5 Writing Tips From the Finals Week Craze

 

It's that time of year - the final push to get everything turned in and every exam completed and all the junk out of your dorm room. 

Well, maybe this no longer applies to you, but well...it still does to me, so this is the post you're stuck with. You're welcome.

5 Writing Tips We Can Learn from the Finals Week Craze:

• Time is limited. Nothing makes this hit home like a week full of deadlines and a never-ending to-do list! I don't really follow this very well all most of the time, but you can really do a lot when you sit down and focus. The #1K1HR (1,000 words in 1 hour) self-imposed sessions can sometimes help! And I bet once you're a published author and you have deadlines thrust upon you, you relive those finals-week days! (Is this true, fellow BB authors??)

• Checklists are nice. It's so easy to forget all those little things you have to get done during the day. Make a checklist! It feels good to check things off. How does this fit with writing? Well, you can make a checklist for plot elements (etc.) you want to remember to include in your story, or you can make a weekly word-count checklist. Whatever you need it for! 

• Sleep is good. This is coming from the queen of night owls, so take this advice with a grain of salt. But really, when I actually follow through on this advice, I think it does help to work on papers, assignments, and writing of any kind in the morning (or whenever) after a good night's sleep. It sounds good, anyway!

• Perseverance is required. Don't give up! You can do it! Get those words on paper! (I think we can all use a little pep-talk, right? This week is going to go by too fast...!!!)

• Friends and family are valuable. While work (or writing) is a priority, for sure, I think it's still important to make the time to be with those you love. That way you won't resent your work/writing time for stealing you away from your loved ones (and resentment does not bode well for focus and overall attitude).

All of this has been said before, so I'm not going to pretend that I'm being original. We all know that time goes by too fast, sleep is a necessity, and all of that. These are the tips everyone gives when it comes to writing or any task that has to be done, really. But it can't hurt to be reminded every once-in-a-while, right?

So now I'm off to bed to get some sleep, which will hopefully give me a good start to the first official day of finals week. See ya'll on the other side of graduation (Saturday)!