Hello everyone!
I started writing a novel a few months ago. In the beginning, I could hardly write a few hundred words each day as I was new and didn't know anything about writing at that time. I read books related to it and asked other authors, and eventually, I got better at writing. At least, I can write one chapter a day now. I am writing Fan-Fic, and still, it takes five to seven hours to complete one chapter. I am adding some new characters, places, and stories to the original novel, to challenge myself, but it is Fan-Fic and shouldn't take this much time.

I think there is potential that I can write fast, but the problem is, I don't know how. So I would like to request all fellow writers to share their experience and any suggestions which can help everyone else for writing, including myself, too.

Thank you!
Check out my novel if you have time.
https://www.webnovel.com/book/12286043505200605/System%3A-Harry-The-Harem-lord

    Hi there buddy!
    The thing about your writing is nothing new for a beginner as this is your first time in writing. But as you said that you have the potential to fasten your writing speed; for that, you need to think about what you expect from the new chapter. Rather than wasting your time during writing, you should just make a flowchart in your mind how you want things to happen in the new chapter. It will help you in writing fast. I hope it helps.

      I think you've hit the writer's block. Take rest for a few days and then resume.

        great_gamer If you're spending those five to seven hours as one chunk I can see why the going is slow. Basically you want to avoid doing anything as mentally strenious as writing for more than an hour at a time.

        Sure, the writing session can be three hours, but that has to include breaks.

        Seven hours, even including breaks, is just brutal. I've done that maybe a dozen times during five years of writing. Just thinking about doing it every day gives me a headache :D

        Another thing is environment. That one is individual, so I won't even try to suggest a 'best one'. I will, however, suggest that you experiment with the setting for your own writing. A café, at home in total silence, listening to music, in a park, etc. Sooner or later you'll find the setting that suits you best. A good setting does wonders to your writing.

            That's exactly my problem as well. But I'm used to writing or doing stuff for large chuncks of time. (Which is pretty bad in terms of time management) >0</

              Okay, first buckle your seatbelt because this will be long. As an author that had the same obstacle as you have now, I empathize with you so much that I will share all my secrets. (Don't tell anybody else LOL!)

              So here are my tips that worked for me;
              1.) Make lists, MANY LISTS. Flowcharts of your story, list of characters with their role plus backgrounds also their descriptions, lists of possible lines you could use that just pops out of your mind in times inappropriate, etc. Make sure to organize it. It's okay if it's an organized mess. Mine is like that too, as long as I know where that particular thing is written then all is safe.

              2.) Outline your story. This, I always do. The best way to start is to know how it ends. By doing this, you can connect all the important points you made at the beginning to your end, and minimize plotholes. Which will be noticed by your readers, no matter what genre you write.

              3.) Look for inspiration. When I write action scenes, I listen to songs that have more bass. When I write a sad chapter, I watch pets dying because that always makes me cry. (Don't judge me. I am perfectly insane. I meant, sane. Tehe!) Look for things that get you in the mood to write the feelings needed to be expressed in your chapter.

              4.) Aim to finish the book, not the chapter. Every chapter I write, I always think about the whole book in its entirety. What does this mean, you ask? Well, it means that one chapter is not just a chapter for this scene to happen, or that scenes to happen BUT for this scene to happen BECAUSE of this previous or soon to happen scenes. You create the chapter with a reason and a purpose. This will lessen filler chapters, which I try to eliminate from my work. But if you like that then go ahead and ignore me. (I am so redundant with the word scene. I fail as an author. (ToT))

              5.) Write because you are free to do it not because your readers are pressuring you. BUT BE RESPONSIBLE too. I know how bad it feels to be pressured to write this, to make this, to finish this, to answer that, and blablablah. Your readers will always want more updates, so calm down and breathe. Write it calmly and don't try to overthink of the criticism.

              6.) TRY to think as you are your own character. I do this a lot. My story involves an orphan girl, so I think about things like, 'If I was an orphan without any love, what would I do?' In acting, we call this method acting. They become the role they are tasked to be. In writing, well, I don't know what it is called, but I call this Empathy. LOL.

              7.) REST. If nothing comes to your mind, take a break, have a KitKat. LOL. Enter your zen, organize your thoughts, and relax. If I ever have writer's block, I yoga it out then meditate about my story from the beginning to the end without any machines that cause me to be blind from radiation. Find the activity that makes you calm. Maybe listening to music, perhaps?

              8.) Take my advice with a grain of salt. You are the author, and not all authors are the same. We think and feel differently so my techniques may not work with you just as some may find my advice useful, so DO YOU, Dude/Dudette.

              You can unfasten your seatbelt now.
              Thank you! Happy writing!

                "Oh, someone with the same problems? Maybe, This Fish could get some tips with him!"

                Enters thread and sees

                My writing speed is slow, i make a few hundred words each day.

                Leaves
                Sits at the corner
                Starts crying fish tears

                  Lady_Liah
                  Thank you. Took your advice and it helped. I shall continue to make flow charts/bullet points. >3</

                    Lady_Liah Damn! You and I think alike. It's like words coming out of my mouth. By the way, I really like your book. You are a great writer.

                      Sapphire_963 It's alright. Every new writer faces this kind of challenges in the beginning. You can do it.

                          Lady_Liah Thank you so much! Really, I got many complex things straight with your tips. I think it will help me in the long run too. Once again, thanks!

                              Newbie here as well. The first time I tried writing a story since I have strong inspiration, it went well at first, I was able to write four chapters in a day... After that my enthusiasm faded a lot. It's quite hard. For me, the greatest challenge is to always find the mood to write. Because if I am in the mood, ideas just seem to rush into my mind. Maybe that's what inspiration is. If I'm not in the mood or don't have inspiration, days will pass with my notepad empty. Haha.

                                FallenBlue
                                The best cure for this is an outline.
                                When I was in college, I used to start writing stories and give up after reaching a certain point. I call this a Burn Out; meaning you had so much drive to do it, and you did it so fast that the fire inside just burned itself out. Writing is like dating, you plan your approach when you ask for a date, you make effort to show your love, and then you continue to do it every day.
                                Like love, writing needs passion to start, but unlike love, it needs careful and detailed planning to reach the end. Like love, writing needs effort to finish, but unlike love, you control everything.
                                So plan as much as you can. Write the first chapter if your hands are truly itching to do so, then plan the next ten chapters. Write chapter 2, then plan another ten chapters ahead.
                                Now that I’ve written almost 40 unfinished long novels, and have only finished 2 of them (still not shared) and writing the third currently, I realized how important it is to see the end before making the beginning. Outline; a writer’s husband. 😂
                                Have a wonderful day!

                                    Lady_Liah has some really good advice, and once you do know what you want to write for the chapter, there are some tricks you can do to speed up the process of physically writing/typing (as in you have a scene in your mind but can't get the words down).

                                    I will start by saying that I have a problem of re-reading my previous sentences during the writing process (at least fifteen times for every sentence). This actually takes me out of the gear of writing and into the gear of editing because I also always fiddle with them. This slows my writing process a lot. It is also superfluous because when I read my stuff the following day, I'm going to change it anyhow. So, what to do?

                                    Write and let those ugly first sentences stay for a while. Once you have written what you had wanted to write, proofread it to make sure you wrote down what you meant to say (sometimes I accidentally leave out an important word, which might be my unique typing problem). Then, take a break, or better yet, come back to it another day (the longer the better). With fresh eyes, edit.

                                    This has helped me tremendously (idk if this will work for you since it's under the assumption you edit as you write).

                                    Here's an exercise that might help:

                                    First close your eyes then start typing. Type whatever words come to your mind when you are forming your scenes and sentences. If you make spelling mistakes, that's ok. It's still understandable. If you write half a sentence then forget what you write, just enter some blank spaces and begin the next (or same) sentence starting with a capital letter. Later you can clear up the mistakes. If you find yourself opening your eyes to read the sentences, you can also cover the screen/monitor with a piece of paper or light fabric. If you forget your place in the scene, peeking to jog your memory is perfectly fine.

                                    Then edit the crap out of it so that it's understandable. Remove the parts you don't like, expand on the ones you love (or make a note of what you want to expand on), and shuffle the sentence/scene orderings so that it roughly flows properly.

                                    The result should be a rough draft in need of actual editing (for another day or after a long break)

                                    For me, this doubles the speed at which I write/type, but at the sacrifice of making the initial editing take more time (by initial editing, I mean the editing that creates a first draft, not the editing to polish the first draft).

                                    FYI: I don't do this all the time. I mainly do it to stop myself from re-reading previous sentences when I discover myself slipping back into my old habit. I also find it pretty mentally draining once I go for a while. I think the longest I have ever done it for was about two to three hours (this was without break; also my actual attention span is ridiculously long so I don't expect any sane, normal person to go longer than an hour).

                                    i have an outline. scenes i want to have. but i can't still write. i have a bit of problem with transitions specially that i want it to look logical

                                      Reinesse
                                      Transitions between scenes or between sentences? For scene transitions, maybe you could somehow incorporate your plot device, whatever it may be. If it's two scenes that take place at two different locations, you could try putting a break bar (or whatever it's called) then just begin at that new location (this is under the assumption that the characters have a reason to be/go at this new location).

                                      For sentence transitions, I don't really know how to explain how to make sentences/words flow because it's more of a style/syntax thing (and I'm a native speaker, so it comes somewhat naturally to me). I would recommend reading a good quality book and get a feel for how words flow (such as Harry Potter), but you might not want to go to too old of books unless you want to write in that style (Pride and Prejudice). And to double check if the sentences do flow, you can read them out loud and see if it works (you could also try recording them then replaying it).

                                      Also, keep in mind that if you use certain transition words, it makes the stories sound too much like a textbook (firstly, secondly, finally, additionally, moreover, although, however, consequently etc...).

                                      Maybe others have better tips?

                                      You can also try to brute force it through practice, practice, practice; and you'll eventually get the hang of it and become quicker tying everything together.

                                        Lady_Liah I love your advice, humorous but very substantial. Thank you so much. I'll make sure to bookmark this thread so that I can read your replies when I get stuck in writing again.

                                          If anyone is missing inspiration, there's a lot of things you can do. For example, take a break from writing, have a good dream, and eat something tasty. You can do something different in your life like talk to someone you usually don't talk to, read different genres, watch a movie, listen to good music, or even write backward or something.

                                          Otherwise, try a different form of art. Like how a painter I know had to do pottery for a class or learn a new skill such as the piano or how to use a gun. Personally, I'm taking a break from drawing digitally through writing and now I have a bunch of characters with personalities I can draw and vise versa. Sometimes hard repetitive practice won't help and in those times, you need a break and change your perspective on life.

                                          The main point is, be inspired, influenced, and interested. >3</

                                          6 days later

                                          I f***ing wasted three or four years to write Warrior of God, which is the starting point for Divine Series.

                                          Now, I'm jumping to my death in Tales of Three Realms.

                                          Here's a tip or two:
                                          - Have you tried to imagine your plots and scenes as a movie show? It works, just describe what you 'see'.
                                          - Go to Google Doc or Words, write there with Comic Sans font. I don't use this one, since writing in my phone is much easier.
                                          - Maybe you don't need to wait until the scenes or plots you want to write. Just write, then link all the incidents into a string of plot.
                                          - Your character, give them a dice to roll out their lucks. Again, I don't use this.

                                          Hope this helps.
                                          Please check also my novel, it's The Tales of Three Realms

                                          Wow... so much advice but too bad I don't like to do outline coz its like writing a chapter... and waste time. I prefer to write when I have an idea in my head...

                                          great_gamer I don't know why you are slow coz the story you are writing has his world building done and you just need to write the event that happen in your story... not like me that i need to write from scratch even nobody check my novel coz its write on Spanish...

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