Erin Templeton-- The Rule of Two Hundred
Kathleen Fitzpatrick-- The First Half Hour of the Morning
Erin Templeton's short piece is from The Chronicle of Higher Education's column ProfHacker. Profhacker writers share tips and reflections on productivity in academic life, with a special focus on writing. Templeton's piece aligns with much of what you'll find on this site and elsewhere. At the stage of drafting, what matters is producing a first draft of any quality. In Robert Boice's terms, "constancy and moderation" matters more than sheer bulk of prose. That is, it can be more important for overall productitivity to produce something each day, pulling the thread through, than it is to set aside large chunks of time when you'll produce several thousand words. Many writers like Templeton, set a lower limit they stick (non-stop writing can help you meet this limit), such as two hundred words per day, which they might complete even in the last few minutes before bed. Notice the emphasis she puts on suspending judgement when you produce this text. As the latin proverb, Nulla dies sine linea -- Never a day without a line. This is one way to produce that line.