Book reviews

Being a highly prolific writer is sneered at in some circles. Some people think there’s a trade-off between quality and quantity. To do truly ‘great work’ – you can’t do very much of it. Science disagrees. Most of the world’s best writers, creatives and innovators – are also hugely prolific, productive people.

I don’t have an infectious disease but if I did, I imagine telling people you have one garners much the same reaction as telling people you’ve written a short comedy film. There’s normally some initial interest – even enthusiasm – but then a yawning chasm of social awkwardness opens as people think I might expect them to like the film or even worse – find it funny.

At the time of writing, the top two trending articles on Buzzfeed are: ‘15 Struggles You’ll Only Understand If You’re Obsessed With Cereal’ and ‘The 15 Emotional Stages of Mobile Phone Ownership’. It’s safe to say that Cal Newport, author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, hasn’t read either.

Productivity is about more than getting stuff done – it’s about doing your best work, living your best life, and defining success based on what matters most to you. So says productivity coach and bestselling author Grace Marshall. As a recovering perfectionist who’s not naturally organised Grace’s approach to writing productively is honest and grounded in everyday reality.

Advice on writing productivity often focuses on scheduling time to write. But having an unpredictable day doesn’t mean you should give up writing. Embrace the chaos and learn to write spontaneously.

David Quantick has spent 25 years writing everything. Poems, novels, scripts, best man’s speeches, top TV comedies like Veep, The Thick of It and The Day Today and of course, slogans for underpants. All of this means that he’s well qualified to have written a book called How to Write Everything - a highly entertaining romp through David’s writing life and a book that’s full of tips for the aspiring writer. So, how does he write everything himself?

I spoke to a group of writers about their collaborative writing project The 900 Club. Despite having individual take on facial hair fashions and literary styles, they have a shared approach to writing productivity and a model to kick-start other writing groups into action.

I first came across Nir Eyal when researching behavior change theory. I was interested in the psychology of habits and how writers could use technology to improve their writing practice. Nir’s research into habit-forming technology has been a blueprint for many product designers – as well as providing a valuable moral test to avoid manipulating users. His blog NirandFar.com and book Hooked are essential reading for those interested in how products change our behavior.

In the introduction to his best selling book Daily Rituals, Mason Currey writes how for a year and a half, he got up at 5.30am, brushed his teeth, made a cup of coffee and sat down to write about how some of the greatest minds in the past 100 years approached the same task - that being, to carve out the time to do their work and organise their schedules in order to be creative and productive.

Instead of trying to create the perfect goal why not set goals you can actually achieve? Here’s a technique to set small goals – ones so trivial and insignificant they appear ridiculous – that can result in great achievements.