A writing habit changes how you feel about writing.
The more I’ve written, the more I’ve learned about the power of consistently writing every day. My writing habit forces me to come up with ideas to write about.
While I’m far from perfect, I’ve learned a lot about writing consistently.
1. Start small
You don’t need to write a novel next week. You don’t even need to write a 500+ word blog post.
Write a few sentences. Describe your day in a journal. Share an opinion on social media. Write a page of that novel you’ve dreamed about writing.
Start small. Building a writing habit isn’t a contest. It’s consistency. It’s about doing a little work each day to keep that consistency.
2. Start With Energy
Building a writing habit is easier when you write about the topics that interest you.
Avoid writing about topics that you think people want to read. Write about the topics you want to read because you’ll find more energy.
3. Start In the Right Environment
One of James Clear’s keys to building a habit is to be in the right environment.
I love this story of how soldiers broke their heroin addiction in Vietnam.
“In Vietnam, soldiers spent all day surrounded by cues triggering heroin use: it was easy to access, they were engulfed by the constant stress of war, they built friendships with fellow soldiers who were also heroin users, and they were thousands of miles from home. Once a soldier returned to the United States, though, he found himself in an environment devoid of those triggers. When the context changed, so did the habit.”
4. Start Privately or Publicly
Start writing in whatever setting you feel most comfortable in. The key is to get started.
You can write privately in your journal. Or you can write publicly on your website or social media. Don’t worry so much about where to write.
The key is to start writing.
5. Start With Patience
Every habit needs patience, especially when it comes to writing.
Be patient with the results. Be patient with your expectations. Be patient with the process of writing.
We all want instantaneous results. I want to learn faster. I want to write better. But all of that comes with time. Patience is how you grow as a writer.
6. Start Tracking Your Writing
Jerry Seinfeld writes a checkmark on his calendar every time he writes.
It’s fulfilling to him because he doesn’t want to break the streak. He keeps writing because he’s built that habit. And it’s visible to him on the calendar.
7. Start With the Fundamentals
Nobody cares about how smart your writing sounds. Stop worrying about grammar. Just focus on the fundamentals.
Write a sentence. And another. String together a few more sentences, and you have a paragraph. And then another. Keep writing, and soon enough, you have a page.
Don’t worry about what other writers are doing. Focus on yourself. Focus on the fundamentals.
Give Yourself a Reward
Whenever I finish writing for the day, I reward myself with a game of online chess (I love chess). Or maybe I watch a short Saturday Night Live clip on YouTube.
Find ways to reward yourself after you’ve written something. Make it rewarding. Building a writing habit isn’t about the agony of writing every day.
It’s about fulfillment. It’s about expressing yourself. You learn more about yourself as a writer each day.
And that’s worth celebrating.