Build a Daily Writing Habit That Sticks
It can be difficult to find time to write, especially when you can’t seem to find inspiration. Your manuscript is gathering dust while you’re doing things like working, making dinner, and trying to find the appropriate amount of motivation to put words on paper.
This may be strange to hear, but writing a book doesn’t happen in bursts of creativity. It is through the consistent habit of writing that leads to more ideas and a focused mind.
Read to the end to get a free habit tracker for authors.
Habit Formation
Every habit has 3 things:
Cue: This is the trigger or the thing that starts a series of events. (e.g., making your morning coffee, sitting in your writing chair).
Routine: The behavior itself. (e.g., writing for 15 minutes).
Reward: The feeling of accomplishment. (e.g., marking it off your to-do list, or even a small treat.)
The goal is to make writing an automatic response to a cue. It will help it to feel like a natural progression of tasks that need to be completed before you can move on to something else.
Start Small
It can be so easy to commit to ambitious goals like writing for 2 hours a day after work. However, these often lead to failure and guilt because, no matter how much we want to do them, we can’t keep up with the monumental task.
The obvious solution is to start small.
Commit to a ridiculously small goal like writing for 5 minutes a day or even writing just 50 words.
Make your goal so easy that it’s impossible to fail.
Most days, you’ll probably end up writing more, but on the hard days, your small goal will keep your momentum up, as well as your spirits.
Designing Your Own Routine
Creating a routine can be daunting when you have a million other things going on, but here are some easy ways to help you get started:
Find your cue: Anchor your writing to an existing habit (e.g., after your morning cup of coffee or right after you eat dinner).
Dedicate space: Even if it’s just a specific chair that you use for writing, this tells your brain, “it’s time to start putting words on the page.”
Set intention: Decide on your writing task the night before so you aren’t overwhelmed with decisions. Even if it means that you have to skip over a section you’re stuck on, it’s important to keep the consistency of continuing to write.
When You Have No Motivation
Motivation comes and goes, but there are a few ways that we’ve found that can help you stay on track even when you feel like giving up:
Track your streak: Use your calendar or an app to log when you write. The visual of an unbroken streak is a powerful motivator.
The “No Zero” Rule: Promise yourself you will never do nothing. Even one sentence counts as writing.
Schedule It: Treat your writing time like an appointment that can’t be rescheduled. It’s non-negotiable.
If You Fall Off Track
It’s okay! Everyone misses a day here and there.
The most important thing is that you don’t miss twice.
A single missed day can be a break, but any more than that is the start of a bad habit.
Don’t beat yourself up over a missed day. Just get back to your small goal the next day and keep pushing forward.
By making a small daily habit out of your writing, you’ll find yourself going from “chapter one” to “the end” a lot more easily than if you tried to hold yourself to colossal standards.
