Write More, Worry Less
The “Get It Done Now” Writing Method
From 2006 to 2021, I authored or co-authored 7 books while teaching full time and working as a statistical consultant on weekends.
How did I do it?
Where did I find the time?
I used a simple writing method employed by some of the most famous authors of the 19th and 20th Century.
Let me show you some of these strategies.
Apply them to your daily writing routine and watch the pages flow.
Tip #1: Set up a daily writing time.
Know what time you work best. I am an early morning writer. So I would write for 1 hour the moment I got out of bed. I'd make a cup of coffee, turn on the computer, and start writing for that hour.
Tip #2: Write every day.
Don't write only when you feel like it. Don't block off a weekend and think you are going to write 50 pages. It won't happen. Even if you ship the kids off to the grandparents. It's better to write for 1 hour a day or 30 minutes a day than trying to write huge blocks over a weekend.
I once had a client who couldn't focus and sitting down to write seemed impossible. She hadn't written a single word in six months! I started the client off writing for 15 minutes a day. She would set a timer and when it rang, she would save what she wrote and turn off the computer until the next day. I wanted it to become routine for her, like brushing her teeth.
The first day trying this new method she wrote 150 words!!! Little by little we increased the time until she was writing for an hour a day. She finished her dissertation for her Ph.D. in three months.
Tip #3: Find a place where you can write.
This seems simple but in fact it can be quite a challenge for some writers. I remember visiting Ralph Waldo Emerson's house and was surprised that his desk faced a wall and not a window. Windows can be very distracting. In fact, when I have a client who has trouble writing I always have them move their desk to face a wall. Looking out the window at the garden is lovely but it can be very distracting and a barrier to the written word. Avoid coffee shops. They seem like great places to write but in reality a lot of people watching and not enough wordsmithing happens there.
Tip #4: Stop writing when you are on a role.
Have you ever had a great idea and started writing, going from one great idea to the next? The words just seem to flow out of your fingertips. Stop writing before you come to the end of your idea. Actually, I would prefer you to stop mid sentence!
Here is an example... "It was a sunny day, and when I turned around I saw..." Stop right there! Don't finish the sentence even though you can. Get up and walk away. So, when you turn on the computer the next day, you know exactly what you are going to write. Finish the sentence... "I turned around and saw a lovely rainbow!" And keep right on writing for the next hour.
It's easy to finish a sentence that you already know how it ends. It's more difficult to turn on a computer and start writing when you don't know what you are going to write.
Tip #5: Plan, Plan, Plan.
Plan what you are going to write about. Research on good writers found that good writers are planners. Few people sit down at a computer and are able to just write. After I finish my writing session, I plan all day what I am going to write for the following day. I plan when I am in the shower; when I am grocery shopping; when I am waiting on hold on the phone. I am constantly thinking about what I will write the next day. I even plan the first few words I will write before I even sit down.
I hope these strategies help you and keep writing.
Dean T. Spaulding, Ph.D. owns a company that provides dissertation writing and statistical support to Ph.D. candidates. He has provided consulting services for many different types of writers: Ph.D. candidates, master's thesis, high school research papers, novelists, and screen writers. He also provide statistical consulting services in both quantitative and qualitative research.
Visit him at Finishthedisserationnow.com or email him at Finishthedissertationnow@gmail.com
He is the author or co-author of the following books:
Methods in Educational Research: Theory to Practice (2006/2010). Jossey-Bass Wiley
The Educational Leader's Guide to Improvement Science: Data, Design and Cases for Reflection. (2019). Myers Education Press.
Teaching Improvement Science in Educational Leadership: A Pedagogical Guide. (2021.) Winner of the 2022 Society of Professors Book Award!!! Myers Education Press.
Action Research for School Leaders. (2013). Pearson. Allyn & Bacon
Program Evaluation in Practice: Core Concepts and Examples for Discussion and Analysis. (2008/2016). Jossey-Bass Wiley
Instructional Coaches and the Instructional Leadership Team: A Guide for School-Building Improvement. (2012). SAGE Publications.
What Does Your School Data Team Sound Like? A Framework to Improve the Conversation Around Data. (2018). SAGE Publications.