Seven Tips To Getting the Writing Done* by Ryan Orr, PC Writing Coach

Do not hurry; do not rest.  --Goethe

1. Create a writing space. Where do you like to work, alone in your silent study, or enveloped in the din of your local coffee shop? Every writer is different; there is no one way that works best. But if you intend to get serious writing done, establish a space where you can remain focused and productive, comfortable, and free from distraction.

2. Break up your writing tasks. Utilize small chunks of time. Spread them out over the day or the week. If you do need to get six hours of work done, give yourself breaks, get a coffee, throw the dog a ball, eat. Then re-read what you wrote, and find a way back in.

3. Use "Save As". Each time you sit down to write for the day take the existing file and "save as" a new draft. So: "Research Paper .2, .3, .4" etc. This alleviates anxieties over making major changes—you can always go back to the previous draft.

4. Transitional Drafts: Set a goal for the day's draft. Say, paragraph transitions. Work solely on paragraph transitions until you have completed the draft. Then come back the next day with another draft. Say, compression. Start small and work up to the big stuff, draft by draft. 

5. Establish a regular schedule. Whether every day or every Sunday, a regular writing schedule allows your focus to transcend mechanics so your ideas may gain depth and possibility. Many writers insist on writing at the same time of day each time as well.

6. Be patient with your process.To take writing seriously is to enter in a very long apprenticeship. If you are diligent you will probably accomplish something worthwhile each time you sit down, though many times that thing accomplished is learning what you have yet to accomplish. And that, for an author, is a good day’s work.

7. Read drafts aloud. In the editing stages, in order to get the language just right, read your work aloud to yourself, or to a friend; or, have your friend read your draft to you. Your ear knows the English language intuitively, and hearing your words aloud will help you hear what isn’t working as well as what is.

Happy writing. 
  

*Acknowledgments to Donald Murray’s, “The Craft of Revision,” and Robert Boswell’s After the Workshop; Transitional Drafts for the origins of these ideas.