How to Write Fiction Everyday

I have spent a lot of time trying to find a system that will allow me to write everyday. I have come to the conclusion that writing takes a certain kind of mind, a certain kind of schedule that will provide inspiration everyday. To do this I have started a writing strategy that involves one random word that I pull from, well, just about anywhere. Then I write about 500 words inspired by that word. The following list contains some of the inspired short writings that were inspired by the words I found.

I challenge you to do the same. You may use the same word that I have chosen and write about 500 words based on that word. Please feel free to either post what you have written as a comment below, or post a comment with the link to your blog post with your writing in it.

Now take a moment and read some of what I have written, then make comment about it.

Make sure you stick to your timeframe... no excuses.

I don't know who you are or how busy your day is, but if you are like me, it can be challenging to find that time to write everyday.

This is why you must schedule that time. Pick a time during your day where you can park yourself in front of the computer and write. It doesn't have to be more than twenty minutes per day. The only requirement is that you sit down and write something everyday. This will get you into a routine.

When you find a day where you can't sit down and write, because you have become used to writing at that certain time, you will feel like something is wrong. That is when you know writing everyday has gotten into your blood.

Alarm Clock, Egg Timer or Cell Phone

I have found if I time myself, I can write more words in a certain amount of time. If I don't time myself, I will start surfing the internet or find something else to do. If I set the timer and say to myself I cannot do anything else till that buzzer goes off, I will sit down and become magically productive.

What is the magic time? This is different for everyone. Some people can't get deep into what they are writing unless they have been writing for more than twenty minutes. In this case you should probably write for more than twenty minutes. Give yourself an hour to write. Just remember, you can' strop typing till that buzzer goes off.

I find that I will not sit in one place for that long of a time all at once. I tend to set my timer for 20 minute blocks. I will write for twenty minutes, and then go get something else done. Then I will come back and write for another twenty minutes.

Give this a try. Find your sweet number; the number of minutes you can write non stop and not get distracted by something else. After you do this for a few weeks and make it a good habit, start increasing the number of minutes. If you can sit and write for longer amounts of time, you will get more written.

Set a Wordcount

November is National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. That is 1,667 words per day. If we wrote 1,667 words per day all year long, we would have a book that is 608,455 words long. That is 5 or six full length novels. Set yourself three hours a day to do this and you will be a prolific writer.

If you can't write 1,667 words per day, lower it to 500 or 1,000. That is a reasonable amount. I have also known writers who are satisfied as long as they do some writing everyday. It doesn't matter if they write 100 words or 10,000 words.

If you have attempted NaNoWriMo every year like I have, and have never made the 50,000 word goal, then you will appreciate this song. Italktosnakes is a fun channel to watch. She talks about everything from Harry Potter to writing music to just about anything a science fiction nerd would love.

Take Time to Plan Out What You Want to Write

Can't seem to make yourself write? Maybe you don't have your story worked out well enough in your head. Maybe you need to spend some quality time with your story, not writing it down, but working out the problems and the relationships between your characters.

I find if I take a walk; if I just go outside and get myself away from the computer and all the other things I could be doing, I will reconnect with what I am trying to write.

It is hard to write these things down while you are walking, so I try to take a small recorder with me. I record my thoughts so I can refer to them when I get back in front of the computer.

Do You Have a smart phone. If you do, then you can use it to write everyday. I have been able to dictate using Siri on my iPhone strait to Google Docs. This is a great way to get a story down in the best most raw form. Then you will have something to edit later.

I like to take a walk and dictate. Then in the evening when I am sitting on the couch, I will open the Google Doc and polish what I dictated earlier that day. I will go back and adjust the rest of the manuscript as I go, adding foreshadowing whenever necessary.

If I am sitting in a waiting room waiting or waiting in the car line for the kids to get out of school, I can pull out my phone and write the scene I have been constructing in my mind. If I can get it down on the phone, I will not have to write it later when I get home. I will also not risk the chance of forgetting it.

Since I am using Google Docs, the document is backed up almost immediately and the loss of words is less of a problem.

Writing at home can be very distracting. There is just too much that needs to be done at home. You may find yourself doing laundry or cleaning the bathroom instead of working on your novel.

I suggest you make it part of your regular routine to go somewhere else to write. Take your laptop to the library or to your favorite coffeehouse and spend your time writing there.

Do not take advantage of their Wifi. If you do, you may find yourself surfing the internet instead of writing your book.

You most likely have friends who like to write. If you don’t have those types of friends, you should get online and find some. Visit the writing forums and the free websites that specialize in introducing writers with other writers.

After you find these writing friends, challenge them to a word war. Set a time limit (something like 30 minutes to an hour) and try to write as many words as you can within that length of time. Whoever has the largest wordcount in that time wins. Do several of these word wars at a time. You will find yourself with 3,000 words written in a couple of hours.