I also bought a Remarkable for the handwriting feature, but found it more frustrating than helpful. So now I draft on an old Alphasmart Neo I found on ebay for $30. I draft so much faster now. I love it.
As a law school student and having an essay due, finding out I already subconsciously did a lot of these things without realising makes me feel so much better and confident in my writing 💀.
There are other things in here too that I don’t do obviously and will try to learn and I’ll be applying them to my writing.
Thanks a lot for the advice/tips Louise! You’re helping a broke 20 year old law student out here a lot.
Thanks for sharing all this Louise! Appreciate the super practical/logistical suggestions!
My two favorite books on writing (or really creating) that I refer to regularly when I’m feeling like a shit writer are The War of Art (Steven Pressfield) and Big Magic (Liz Gilbert). So good and both broken into tiny chapters you can just flip open to!
how do you shut off all media? Using an app, or do you just go somewhere with no wi-fi? I used to turn off the wi-fi in our house sometimes to reduce distractions but my husband got annoyed
Thank you for your useful tips Louise. Your writing is always engaging, rigourous, witty and elegant. It often feels like a massage for the brain. Not the kind that where you get slathered in oil and doze off, more like the ones that knead all your aching spots mercilessly and leave you feeling awake and inspired.
I just use the limits in Settings>Screen Time on my Mac. It isn't good at only limiting certain websites for some reason, so what I do is only use Twitter on Safari and set a time limit on the whole Safari app. Then I use Chrome as my regular browser (and I never login to Twitter on Chrome).
Very good. One further suggestion: I've only ever got anything done by giving myself permission to fail.
I write on my phone too! I drafted my first 2 books on mobile Google Docs, mostly when I was supposed to be doing something else.
I love the tea in the photo. Your setup looks so proper and British.
actually coffee ;)
🤯
I also bought a Remarkable for the handwriting feature, but found it more frustrating than helpful. So now I draft on an old Alphasmart Neo I found on ebay for $30. I draft so much faster now. I love it.
This was so helpful! Thank you for sharing this!
As a law school student and having an essay due, finding out I already subconsciously did a lot of these things without realising makes me feel so much better and confident in my writing 💀.
There are other things in here too that I don’t do obviously and will try to learn and I’ll be applying them to my writing.
Thanks a lot for the advice/tips Louise! You’re helping a broke 20 year old law student out here a lot.
Thanks for sharing all this Louise! Appreciate the super practical/logistical suggestions!
My two favorite books on writing (or really creating) that I refer to regularly when I’m feeling like a shit writer are The War of Art (Steven Pressfield) and Big Magic (Liz Gilbert). So good and both broken into tiny chapters you can just flip open to!
1. collect research and put it in its own folder on laptop
2. shut off all media so as not to disturb you
3. bang it out and don't stop until done
This is my simple method. The hardest part for me is always how to start a new essay/review/etc. I pace around the room until a good idea strikes me.
how do you shut off all media? Using an app, or do you just go somewhere with no wi-fi? I used to turn off the wi-fi in our house sometimes to reduce distractions but my husband got annoyed
I just close all tabs that have nothing to do with what I'm about to write, and I shut my phone off as well.
I used to write in public spaces, but I no longer do that as it's too distracting.
Thank you for your useful tips Louise. Your writing is always engaging, rigourous, witty and elegant. It often feels like a massage for the brain. Not the kind that where you get slathered in oil and doze off, more like the ones that knead all your aching spots mercilessly and leave you feeling awake and inspired.
haha thanks!
What app do you use to limit your distractions? Freedom? Rescue time?
I just use the limits in Settings>Screen Time on my Mac. It isn't good at only limiting certain websites for some reason, so what I do is only use Twitter on Safari and set a time limit on the whole Safari app. Then I use Chrome as my regular browser (and I never login to Twitter on Chrome).