I produced, and I would too quickly exhaust whatever enthusiasm I had for an idea I was wrangling with.
And that is my writing routine.
Or at least, it was.
I’ve recently discovered the fountain of creative youth in the form of a stopwatch.
That’s right, I use the same implement I employ for timing my hundred meter dash as I do for ensuring my writing sessions are as fruitful and imaginative as possible. Seeing time actually ticking away in front of me as I attempt to forge my next masterpiece is a great way to motivate me to create.
I first noticed my tendency for productivity when under the gun when I had a full-time job. A terrible procrastinator, whenever I had a meeting coming up that I needed to present data at, I unintentionally waited until the last 30 minutes before the meeting to actually do research.
What I found in that roughly 30 minute window was that I would prioritize the most basic things that I needed to prepare in order to demonstrate that I was un-fireable.
And it worked every time.
One of the discoveries that I made about myself was that by putting myself in a stressful, pressurized environment, my resourcefulness was activated and my brain worked in ways it normally didn’t when in a calmer, more serene state.
My current writing routine consists of giving myself a creative problem to solve (e.g. “define this character’s motivation”) or a goal to reach (e.g. “write 400 words in one sitting”), then I start my stopwatch and unleash my genius.
What I’ve found is that a session of about 20–25 minutes seems to work best for me, followed by a 5-minute break doing something completely unrelated to writing. This technique also allows me to put in several sessions a day.
Interestingly, I only just found out, after employing this strategy for some time, that this was backed up by research and is referred to as the Pomodoro Technique, which has been around since the late 1980s.
So if your complacency is hindering your work, consider digging up that old Casio and giving this technique a try.
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