Improving Writing Productivity Amid a Pandemic

August 7, 2020 | By Damyanti Biswas | Reply More

Damyanti Biswas lives in Singapore, and supports Delhi’s underprivileged women and children, volunteering with organisations who work for this cause. Her short stories have been published in magazines in the US, UK, and Asia, and she helps edit the Forge Literary Magazine.

Her novel You Beneath Your Skin will be free between 7th and 11th August on Kindle

YOU BENEATH YOUR SKIN is a crime novel about the investigation of an acid attack on a woman from Delhi’s upper class, set against the backdrop of crimes against underprivileged women. They are assaulted, disfigured with acid, and murdered.

It is a whodunit, but also a whydunit, because violent crime unravels those affected: the people, the relationships, the very fabric of society, and we get a glimpse of what lies beneath. That’s why the title, You Beneath Your Skin. This novel has been optioned for TV screens by Endemol Shine, as announced by Hollywood Deadline.

All the author proceeds from You Beneath Your Skin will support the education and empowerment of women at Project WHY and Stop Acid Attacks.

IMPROVING WRITING PRODUCTIVITY

The other day, a writer rhetorically used the phrase on social media: “If you allow me to call myself a writer.” As writers, we often take time to call ourselves as such—many emerging writers I know doubt the importance of their own writing, and the writing time they carve out in their lives.

If we’re writing, and writing consistently and with intention, we are writers. Given our busy lives and the current pandemic that is reshaping our world, the time to write is always in short supply. I’m often asked: how do you make the time to write? In my case, the answer is simple: I’m married and don’t have children. I have friends though who have multiples—both children, and books. How they find the time to do anything at all beats me.

I’ve asked them and the answers are somewhat similar. Some resonate with mine, and the others I’ve found to be at odds with each other, but intriguing nonetheless. I’ll share them with you, and hope to learn a few tricks in turn.

Respect your writing: I read somewhere that you need to be working right now on things that will help you reach your 10-year goals. So if your goal is to publish a book (or several books!) it stands to reason that you must put in the hours. When faced with a blank page, it seems far less daunting and more productive to do the dishes or mow the lawn. Sure, you need to get to your day job or chores, but your writing deserves your respect. You need to make writing a priority, and claw out time for it.

Draw boundaries: physical, mental, timewise: To effectively insist on writing time, you have to lay down the law—for yourself, as well as your friends and family. Mark out a space that you use exclusively for writing. Personally, boring, claustrophobic rooms with no views work best for me, because my only escape is into my imagination.

Figure out your most productive time of the day, and if possible, devote it to writing. It could be a few minutes or a few hours, but if you’re making writing your priority (refer point 1 above), it will receive your most productive time-slot.

Work on multiple projects: For some writers, it helps increase productivity if they’re working on a few novels, short stories, poems or a mix of all of these at the same time. If that’s you, go for it. Flit from project to project, because your subconscious thrives on variety.

Work on the same project: If you’re a single-minded workhorse, respect that and keep going at a project, hammer and tongs, till you finish it. In some cases, target word counts or friendly competitions with other writers can help build your writing mojo.

Try to write a little everyday: This is the tired cliché, write every single day, but like all clichés, it contains a grain of truth. I find that when I’m drafting a novel, writing each day, even if it is two lines, helps me stay connected to the world of my narrative. Miss a few days and it is hard to get back to that mind-space where I watch my characters and story in action and simply write them down. If taking breaks between writing bouts is more your style, nothing wrong with that, either.

It is not necessary to write physically, as long as you do something writerly: This sounds like a new-agey platitude but sometimes, writing does not look like writing. Your subconscious often works better on a knotty plot problem when you’re not focusing on it. That’s why you get those smashing ideas when you’re off to bed, in the shower, in a car, or jogging. Stressing over a problem puts you in a fight-or-flight mode, and your creativity takes a backseat. Taking a walk or going for a work-out or drive may not look writerly, but it might set your brain cells firing.

Switch off the internet: Yes. Switch it OFF (right after you finish reading this article, of course). Jokes aside, there’s a reason the internet is the enemy of writing. Social media is based on ad revenue—the longer you stay on their sites, the more the chances you’ll click on their ads. So they spend billions of dollars to keep you hooked. Don’t try and fight against so much money. Simply switch off the internet when you intend to do a bout of deep, focused writing.

Limit television time: Television stories can be a great way to understand scene beats and the like, but really, their only job is to keep you hooked. You can watch TV after you’ve finished your writing for the day, not before.

Write first, research later: This sounds counter-intuitive but it works. All of us have a few basic cornerstones of knowledge—using those to create a narrative often makes for an easy and quick draft, as long as you are able to back it up with research later. Whenever I need a little info or detail for a particular scene, I write TBR (to be researched) and move on. Unless I have a major plot point that needs looking up, I rarely pause to research information, because I might end up spending the entire day on irrelevant knowledge-gathering.

Podcasts and audiobooks help with research: When you need to read a book for research, it helps to play it as an audiobook while doing the chores. With the pandemic multiplying the chores at home, multi-tasking this way saves time.

Productivity is a matter of conning your brain into a state of deep focus. Self-doubt can lead to taking refuge in distraction, but with discipline, setting boundaries, and a few handy time-saving tricks, it is possible to stay productive even amid a worldwide crisis.

What has been your writing experience lately? Do you have any productivity hacks to share?

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Find out more about Damyati on her blog.