200 Words: How to Be a Prolific Writer in 5 Minutes a Day: The Unfocused Writer's Guide, #1

By David Macpherson

How do I become a prolific writer? 

 

Simple. You write.  

 

But writing is hard. It is intimidating. I need more details. 

 

Okay. Here it is. We are about to give away the entire book. 

 

Write 200 words a day. That's it. Just write 200 words. It will take you under ten minutes to do that. You do that every day. You will be prolific. You will be writing and you will have a blast. 

 

So do I need to buy this book now? 

 

Not if you don't want to. But it goes into greater detail and it is kind of a fun read. So you should pick up the book. Give it a try. Read the book. Write 200 words a day. Have fun.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Macpherson
• Release date: Aug 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201436599

Book preview

The Entire Book in 200 Words (You Don’t Have to Read Further)

Here is the entire book in one paragraph. For those who don’t have time to even read a short book, as this is, here is the total information given. Not a summary. If you read this, you are set. You don’t need me anymore. Here it is. Write 200 words a day. That’s it. That will take you five or ten minutes. You can find the time. I am writing this before I take my shower in the morning. That’s all you need. This one paragraph. Make it part of your routine. You brush your teeth. You wash the breakfast dishes. You write 200 words. It’s not a lot of words, but if you do it every day, you will have yourself a body of work.

And that’s it. That’s the book. You can go now. See you next time when I explain how to replace your car’s brakes in the space of a three minute song.

You can leave the book now. But if you want to understand why it works for me, and why this mind set can be a good thing for you, I can go into greater detail. Not that many details, sure. I mean, no matter what I say, the gist of the entire book is just this: Do a little every day. Write 200 words a day.

That’s it. Everything else is filler. Wonderfully witty and effervescent filler, but filler all the same.

Some Assumptions and Ground Rules Going Forward

There are a few things about me and what I am saying that will vary your mileage on this. If you are coming at your work differently than me, then some of this might not be worthwhile. For me, when someone tells me that in the beginning of the book, I am more curious to read further. I think there is a lot of benefit in reading about methods that you might never do. If I read something and disagree with it, I make myself examine my beliefs and methods. (But that just might be me)

So here are some assumptions I have when giving the advice in the book.

1- I am mostly a first draft kind of writer. There is a lot of debate about this. There are those who write in first draft and call the work done. Others will write multiple drafts. Some will edit as they move forward. Some have outlines set up in advance and know mostly what is going to occur in each chapter. There are others who are called pantsers and they are writing without a net. Dean Wesley Smith calls it writing into the dark. Mr. Smith does write with an outline, but he writes it only after he wrote the chapter. This is a great way to keep the plot and the characters in mind as he writes forward without a plan in his head.

Though I am a pantser, I am even further gone in my lack of planning. I don’t keep a running outline. I just moved on in writing and go wherever my fancy goes. I have been inspired by the amazing writer Cesar Aira. He takes first draft to the extreme. He calls his method, The Flight Forward. The idea is that he writes the length he writes for the