Disorganized work is organized work just better.
Many people believe that to be a productive writer, you must follow a strict routine. But what if I told you that disorganization could be the key to level up your writing productivity?
What if the ‘perfect story,’ ‘perfect routine,’ and ‘published works’ are all just misconceptions?
Because none of these things are required to make you an author.
I spent the last year thinking I had to be perfect to be a writer. I had a rigid routine, outlined every chapter, and yet I was stuck. It took me over a year to finally realize that you need disorganization, imperfection, and even the occasional ‘I have no idea what I’m doing’ moment to truly get the work done.
This means as an aspiring writer, instead of cutting everything to the bone and streamlining your process like your life depends on it, you need to allow yourself to lose time here. You need to let go of the rules, be flexible, and embrace the fact that you’re still learning what works for you.
All in the name of eventually becoming more productive in the future.
How disorganized work can fuel your writing productivity
You might not write as effortlessly as an expert, have the right routine, your environment might not be perfect, but does that make you a bad writer?
Not at all. In fact, that’s how it is to be a beginner.
Hell, that’s how it is for me, even after I have written four novel drafts and published two short stories.
Everything had to be so clinically clean, structured, and organized that I felt like I cheated on a partner whenever I went out of bounds.
However, this strict adherence to structure eventually led to burnout, and my passion for writing disappeared at the speed of light. It was only when I let go of that rigid approach that my writing truly began to evolve. That’s when I learned how flexible, disorganized work could spark a revolution in my writing
How my hatred for rigid structure sparked a writing productivity revolution
When I started my first novel, I created an outline. It was nice and clean and told me every little piece of thing I needed to add.
It was great, but it felt so unnatural, yet I didn’t do a thing about it until I met editing.
Novel editing was something new for me. I had edited my short stories, but it was only a couple of pages, so I thought I could use the same technique.
Man was I wrong.
I was reminded why I hated editing during my short stories. It felt like the boring tasks kept coming and I couldn’t keep it up. Until I threw the playbook out of the window and started doing the tasks in the order I wanted to.
Which is exactly what separates disorganized work from organized work. It allows you to take your list of tasks, look at it and follow the tasks that fit you the best.
“But Jack, that’s just counterintuitive.”
I understand, but even though the name might suggest it, disorganized work is not sporadic or disconnected work. You still need to be disciplined, but most importantly after having lost countless days to thought when I should have been writing, I don’t want to see you make the same mistake.
Yes, it might not be as cute, and you might feel like a fool, but allow yourself to wear the beginner hat.
It’s a reminder to allow yourself to figure out what works for you while allowing small wins to motivate you to cut your work into something that fits you better.
How a sea of choices is limiting your creative productivity
Choice. It’s the limiter of a writer.
I know it seems confusing, but it’s actually quite simple.
As an aspiring author, there’s a sea of feelings and thoughts to deal with. It’s a completely new field and one you might not have any knowledge of how to navigate. It’s likely that you have done a bit of research and found about 50 different ways to do things.
50 different ways just to write?
I know, it’s like testing every product at the store and not buying anything.
A waste of time – And that’s why choice is the limiter of a writer.
You spent all your brain power trying to navigate the sea of writing when you should be sailing the sea of productivity.
Breaking free from choice boosted my writing
When I started, I only knew one thing: I wanted to write.
I knew I was decent at it, and I had enjoyed it during my formative years, but this felt different. To write a novel, that was something only special people I did and so I researched what the professional did. And sesh. This is just a list of some of the things I found:
- Follow a strict writing session daily
- Write in a quiet office
- Experiment with environment
- Write with music
- Write without music
- Create an outline
- Don’t stop until reaching 100,000 words
I spent hours researching countless writing strategies, only to end up with a list of 100 bullet points that left me feeling more lost than ready to write.
Where was I supposed to start?
It was information overload. It felt like I was preparing for a marathon, only to trip over my own shoelaces before I even started running. And it became clear: choice was the limiter of my writing.
The more I tried to follow every tip and every “must-do” for writers, the less I actually wrote. I found myself paralyzed by decisions – how to write, where to write, when to write – and none of it moved me closer to finishing a draft.
My mind raced trying to figure out the choices, leaving about 2% for writing – not exactly a recipe for productivity – right?
It became crystal clear: I had overcomplicated things. I needed to reset and simplify.
Hitting the ‘new writer here’ reset button and optimize your workflow
It took me about two weeks before the wick of my candle burned out. It was a tragedy, and I wouldn’t recommend you do the same. But if you are on your way down the same path, don’t blame yourself.
It’s the natural part of being a new writer. If you are starting out as a writer, take your large list of choices, “select all”, then hit delete.
It’s quiet, isn’t it? Isn’t it a breath of fresh air.
Feel it all the way down into your lungs… because it’s time to do work.
(Now if your large list of tasks was due to writer’s block, don’t fear. I’m an expert in dealing with it and have shared my experience on how to overcome it.)
Instead of the large list, pull out a piece and write down the 3 most important things for you. The things that’ll make you stay consistent. For example, when I started this was mine:
- Write for 40 minutes daily (I listened to music albums that was about 40 minutes, so it was easy to measure)
- Write in my office
- Don’t focus on the structure
- Write at least 2200 words (This wasn’t as serious, but merely a challenge to myself to improve my word production)
It can be anything and should be. As long as you don’t force your creativity to fit inside a box.
Why freedom is the key to productive writing goals
Ah yes, the good old freedom.
Our lovely friend.
We all smile when it’s there and we are ready to riot, when it’s taken from us.
It’s the same with writing. If you are just starting out, you might not have noticed its full power yet. Personally, I didn’t realize it before I started the editing phase, but this doesn’t mean it won’t apply to you.
Because what freedom represents in writing is not just the freedom to write whatever you want. It’s the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want. It’s a freedom to boost you writing productivity and it’s usually something new writers forget all about.
It’s a common misconception because writing is such a complex task that we just follow in line with other writers and forget that we have the possibility to choose whatever we want for ourselves.
How embracing freedom transformed my writing habits
When I started, I thought going from top to bottom was the way.
I would go through my novel and create a list of tasks I thought needed improvements.
This took a couple of days, but in the end I had about two pages of improvements. Then, because it seemed logical, I just started from the top.
It went okay in the beginning, but by the time I got to the 4th point and had edited the same paragraphs four times, I realized something was up.
This method of mine wasn’t working. Or it, at least, wasn’t very time efficient, I thought.
But it was the way I knew, so I continued until about the 7-8th task. At this point I hated it and knew I needed to do something different.
Instead of doing what I thought seemed logical and what people recommended, I started working based on how I felt. Every time, before starting a task, I’d go through them and ask myself: “Which one feels right?”
And I never looked back.
I stopped worrying about sticking to a structured process, and allowed myself to make mistakes, to go off-script, and to let my creativity lead the way.
It was wonderful.
My productivity was on a whole new level and suddenly writing 90,000 words was no problem. And I’m here to tell you, the faster you recognize freedom, the faster you grow as an aspiring writer.
Writing productivity your key to finishing a draft
Whether you’re still writing your first draft or already is at the editing phase, it’s important to take a look at your writing system. How are you doing things? Are the system made by you or for you? There’s a major difference.
I know, you’re a new writer and it’s difficult to compete against a veteran with years of experience, but you shouldn’t take on evidence, just becuase.
There’s nothing with getting guidance, but you need to reflect how it fits into your work.
If someone tells you to write for 45 minutes, but you find it difficult, then you need to change it. Or If someone says to write with an outline, but you find it more natural to write from the hip.
Then you know what to do.
Whatever it might be.
This is your journey and you need to build a productivity system that focuses on your writing.
Why ‘Freedom of choice’ makes you a more productive writer.
A lot of the writing tips around the internet are about starting as a writer. I have mine as well, but in my experience, writing is the easiest thing. Editing is where people give up.
But you can’t really look at one without the other, which is something I got smacked in the face with when I believed I only had to focus on the writing.
By combining the choice with freedom you’re capable of turning something negative into something positive.
With freedom of choice, as I so perfectly have called it, you’re capable of avoiding this by allowing yourself to choose and pick your tasks as you see fit.
I wrote my first draft, believing I had to abide by choices, because its what writers did.
I started editing by going from top to bottom because it was the most logical thing.
Both were a living hell, but as I mentioned earlier, I started my journey with an unknowledgeable mind.
Now I won’t give my freedom away from anything, even if it costs me a few weeks of extra work and neither should you.
I know it’s complex and exciting to start as a writer, but you cannot get lost in the “just following what others did” because it’s the easiest thing to do. You need to allow yourself freedom of choice and create a process that’ll give you the most joy.
Because believe it or not, once you get the train moving forward, the universe will help you keep it going. And suddenly, the task that before seemed so difficult, will start to soften up and be manageable.
Use disorganized work to conquer writing productivity.
The constant need to make everything so organized, it was crazy how much it slowed me down.
A simple mistake I won’t make again. One I don’t want you to make, which is why I’m sharing this advice: Don’t be strict on the order, give yourself freedom of choice, and your journey through the editing phase will turn out better.
And if you aren’t there yet, I understand you might not think it applies to you, but it does. If the writing feels difficult or you aren’t sure what words to use, just use or do something.
It’s a weird system, one which I can’t truly explain how it works, but I’m not complaining. I’m getting things done, I’m improving, and I’m having the time of my life and that’s all we really need as writers – right?
That’s a wrap for you today.
What have you tried to get rid of the rigid structure and find your way in writing? Share your struggles or breakthroughs in the comments or send me an email. I’d love to know your story.
Until next time – Hope you have a productive and creative day.
Your writing buddy,
Jack