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His 5-step process to write really, really fast

Paulo Coelho — like most writers — felt anxious about starting his first novel. He wanted to start writing, and kept postponing. Plagued by doubt, he made himself a promise: “If I see a white feather today, I will write my book.” As a Coelho fan, I say thank goodness he saw a white feather that day.

Here’s how Coelho tells the story:

I saw this white feather in a window of a shop. And since then, every second year, in January, I need to see a white feather. And the day that I see I start writing.

That was in 1987, and since then he has written a book every couple of years, as long as he sees a white feather.

He’s also known for writing his books really, really fast. The first draft of his best-selling novel, The Alchemist, Coelho wrote in just two weeks. Every time he starts a book, he writes with a similar intensity. With all his books he aims to finish the first draft in just one month.

The “white feather then furious writing” ritual is one that has created astonishing results for Coelho. His most popular book, The Alchemist,has sold over 150 million copies and been translated into 80 languages, making it the most translated book by a living author. In total, his books have sold an estimated 350 million copies.

Coelho is generous in sharing his writing techniques, and I dived deep into his interviews and articles to find the specific reasons he’s able to write so many books, so quickly, and with such passion.

This article shares what I found — all quotes below are from Coelho himself. Here is Paulo Coelho’s writing method (excluding the white feather, but you know that part now).

Step 1: Go out into the world and live your life — no notebook allowed

“You cannot take something out of nothing. When you write a book, use your experience.”

Attend a creative writing class, and there’s a good chance that keep a writer’s notebook is one of the first things you’re taught. Yet Coelho’s novels have sold hundreds of millions of copies, and he makes a principle of never carrying a notebook.

The reason? Coelho believes that jotting down notes makes you an observer of your life instead of a participant. With a notebook in your pocket, you see yourself as a journalist on the sidelines of your life, instead of the lead character in your own story.

Coelho goes so far as to avoid thinking about writing as much as he can, and instead jump right into life:

“I strongly encourage writers not to think about writing every time that they do something. If you want to capture ideas, you are lost. You are going to be detached from emotions and forget to live your life. You will be an observer and not a human being living his or her life.”

What’s more, Coelho believes that when something really matters, it will stick in your memory. And if you forget something, no big deal, it wasn’t meant to feature in your writing.

“Forget [about] taking notes. What is important remains, what is not important goes away.”

What’s the best way to spend your life? Coelho’s books encourage you to follow your heart, find your inner dream, go hunting for life’s treasure. That said, Coelho does offer one specific way writers should spend their time. The good news is it’s something instinctive for most human beings: seeking the company of others.

“The best way to get inspired to write–in my case–is by meeting people.”

Writing well, for Coelho, means living your life, then sharing your experiences on the page. And that means with every story, you’re not conjuring up a plot from nothing, but plundering the treasure of your daily experience.

Step 2: Ask yourself “What’s bothering me?” and write about that

“All of my books are attempts to answer my own questions about life.”

Coelho doesn’t write for his readers, he writes for himself, to answer his own questions. “I am not a self-help writer. I am a self-problem writer,” Coelho says, meaning that he doesn’t write books as a way to help himself or others, but as a way to explore his own problems.

When choosing the subject for his book, he pays attention to what’s on his mind, what’s bothering him, what aspects of himself does he not yet understand. The Alchemist, for example, was for Coelho “a matter of looking back and finding a good story, finding a metaphor, for me to understand myself.”

By exploring himself in his books, Coelho is a subject-matter expert. There’s very little research he needs to do, so he can dive right into writing. That said, Coelho will occasionally look up information, such as the name of a particular street in a city, but as far as possible, he focuses on getting words onto the page. Coelho believes this approach gives more spirit to his writing:

“If you overload your book with a lot of research, you are going to be very boring to yourself and to your reader. Books are not there to show how intelligent you are. Books are there to show your soul.”

Step 3: Follow the thread of your first sentence and write it all down

“I write the book that wants to be written. Behind the first sentence is a thread that takes you to the last.”

Some fast writers (myself included) like to plan out the structure of an article or book before writing. Coelho is a seat of the pants writer. He begins with his first sentence, then follows the thread wherever it leads.

As a result, when Coelho has finished his first draft, he has a lot of words (typically triple what he needs). That leaves a ton of editing to do. Coelho sculpts his writing and chips off the excess ballast to craft the most powerful version of the story. He filters his writing to find the essence of what he wants to say.

“The first version of any book of mine has three times more pages than the final one. It is like cutting your own flesh, but you need to do it.”

Step 4: You will get stuck, so sit tight

“You book are fighting with me. Okay. I’m going to sit here, and I’m not going to leave you alone until I find a way out of the crossroads.”

Like all writers and artists, Coelho hits creative blocks. There are points in his writing when he has no idea what to write next. When this happens, he could step away from his writing desk in frustration. He could go for a walk.

Instead, he sees the block as an enemy, one he fights by sitting with the discomfort until he knows the way forwards. He holds the gaze of his story and refuses to back down. This process may take 10 minutes. It may take 10 hours. Either way, this discipline to sit it out means Coelho’s stories get finished and ultimately get published.

Step 5: Use your own, natural writing voice — it’s magical

“Don’t try to innovate storytelling, tell a good story and it is magical.”

New writers often believe they need to find their voice. I previously fell into this trap, believing that if I could just “find my voice” it would be so much easier to write. That wasn’t helpful and held me back as a writer.

Here’s what I’ve discovered: your writing voice is what happens naturally when you take words from your mind, and put them onto the page. You have something to share — an idea or a story — and you write it down just like you were speaking with a friend. This makes it much easier to write quickly because you can write as you speak. And it means your writing voice will be completely natural.

Coelho agrees — it’s not your writing voice or style that counts, but the story that you tell. Instead of being clever with story structure, just get the story down onto the page, and let it speak for itself. Here’s how he puts it:

I see people trying to work so much in style, finding different ways to tell the same thing. It’s like fashion. Style is the dress, but the dress does not dictate what is inside the dress.”

Most importantly, if writing is your dream, keep writing

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

You could wait for a white feather to show up as Coelho did. Or you could just start writing, telling your story, and exploring the questions that matter to you. “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it,” Coelho says.

So, if you want to write, start writing! The universe is conspiring on your behalf. Who is to say what could happen next?