Short writing periods regularly don’t work for everybody.
@jovanevery thank god. Every time I see someone tweet that I think why doesn’t it work for me. I write 6 hours straight. Can’t do short.
— M.M. (@ProfessMoravec) March 7, 2013
Or Tony’s comment on my Pomodoro technique post in which he indicated he liked 2 hour stretches. I have a client who prefers 3-4 day blocks for writing.
The thing is, there is a lot of advice around that counsels against this kind of longer intense writing session. For a long time, that kind of session would be referred to as “binge writing”, evoking problematic associations with addiction, eating disorders, and mental illness.
Not only is it insensitive (at best) to use this term, it just isn’t true that all long intensive writing sessions are unhealthy. (I’ve got a whole rant about the abuse of “health”, which I will spare you.)
If you work better in intensive bursts that are longer, do not despair.
The key question is: Are you writing?
One reason I write a lot about using shorter chunks of time is because it is easier to find that kind of time in a busy schedule.
I’m not opposed to working intensively for 6 hours. If you have a process that works for you, then you don’t need to go out looking for other better processes.
However, if you are not writing at all because you think you can only write in those conditions and those conditions never occur – there is a problem.
The problem is that you aren’t writing when you have things you want to write.
If you know that writing in shorter chunks of time definitely doesn’t work for you, then you need to find some other way to support yourself in finding and protecting writing time.
It might look like 1 full day every week or every fortnight. Or perhaps scheduling one day a week and having a rule about how much of that is non-negotiable and what kinds of things you’ll compromise for.
Or, it might look like blocking time well in advance for writing retreats. I say “well in advance” because we both know that 2 or 3 days clear of meetings is not just going to happen by magic.
If you don’t like your 2 hour sessions broken up into Pomodoros, you’ll need to avoid writing groups and retreats that force you to use that format. There are plenty that don’t (including A Meeting With Your Writing).
Is your writing process satisfying?
Consider Lisa Munro’s description of how she used to write:
“Yes, I wrote regularly, but only when forced to crank out pages because of non-negotiable deadlines and serious feelings of guilt and shame. To stave off panic, I wrote in frantic binges that left me exhausted. And then I wouldn’t write again for days or weeks because I told myself that I needed to ‘take some time off’ to recover.”
一 Lisa Munro, [blog no longer online]
The words that stand out to me in this passage are: “frantic”, “exhausted”, “feelings of guilt and shame”.
If that’s how you’re writing, you aren’t just “telling yourself” you need to take some time off to recover. You *need* time off to recover.
The full post made it clear that Lisa herself experienced them as a problem. It wasn’t satisfying. And it was contributing to not writing as much as she wanted to.
Guilt, shame, and exhaustion aren’t experiences most of us try to get more of. It’s understandable if you can’t imagine any other way to write and have resigned yourself to this less than satisfying process. It’s also understandable if you wonder whether you even want to write if this is the only way you’ve ever been able to do it.
Other things that might indicate that this way of working isn’t really working include:
- you aren’t getting anything finished and submitted
- you are frequently anxious about writing
- you are exhausted, anxious and incapable of coherent thought after you’ve been writing
- you can’t write the type of thing you need to write (e.g. words for articles but not for a monograph)
Writing will never be easy
Writing can be enjoyable, but even those who enjoy writing don’t enjoy every aspect of it.
You will still be frustrated by both intellectual challenges and the challenge of clearly articulating your ideas. Both of these will feel like getting stuck with your writing. Both are normal.
Writing is objectively difficult.
You are writing about things that are intellectually complex. You got into academia because you like intellectual challenges.
The fact that you find writing challenging and frustrating isn’t necessarily a sign that you are doing it wrong, nor that you are incapable of doing it successfully.
You need a writing process that supports you as you face those challenges.
If you want things to be different
As I said earlier, if you have a process that works for you, then you don’t need to go out looking for other better processes.
However, if anything I’ve said in this post makes you want to change your practice, you need to be clear about what you want to change and what you hope to achieve.
You will need strategies to overcome inertia and get into flow.
You will struggle with particular sections. You will need to revise what you write. Probably several times.
It will take longer than you think.
Some days you will write a lot. Other days it will feel like pouring molasses on a cold day.
You can experiment with things that might address that particular issue, see how a particular solution works, and then either keep going, tweak it, or try something else.
You don’t have to commit to anything forever, just long enough to get over the inherent difficulties of trying new things.
For example, if the problem is that your brain likes getting absorbed in a project but your body definitely does not like staying in one position for that long, you might want to try:
- Taking breaks
- Changing position regularly (e.g. a sit-stand desk)
- Warm up exercises before you start
- A stretching routine when you’ve finished
You might also want to experiment with ways of making sure you stay hydrated and get enough to eat, especially if you tend to hyperfocus and not notice physical signs of hunger or thirst.
If the problem is you aren’t getting enough writing time, you can experiment with the strategies I suggested earlier or, you could experiment with adding shorter writing sessions between longer intensive sessions.
Consider, in particular, whether your preference for long intensive sessions applies to all of the work your writing project needs, or a specific type of work (like generating a first draft).
Or, consider what kinds of things you could do to prepare for a long intensive writing session.
- Make a list of concrete tasks you will do in your document.
- Find & organize things you need to read so you can get right into reading
- Organize your sources or data so it’s easy to refer to
- Etc.
All of these things are necessary work to get your writing project closer to done. They all ‘count’ as writing. And some of them might be things you actually don’t mind doing in shorter chunks of time.
Would you benefit from some support?
I help people find a writing practice that works for them, stick with it, and adapt it as needed.
The 15-Minute Writing Challenge helps you experiment with the smallest possible amount of writing to get started and/or to see what you can do in that time.
A Meeting With Your Writing is to your writing practice what going to a class is to your fitness practice: a synchronous meeting that gives you a structure to actually write. Each 2 hour meeting guarantees 90 minutes of writing time. We offer 4 sessions each week to suit different time zones and schedules.
I don’t offer longer virtual writing retreats, but I sometimes share links to people who do in my end of the month newsletter.
Related Posts:
Moving beyond “binge” vs “snack” writing by Katherine Firth
Why finding time for writing is hard
Working on multiple projects without feeling like they are competing for your time
Using all 3 types of writing time
Finding Time for Your Scholarly Writing (Book)
A version of this post was originally published in March 2013 and edited in April 2016. We recently realized that it needed a much more substantial edit and so this post has replaced that one.
