How to Build Writing Momentum
Like any other skill, writing requires consistent practice. Besides writing and reading every day-yes, every day-one of my tips for building writing momentum is to schedule a particular time of day (or night) to write. By scheduling it you can make writing a habit and get your brain focused on writing mode. When you give your writing the attention it deserves and make it a priority, it’s easier to keep moving forward on your story.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is just sit down and write and see what comes out on the page. When you over think you can possibly miss out on great parts of a story, that’s why I decided to do my next writing prompt as a one thousand words in an hour (1K1H) challenge.
This was the writing prompt: You come to this door. What is waiting for you on the other side?
Here’s the first draft of my short story: White Room…
A white room was ahead of me. With no one around, I only knew that this was no ordinary place. If you were in my shoes, I don’t think you would be smiling at this moment of time. There wasn’t any raucous in the air. Instead, there was only the sound of peace.
Now, look! I am only fifteen years old with probably only having a little bit of my imagination left. You see, I am not like you or your friends. I just feel like I’m different. A lot of things you can say were going on. This is how I felt with my ideas of how I got in this out of this world place. I saw a door of our kind, but that was the only thing that I really saw.
A million thoughts were swirling in my mind. Will there be candy? Will there be toys? Will there be money? This was all I could think about. I probably could’ve won the lottery too. Now, as I stepped closer, I felt different from before. I don’t know how you call this “different.” It’s just very peculiar to me. I still couldn’t see anyone in this room. It frightened me. I wanted to go home. I wanted to grow up. I wanted to just leave this extraordinary place. At last I did see people.
As I turned around I saw many beings I’ve never dreamed or believed existed before. I am in a no religious state right now. I only thought I have died to come to this place from my weary night. I was the first person of this line of beings. As the door opened right in front of me, light was shown ahead. This light almost illuminated the whole room. What a sight!
As I walked in, I saw a pleasant world. With the smell of the flowers, pumpernickel, and the pine trees, I only knew then that I actually was in a beautiful place of desire. I saw butterflies from the distance ahead of me and a rolling stream along the dirt path I was walking in. In my mind, I knew that this place was heaven to me.
This was who I am. A girl who passed away at the age of fifteen from suicide. I didn’t have the chance to live a beautiful life like you and your friends. I didn’t live a perfect life with greatness and triumph. I only lived with dishonesty and with no honor. I got bullied from school and hardly had any friends at my young age. I didn’t want to live my life, or get married, or have children. I only wanted this misery to fade away, and I only wanted you to see, that living your life, is more than living your misery of death.
That’s why I am writing this to you right now in hopes that someday you will visit in this part of the universe. Heaven. Just live like it’s heaven.
As I found this note in my bedroom, I only knew one thing. I am a blessed person. I have friends, a family to appreciate and love, and I have that journey of living life to the very fullest. I just turned fifteen years old today, and I love the age of grief. I still have that freedom of a child and that freedom of becoming an adult.
My name is Sarah Willows, and today I am going to live my life as if it was my last like the girl who wrote this note. I, for one, know who wrote this. A being of the same kind as me, a being with no one to love or to hope for, a being who has a good heart. That’s why I am the one who wrote: Heaven. Just live like it’s heaven.
Final tally: 642 words in an hour; not too bad for my first try at the 1K1H challenge!
Another tip to build writing momentum as important as scheduling your writing is having a place to write. I was able to close my bedroom door and close out the distractions of TV, my parents, and my three dogs to focus on getting as far as I could in the time I allowed for this prompt. So find your special writing place; space where as soon as you sit down you’re inspired and undistracted.
Imagine how quickly you can get your book written if you sit and write and edit later, compared to being slowed down by it wanting it to be perfect on the first draft. Trust me, it won’t be perfect anyway so use writing momentum to get your thoughts down. Make sure to check back for my upcoming post on tips for editing a rough draft.
Katrina Kusa is a 13-year-old children’s book author. Her first book The Kingdom of the Lizards is now available at Barnes & Noble!