I wrote 40 books in 4 years pt. 2: my best productivity tips

"set a goal, a reasonable goal, A REASONABLE GOAL" honestly, i laughed but you're right it can't be stressed enough.

Just a stray comment. I'm a piano tuner, and tuned Neil Gaiman's piano while he was living in Santa Fe. His writing set-up was very minimalistic--a card table, a couple of legal pads and some pens. The light was one of those clip on lights you'd use in a garage.

Being competitive with your past self instead of others is so much healthier for your brain!

darkly funny ✅ realistic ✅informative ✅non prescriptive ✅ Glad I found this channel! It feels like having a smarter, funnier creative friend to listen to while I figure out my day

I've done the "second part time job in your free time" thing since 2012, and I'm so exhausted. I'm just going to live like any other human now. I don't care about being a success, I'm happy just to create what I want when I want. It's very freeing to get older sometimes, I think.

21:05 I love how you specified what a break should actually be; something that replenishes or rejuvenates you, and not get yourself even further into that negative spiral “doom-space.” It seems like it should be so obvious but it really isn’t once you’re too much in your head. Everyone else around me is like, “but you were doing nothing this whole time…shouldn’t you feel better?” and I would be like “I…guess?? :(“

I just remembered, I love watching Hello Kitty and other kids shows as a break, because they don't require brain power and I can easily draw during this. It's really a mind cleanser and I think everyone should at least try watching a kids show.

If you have a spouse and/or children you might need to establish that even though you are at home and you are right there... you are AT WORK. Maybe set up a special office so when in there "do not disturb unless house is on fire" or maybe it is special times a day or maybe when you have that particular laptop out. In any case the family needs to respect when you are working.

😂 the computer offering to the river goddess is such a mood. I get the feeling of "something's not quite right here" when writing, recently realized this is something I need to pay attention to. Thanks for sharing!

I'm only half way your video, but I need to add something that made all the difference for me: don't get hung up on daily targets. There will be days when I won't write a thing because I'm simply editing, some days when I write very little because I'm half-editing half-writing, days when I either don't write or write very little because I'm fine-tuning the plot or doing some last minute research. Sometimes, the day when I write 3000 words will feel like a waste of time because it feels I've been writing nothing but rubbish, while the day when I wrote 500 words feels great because it feels like gold or I overcame a hurdle in the plot. I ended up realising that monthly goals work much better. I also keep in mind that some months are naturally more productive than others because the year is a set of cycles and some months are just busy-busy (Christmas preparations), while others are smooth sailing (months with lots of bank holidays). Another tip is not to look at the best 'marks' but to see them as records and outliers that may or may not be overcome (I once wrote 5000 words in a day; I don't expect to repeat that feat any time, but it still makes me proud). Focus on your average and how it grows overtime (but don't beat yourself up when life gets in the way or your muse demands you to take a day off and rest your creative muscles).

just want to say that i just discovered you today and you are such a bright light of grounded and true energy. thank you for making these videos and sharing your knowledge.

You are so sweet and realistic, it's so hard to find a youtuber who is just open and honest about everything they do. Thank you so much for your lovely videos and tips!

10:20 me, using this video to procrastinate on writing: surprised pikachu face

One thing that helps me a lot is Scrivener. It does an amazing job of keeping all your notes, scenes and everything all together. It helps for outlining, keeping notes on characters and so on. It probably doubles my productivity all on its own.

Thank you for using "fun" instead of "better" 😊

I used to be so bad at time management. What helped me was setting up a digital calendar and basically treating my day like an appointment book. I block out times of day for thing that need to be done daily and add more in as needed. It's helped me establish new routines and see how much time I'm actually wasted doom scrolling. Also, the cats being cats at the end 😂😂😂

Two things from another author nerd: 1. A lot of the tips you give are similar to Michael Moorcock's 3-day novel method. It's kind of insane but it's hard to argue with the books he wrote using the method 2. The Chrono Trigger reference made me literally lol, well done

has spent the last hour looking at the Freewrite Traveler and chewing my lower lip

I LOVE your videos. Thank you for these tips and your wisdom. It's my first anniversary (next week) of being a published author. I've published 8 books and have plans for more next year. I am now a full time author. Never saw my life taking this turn (at age 46) and it's been quite a journey. But now, I can't see myself doing anything else.

The Chrono Trigger easter egg took me by surprise! Love your videos!