Tag: focus

How to stop constantly re-editing your work, and focus on writing.

Posted on by Brett Jackson

One of the biggest issues I see, is when people try to write a book, and they spot a mistake, so they fix it. And then… they spot another mistake, and they fix that too, then… a third problem, and something else to tweak in chapter 4, and back to chapter 1, and so on and so on. Before you know it, there is a whole new story being written, loads of stress, mistakes and plot holes everywhere, and the cat is clawing at you trying to go out… well, probably not that last part.

So… what can you do about it? I’ve experienced this exact same issue, and this is how Indeqlt with it… by carrying on with writing and focusing on what’s next, instead of fixating what you have already done.

Cut your book into chapters… make a folder marked Done. 

What you have, should look like this…

Figure 1: Make a “Done” folder, ready for when you have finished each chapter.

Now, every time you finish a chapter, drop it into the folder marked done. It should then look like this.

Figure 2: Contents of “Done” folder – all completed, ready to be edited, once the book is completed.

This creates more focus and less stress from being distracted.

Figure 3: You can now focus on on writing chapter 7, knowing that Chapters 1 to 6 are tucked away

Hope this helps.