1. The outline - it's not your English teacher's outline
Your first tool is an outline. Whatever you're writing, whether it's an article, an essay, an advertisement, or a book, start with a simple list. this list is your outline.
List down the page, leaving a big gap between them: Introduction; Conclusion. Those two points are the start and the end of your list. Now just add more items between the Introduction and Conclusion as you think of them.
Write this list/ outline as soon as someone gives you a writing project to do, or you decide on a project. If you only have three items on your outline, that's fine. Carry the list around with you, do a little research, and add more items.
2. Zero drafts - splashing your thoughts onto paper
In a real sense, writing is a performance art. You write TODAY. You can't write in the future. You also write whatever it is that you write TODAY - some days your writing will flow, and it seems brilliant to you.
Other days you stare at your computer screen and words won't come at all. This is because you're cutting off the flow of words. You're making demands on yourself, and because of the demands you're making, you're mute.
Professional writers spend their lives writing whatever comes. They just write whatever words come to them. They've learned that you can't write in any other way: just write whatever words appear in your mind on a particular day.
So your next write-more tool, after your outline, is your zero draft, which is splashing your thoughts onto paper. Accept whatever thoughts you have.
A thought which looks like junk today, could and will kick start a new train of thought and productivity tomorrow.
3. Mind maps - visual keys to building your writing skills
Your right brain - the creative, imaginative side of your brain - can't think in words. It "thinks" in symbols. So mind maps engage both the left logical side of your brain, and the creative side of your brain.
I like to use colored inks and pencils for my mind maps, and I doodle them on any handy piece of paper.
There are many books on how to mind map. Use your mind maps as a tool, and doodle them without thinking about what you're drawing. You're not trying to create a work of art, you're writing. If you let yourself go and relax when you're drawing a mind map, you'll find that when you write, your writing will flow.
Mind maps are fantastic tools for effortless writing.
4. Questions - ask yourself questions and answer them
The final tool you can use to write more is questions. When you want to write, make a list of questions. Just write as many questions about the topic as you can think of.
The beauty of asking yourself questions is that you don't have to answer them - asking questions opens your mind, and clears your mind too. The questions give you space to think about your topic, and a sense of control.
So there you have four tools which will help you to write more. There are many more tools of course, but these four simple tools will help you to write with more confidence and boost your productivity. Use them.
