Interlude: Momentum, Speedbumps, and Verbs
I get a lot of questions about how to be more productive and maintain momentum in writing. The one I hear most often is, "How can I get faster at writing?"
But getting faster is not always about speeding up the process. Sometimes we need to shift our mindset from thinking "What more can I do to be more productive?" to "What less can I do to be more productive?"
In other words, what speed bumps can you remove from your writing process or life to help you write faster?
"A car will travel faster not only if you press the accelerator, but also if you remove the speed bumps." – James Clear
One speed bump that I removed from my writing process was turning off all notifications on my devices so they don't distract me. That one change has really helped me maintain my momentum and productivity.
What speed bumps have you removed from your writing process?
And now onto the weekly round-up...
💌 Round-up
💻 From My Desk
Craft Compelling Aims with Strong Verbs
"Strong verbs add clarity and energy to your aims that spark your reviewer’s curiosity and fuel their excitement. These emotions boost your reviewers’ confidence in your proposed project—enticing them to fund your proposal."
👓 Reading
The Writer's Almost Silver-Bullet: The Verb
"The verb sits comfortably, with little-to-no competition, as the sentence’s source of energy, clarity, and vividness. The verb is the most important part of effective writing, full stop. Verbs allow writers to anticipate and satisfy reader's needs for momentum and meaning."
💬 Quote
"Verbs are the most important of all your tools. They push the sentence forward and give it momentum." – William Zinsser, On Writing Well
❓ Question
What speed bump is slowing down your momentum in writing? And what's one thing you can do to remove the speed bump?
📝 Challenge
Open your most recent draft and highlight every verb in the text (if it's a long document, start with just the first page). Then think about each verb and whether that verb could be stronger.
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
