It is natural to become distracted when writing. No matter the workplace, there is someone or something that will try to steal your attention. At home, it may be the children, the housecleaning, or your favorite TV show. At work, you might be tempted to check Facebook or your email one more time. How to keep up productivity as a writer? Is it a matter of buckling down and doing it? Or, should you wait for inspiration to strike?

Neither. Or both. Good writing is the product of planned inspiration. Getting rid of distractions, planning the work to be done, and writing what comes is the way to writing productivity. Here’s how to do it:

1. Get out of the house
Go somewhere alone with your laptop, and leave the power cord at home. Bring along an mp3 player and some headphones or go sit outside where there will only be bird song and the wind in the trees. Sometimes the only way to get rid of distractions is to get away from their origins. Especially if you are a freelance writer, you may work around countless distractions daily and wonder why it takes you ten hours to complete the work of two. Getting away from the usual workplace creates a blank slate for where creativity can germinate. Failing to take the power cord with you creates an automatic time crunch. You only have a few hours of writing time, and you’ll be motivated to use them.

2. Plan it out
Make detailed outlines of what you want to write. Whether your project is a long work of fiction or a short technical paper, you’re going to benefit from working on the bones of the project before you flesh it out. Start large and move inward to the details. If it is a book, you could start with the table of contents or a short description of each chapter. When you’re done with that, you might want to outline every scene you’d like to see in that chapter. With this much of a plan, the creative part will go very quickly.

3. Write for yourself
Often, there is a critic looking over our shoulders while we write. They dictate what we should be doing, what we’re doing wrong, and exactly why we suck. Listen to that critic. Let them talk their fill. Then politely nod and smile and push them off your shoulder. Then, think about the story you’re trying to tell. If you were going to read it, what would you like it to say? Writing for yourself is a deliciously selfish undertaking, and it produces really good prose.

Another way to write for yourself is to write what is interesting. Write the chapter that you’re most looking forward to. Write it today, when it is interesting. Or, write just the good parts and go back later to fill in the other stuff. A great portion of writing is just getting the words out of your head and onto the page. Once that’s done, you can go back and describe exactly what that room looked like or the color of the main character’s eyes.

4. Write when you want
Writing isn’t usually an occupation that happens between the hours of nine to five. Inspiration strikes at any moment, and so does momentum. Writing does take hard work and dedication. It benefits from routine and persistence. Sometimes the best way to stay productive is to write when you’re really feeling the fire, and to stop when the fire goes out. It takes faith to believe you’ll get that fire back again tomorrow, but if you keep sitting down at the computer every day, the fire will come more easily and more regularly.

Create a space, a plan, and a good attitude toward writing, and you’ll see your productivity begin to climb immediately.

Alex Lemone is a wedding and engagement writer. To check out some wedding wording tips and other wedding ideas, go to Wedding Ideas Etc.