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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/27662
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I'm currently a student and I write non-fiction every day. I've committed myself to writing 1000 words every day, and I am successfully doing this.

However, I'm trying to improve a particular aspect of my writing process: almost every day that I write, I write in " **bursts**" of about **1 to 10 minutes of highly productive writing** , during which I'm almost writing non-stop. Then there are these " **dips**" of about **15 or more minutes, during which I am literally writing not a single word**.

I know that it is unreasonable to expect to write in perfect uniformity exactly the same amount of words per minute. I absolutely don't have a "purity" goal like that.

Nevertheless, **I feel that I could really be much more productive, qualitatively and quantitatively, if I could at least develop good habits to diminish these dips** (as much as possibly anyway). Those dips also are sometimes a bit stressful, since I'm generally kind of "stuck in my head" at those times, rather than relaxed and in the flow. But that is only a secondary problem, since I'm mainly concerned with improving my productivity and quality of writing.

Generally what happens during these dips is that I don't know exactly what to write (though I always have a vague idea), and then kind of get "stuck in my head" about what to write. **Often this results in me just "zoning out" without focusing on my writing.**

**What kind of practical techniques or practical advice has helped you to improve your writing process in this regard?**

**Edit** : I am already using the pomodoro technique, where I write 50 minutes, and then meditate 10 minutes, then write 50 minutes again.

Original score: 1