Block off your writing time and place:
What is the ideal length of time for
one writing session? Should you work on a paper from morning to night or just a few hours
at a time? This depends on the following:
- How long does it takes you to get going?
- How long does it take before you run out of steam?
- The ideal length of time is somewhere between these two times.
- Hemingway found that it was important to stop, each day,
while things were still going well, to leave a good section that you have worked
out in your head for the next day. That way, you can use this momentum to have a good
start the next day.
When is the best writing time for you?
- Experiment with different times.
- Different times may be best for different things.
- If you are tired in the evening, use this time for mechanical
things e.g. correcting topographic mistakes, working on figures etc.
- The cool light of morning is often best for putting ideas into
perspective and in order.
Where do you write best.
- It takes concentration to write a paper. Do your writing
somewhere you will not be interrupted. Writing
is like juggling. You have to get all the balls (ideas) into the air (your brain) at the
same time in order to appreciate their interrelationships.
- Writers often find that things flow best in particular places.
Hemingway liked the corner of a coffee house so that he could
watch people and imagine what they were like. Find out the best place for you, the corner
of the library, at home etc.
- View
"Why work doesn't happen at work"
Copyright © 1995
Tutis Vilis
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
University of Western Ontario
London Ontario Canada |
Created 28 Sept 1995
Last updated
10 January 2007
Comments
welcome: tutis.vilis@schulich.uwo.ca |