The secret to writing 50,000 words in 30 days

Want to know how to write 50,000 words fast? Throw some of them away.

I’m not joking. The essence of writing 50,000 words in a month for National Novel Writing Month – or of writing 2000 words to a features editor deadline, or indeed of writing anything to time, is not getting stuck. And the biggest trap for writers – the biggest sink-hole for productivity – is when you end up wrestling with a recalcitrant passage. It just doesn’t flow right and nothing you do seems to unsnag it. But it’s a thousand words and that’s part of your word count.

My advice – throw the duff text away and start again. You won’t regret it. One of the biggest traps when re-casting is revising older text. It always frames and shapes what you are trying to do. Better to re-start with a blank page. An hour spent writing fresh…