How a Binge-Writing Getaway Can Boost Productivity
By Guest | July 2, 2017 |
By faungg’s photos via Flickr’s CC
Please welcome our guest Leah DeCesare, the author of Forks, Knives, and Spoons and the nonfiction parenting series Naked Parenting, based on her work as a doula, early parenting educator, and mom of three. Leah’s articles have been featured in The Huffington Post, the International Doula and The Key, among others. In 2008, Leah co-founded the nonprofit Doulas of Rhode Island, and in 2013 she spearheaded the Campaign for Hope to build the Kampala Children’s Centre for Hope and Wellness in Uganda. In a past life, Leah worked in public relations and event planning. She now writes, teaches and volunteers in Rhode Island where she lives with her family and their talking cockatiel.
I have always earnestly sought details on how other authors write – their process – and have tried a lot of other people’s habits for myself. At last, I’ve come to terms with the fact that my way is equally as valid as other authors’ styles, it’s what works for me. My interest in the writing process, however, persists and I’m open to things I can adopt that could work for me, too.
Connect with Leah on Twitter, Facebook, and on her blog.
How a Binge-Writing Getaway Can Boost Productivity
For years, I eagerly gathered all bits of advice from writers and was very focused on other writers’ processes. The how and the where they wrote, the how much and how long they wrote. I was searching for some road map, some how-to formula.
We hear from every angle, every conference, blog and crafting book that writers must write every day. We hear: Write in the morning before you do anything else, write X000 words a day, write X hours a day. Yet, that’s never worked for me.
This feels slightly like a confession: I don’t write every day. And while I’m at it, confession number two: I’m not a morning person. The idea of writing before my kids leave the house compares to swimming outside in a New England in February. (My apologies if you like either of those things. If you do, use this comparison instead: It compares to preparing your taxes. No one can say they like that! Certainly not among a group of word-folks like us.)
Admitting I don’t write daily felt like I was “doing it wrong,” but I have finally accepted that my process is different, not wrong. I love blocking out a few solid days, running away to my parents’ house while they’re traveling, packing a bag of salad and a few frozen meals from Trader Joe’s and logging out. This is my happy place, my great luxury and I’m grateful for the means and a supportive husband to allow me to do this a few times a year.
When I’m away, I can dive deep and I write for twelve to fifteen hours with short breaks for meals. By the second day I am waking up with ideas and dialogs, I’m solving problems that I’d been struggling with, and I’m living with my characters. I’m in the story. Being able to immerse myself makes me incredibly productive and carries over into my busier day-to-day life with kids and laundry. After these binge writing getaways, I return still living my story and it’s then easier to write for shorter bursts, but I’ve found I need the long, intense writing to fuel me even if I mimic that with several long days at the library or a coffee shop.
I’ve set out with January goals to write two hours a day or to just write every day. I’ve created word tracker tools and even sat my butt in a chair to write for days at a time. I’ve tackled writing before ever opening emails or a browser and I’ve built in mini-rewards for myself for writing, like training a dog. They’ve all worked here and there, or for short periods, and some I do make a part of my writing practice, but no matter what I’ve tried, I’ve never made writing everyday part of my schedule.
What works for me doesn’t have to work for anyone else. What works for someone else doesn’t have to work for me. There’s no wrong way as long as the writing gets done, because it is in fact true that writers must write. You just may not need to do it every day.
I know what gets me into flow and what hinders it, I know what motivates me and charges me up. While I still love gleaning tips and insights from my writing tribe, I’ve finally relaxed into the notion that my writing process is mine. I own it now.
Have you tried binge-writing, and if so, what is the effect on your process? Have a favorite escape you’d like to share?
Many thanks to today’s guest.
You can read more WU guest posts by visiting this link.
Welcome Leah! What I particular like post: conventional wisdom is not a universal yardstick that can be applied to every writer. Your binge writing sessions sound amazing — 12-15 hours with only shirt breaks, wow!
I write every day for 2 hours, first thing in the morning, but I arrived at this after trying everything else, and in fact my tendency is toward binge writing on weekends, or late nights (as in after midnight). Both the latter did not work well for my lifestyle, nor the results I was seeing in the story, and of course a great deal of what makes my present routine effective could be due to necessity, ie I’m not a career author so I need to find the time, in such a way that I can hold my story needs in my head and continually make momentum without stagnating or developing incongruity in the narrative whole. I really do enjoy writing every day, and can see myself pushing that ad infinitum, though I do wonder if binge writing would be a great thing to add here or there. Thanks for this prompt!
Thanks for your comment, John. It feels good when we find something that works for us in both our writing lives and non-writing lives. And, like you, I think it’s great to try something new to freshen things up or see how they work for us.
Me too…at the Highlights Foundation! Binge on!
:-) Thanks, Beverly! I looked into the Highlights Foundation awhile ago – thanks for reminding me about it.
Binge away – if you must!
As a child growing up in The Cape of South Africa, I was fed a dose of “…there is moderation in all things….”
Old school that I am, I do still remember and use i.) a fountain pen (marvelous interface: hand/paper/brain/Universe) and ii.) wire-bound notebook. Then, iii.) I type it over into Word, expand on thoughts etc.
My big issue, as much as I love my MacBook – it is an interference, it is an unnecessary obstruction. So hard-copy, long-hand it is. Down goes every (sic?) thought – as fast as I can pen the thoughts.
BUT… more than once, I HAVE binge written – and crashed after a week – then took 3-4 days to get my brain to remember where I was; now how was the plot supposed to develop?
YES! I too am a night-owl – but moderation and consistency – rule. Well, till the next urge to binge!
Don’t let me stop you – keep creating – binge on… if you must.
I still love hearing how others do their writing! Sounds like the longhand-notebook style could be incompatible with binge writing – I can’t imagine the hand cramps. :-)
Happy Writing!
I always love to read posts that confirm my assertion that we are running headlong into a writing bottleneck created by the financial pressures of the publishing world. “All books must grab your attention in the first line.” “You must have a social media presence.” “You’d better do this or never do that or you’ll never get published.” Thanks, Leah, for finding a way to your own best approach and let’s keep resisting the pressure to all be the same. We each have our own unique rhythm. When creativity stops being an individual expression, it stops being creative.
Amen to that, David! Well said.
Your post reminded me of how much I appreciated it when my husband would take our three children away to visit relatives for the weekend when I was studying for finals and how my schedule became so fluid, eating and sleeping when I needed to rather than on the family’s schedule. I still love the days alone to binge write — something happens to my story. It becomes more layered and ideas show up from — well, if we only knew where they were hiding. I do try to write something everyday, also. So a hybrid approach works for me. Thanks for the peek into your process.
Thanks, Mary. I do write most days – but also at oddball hours, never the same day twice in my writing world! :-) You describe that fluidity of time perfectly – doing things as we need vs. on a schedule. It feels freeing! I couldn’t do it that way or be that solitary consistently, but it sure works for me when I get the chance to seclude myself and write, write, write.
I definitely lean towards binge writing myself. I try to write three days a week, at minimum, but sometimes life gets in the way. I am also very grateful for an understanding wife who shuttles the kids off to visit family for a couple weeks at a time — once or twice every year. I treasure these writing opportunities, and can usually put down 25-30k pretty solid words during that time, which would otherwise take me months. I don’t know how some writers do it, but I find it hard to get in my characters’ heads, and into the flow of my story, if I’m trying to remember the zillion other things that go along with family life.
That’s exactly how I feel – especially for a first draft or major revision – I need to go deeper for longer instead of a few hours a day. For editing I can and do write for shorter periods more frequently but I’m with you on – I can be super productive when I have a group of days of uninterrupted serious writing.
I am a binge writer too. I just need those big blocks of time to think, write, experiment, stare into empty space if necessary. I can write ideas and fragments of poems in those confetti moments snatched between trains and car journeys and other duties, but not a coherent whole. And I’ve always felt guilty about that, so thank you for pointing out that we all need to figure out the way which works best for us.
It’s fantastic to hear of others out there who binge write productively and “go against” traditional advice. Glad to have initiated the Binge-Writers Support Group! :-)
I was just presenting on a writing panel at Denver Comic Con this weekend, and said that binge-writing is how I write. I’ve found that especially when I’m starting a new novel, going away for a long weekend and getting the first 15K-20K words down is super motivating and makes it easier to write “here and there” when I return. I’ve never been a write every day kind of person, and wrote my first published novel in two weeks…though the editing obviously took longer. I said on the panel that everyone needs to find what works for them, and that it’s okay to own the fact that you don’t do what everyone else does. So glad to meet a fellow binger. :)
EXACTLY! It’s been fun hearing from others who write more like I do (rather than the oft touted every-morning-before-dawn schedule). As I said in the piece – it felt a bit like a confession to say I don’t write every day. Happy to hear I’m not alone!