Since most professional and novice writers – freelancers, novelists, columnists, poets – want to write more and procrastinate less, here are seven ways to get more writing done. They work for me, and I bet Margaret Atwood would agree…

“All writers must go from now to once a upon a time; all must go from here to there; all must descend to where the stories are kept; all must take care not to be captured and held immobile by the past,” said Atwood.

One way to get more writing done is to let go of your past insecurities, rejections, fears, and failures. Heed Atwood’s advice for writers: we must find ways to get from a blank page to a great story. These “ways to get more writing done” are based loosely on info from Larry Winget’s People Are Idiots and I Can Prove It! If you can get past the title, you’ll find lots of practical tips and inspirational quips to help you achieve your goals! 

Okay, read on for ways to get more writing done… 

7 Ways to Get More Writing Done

1. Focus on accomplishments – not activity. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend burrowed away in your writing hole…it matters what you are accomplishing. As a fulltime freelance writer, I could spend all day “writing” but not actually accomplish anything. To get more writing done, I focus on finding a new writing market or two every day, brainstorming a new magazine article idea or two a day, recycling old query letters and ideas, etc. What accomplishments should you be focusing on?

2. Commit your plans to paper. I don’t write my writing goals down on paper – but I need to! My motivation to write this “ways to get more writing done” post is that I’m in a waiting place: waiting for magazine assignments, book contracts, and new websites to launch so I can apply to write. Instead of waiting, I need to step away from the laptop and revisit my writing goals…because this is my career.

3. Reject unrelated activities. “Refuse to become involved in anything that does not move you closer to the accomplishment of your goals,” writes Winget in People Are Idiots (I’m telling you, if you can get past the title, it’s a good book!). If the activity does not move you closer to where you want to be as a writer, then just don’t do it. This requires discipline and maybe even disappointing people…but you’ll get more writing done.

4. Protect your writing time. To get more writing done, you need to jealously guard your writing time! It’s one of those “simple but difficult” writing tips: set your writing schedule, and do not answer the phone or knocks at the door unless someone is on fire.

5. Write when others aren’t around. If possible, schedule your writing time for when you’re alone: an empty office at lunch or after 4 pm (if you have a day job), early in the morning (before everyone gets up), or on weekends when the family is doing their thing. People are a distraction!

6. Set limits on the time suckers. For instance, as much as I love – and learn from – Twitter, it can be a HUGE drain on my time and energy. Connecting and building relationships with other writers and “Tweeps” is great, but it’s not a way to get more writing done. Your writing schedule should not include Twitter, Facebook, or internet surfing activities. Your writing time is strictly for WRITING.

7. Remember how fast time flies. My biggest fear is turning 95 years old and regretting that I didn’t spend more time deliberately planning my writing career and life. I’ve got no problem with getting older…I just don’t want to waste my days doing things that get me nowhere! So, to get more writing done, remember that you only have a limited amount of time. If you don’t write now, you won’t likely be writing later.