Micro Writing is the art of writing in small, sometimes tiny, chunks throughout the day. This is the polar opposite of the 10,000 word marathon session. If you have lot of spare time, then of course sitting down and cranking out anywhere from 1000 words up is great.

But what if you don’t have that kind of time?

Enter Micro Writing. You simply write small amounts of words whenever you get half a chance. Instead of setting a daily goal, you set a session goal. I suggest something like 100 words. You can tap out 100 words in less than five minutes. Got a break between calls? Awesome, write 100 words. Baby stopped crying for a moment? Awesome, write 100 words*

You do this with higher numbers as well, although you’ll need longer stretches of time. If you want to hit four thousand words in a day (which is a lot if you aren’t a full time writer) then sitting down and trying to do it all in one hit will leave you chewing your own foot in frustration.

It won’t taste good.

Write 1000 words before breakfast. Two lots of 1000 during the day and 1000 after dinner. It’s still going to be a big day, but four lots of 1000 words is not the behemoth of a task that 4000 words is.

There is a downside to this style of writing though, and that’s the break you get in the flow of words. If you’ve ever re read something you’ve written over several sessions and found it stilted and jerky then you know what I mean. To combat this I suggest taking a run up. Re read your last sentence and you hit the end of it simply write what you would have like to read next. It isn’t a complete solution to the problem, and you may need to even things out  in a later edit, but it helps.

Give Micro Writing a try the next time you have a full day. You’ll be surprised how much you can get done.

* NB: make sure baby is okay first.

Tags: advice, goal setting, writer's block