Whether you’re looking to write a book, a thesis, a screenplay, or a bunch of blog posts, one of the best ways to focus on the project and churn out a ton of content is to embark on a writing sabbatical. The size of the work (or collection of works) will determine the length of your escape, but the following suggestions will help you get the most out of the experience.
Don’t Aspire to Write the Whole Time
This sounds counterintuitive, but don’t expect to be writing all day. It’s an unattainable goal. You’ll have a blocked brain and frozen fingers. The words will start to blur. You’ll find yourself staring blankly at the screen or whatever’s behind it. So, don’t set your expectations high. Designate several blocks of time that each fit within your typical writing attention span. If inspiration stretches one or more blocks, follow that energy. Just don’t expect it to stay high for extended periods of time.
Get Away from Distractions
Leave. You will be more productive away from your daily environments. Writing at home can keep chores, errands, and a lonely refrigerator in the peripheral vision. That TV remote or blanket on the couch can each be a temptation to procrastination. Local coffee shops or your school’s library can lead to conversations that pull you away from your goals. You don’t necessarily have to travel far from home. Write on the deck at a friend’s house, a silent church sanctuary, an art museum, a gazebo at a park, or a nondescript bench. I’m writing this article from the front seat of a pickup truck in a parking lot that overlooks my new hometown.
Go Somewhere You Can Explore
If you’ve got credit card travel points or the disposable income, venture farther from home. I like to leave the country alone when I can. Something about an unknown place and new visuals stimulates creativity. Maybe it’s the food for you that differs from home. Maybe the architecture and social infrastructure intrigue you most. A different language makes conversations around you less interruptive. Sometimes getting a new scale and scope for your world is enough to expand context or inspiration to your writing. You can live inexpensively in hostels; I’ve stayed in one with a library room and a pillow pit, both of which hosted long writing sessions.
Budget Social Media & Email Time
Social media, email, text messages, and voicemails can interrupt your stream of consciousness. Combat this by switching your phone to airplane mode except during designated times. If that’s too hard, turn off app notifications and email notification sounds. You’d be amazed how much catching up you can do during solo meals, waiting-in-line time, or rides on public transportation. Don’t leave social media or email tabs open on your browser while researching; that’s playing with fire.
Plan Outdoor and Physical Activity
Physiology affects cognitive skills like attention span, analytical reasoning, and will power. It can also regulate sleep cycles, which in turn impacts focus and energy during the day. So, schedule some physical exertion into your sabbatical—hiking, biking, swimming, yoga, or even running. Get your blood pumping with a morning walk or a stroll under the stars. Go outside, and take deep breaths. Awaken your senses. I like to include an adrenaline rush or two into a writing trip, as that energizes me better than caffeine ever could.
Plan for Some Contemplative Time
Often times, inspiration explodes away from the pressure of crafting sentences, paragraphs, and plot. Include intentional thinking time in your plan, and consider it part of the creative process. Take a long, hot shower. Lay on a blanket in the park. Walk a shoreline, a circuit of city streets, or a nature path. Close your eyes in a hammock or poolside chair. Go for a drive or for a ride in public transportation. Draw in a notebook or play with diagrams on graph paper. Something about the separation from the process makes room for ideas, phrases, and vocabulary.
Create an Idea File in Advance
You can be more efficient and prolific during these concentrated writing sessions by compiling your outlines, sketches, and source material in advance. You can do that digitally with Evernote or similar electronic tool. Some writers dictate their ideas to their phone or digital voice recorder; this works best if tagged or annotated for easier reference. Others fill Moleskine journals with doodles, writing, and highlighting. A manilla folder, large envelope, or FedEx box can work as an idea file filled with sticky notes, samples, and outlines. You might need a portable file organizer, depending on how much collateral you are referencing. At different times, I’ve used all of the above.
As you learn your writing rhythm, you’ll learn when, where, and how to get the most out of your time at the keyboard. Some of these elements will impact your efficiency more than others. So, be aware of procrastination triggers and distracting stimuli. Pay attention to patterns in the process—good and bad—and determine ways to diminish the negative and promote the positive.
That’s how I got this list.
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Stock images purchased form iStockPhoto.com
