Writing can be extremely rewarding at times, but are you finding it hard sitting down with your Mac and actually getting the words out of your head and onto the digital paper? Here are 5 things that have worked for me and made my writing more productive.

5. Music

Pop open iTunes and play an album you like, it is much easier to work with familiar sounds around you. Don’t listen to fast pumping music like pop, heavy rock, or techno. Settle down to some soft or piano rock, like the Postal Service, The Fray, Mae, or Waking Ashland. Their music is all very slow paced making it calming to work to.

4. No chatting or browsing

Close down Safari, and quit iChat and Adium. The last thing you need when you have been writing for 25 minutes, churning out words and feeling in the zone, is your friend sending you an IM with a link to a video on YouTube, it will be a distraction and possibly put you off your line of thoughts, ruining the next paragraph you had figured out in your head from getting down on paper. Quit any applications that have internet connectivity, or even better, turn your AirPort internet off completely!

3. Environment

You should know the places in the world that make you feel relaxed, and those which you feel uncomfortable in, so take your laptop to one of those places that makes you feel relaxed and at ease.

Places like busy cafe’s and noisy parks should be avoided. But if you like the beach, a quiet back street cafe, or even a ball game, then take your laptop along and get writing. Your best writing will always be done when you are felling relaxed and your enjoying yourself.

2. Goals And Rewards

Set yourself goals, and when you reach them reward yourself. Give yourself a goal such as “write 1000 words this morning”, and when you reach it reward yourself with some chocolate, 15 minutes on Flickr or something else you enjoy.

1. WriteRoom

Some people believe the latest application from HogBaySoftware is a joke. Believe me, it’s not. WriteRoom is the single best thing that has ever happened to my writing. Didn’t you use to love that typewriter environment where there was only you and your text, with no distractions to keep you from writing a masterpiece. WriteRoom brings that environment right onto your Mac in full screen typewriter view, it will keep you from all other distractions and get you writing feature articles in no time!