Write Every Day
"Write every day." It gets repeated time and again by writers, agents, publishers, editors--and it's good advice indeed. Practice makes perfect is an equally parroted parable for a reason. Life, however, is unpredictable. Your boss needs you to work overtime to meet a deadline. Your spouse wants a date night. Your kid has a school function you don't want to miss. Heck, maybe you just don't feel like doing anything but relaxing after a long day. So how do you fit in something that takes so long in just 24 hours? You're already spending eight of them sleeping, a further eight working, then there's school if you're attending, leisure activities, and alone time that take up a huge chunk of your day.
"Write every day" doesn't mean "Write all day" or "Write most of the day." It doesn't even mean "Write 1000 words", even if you can write that much in one sitting. When you're watching TV, keep a notepad next to you and see if you get any ideas from the program you're viewing. Out at a park with the kids? Bring a notebook. Try describing your surroundings. Imagine what would happen if a dragon attacked, or a UFO appeared. Get your imagination working.
Once you take those first baby steps, you'll find the words begin to pour. Even if you write a total of one sentence, that's still one more than zero sentences. Count it as a win. No one expects you to write 2000 words a day when you first start or produce a masterpiece fully formed as Athena from Zeus' head. All you need is a little discipline, some determination, and a lot of blank paper (whether digital or physical).
Start A Habit
According to "How Are Habits Formed: Modelling Habit Formation in the Real World", a well-known study about forming habits, "performing an action for the first time requires planning." (Lally et al., 01). When you commit to writing every day, it's helpful to plan a time to do this and nothing else. Treat this time as you would if you were on shift, on a date, or at your child's dance recital.
When you choose a time of day to write, think about what "white space" you have when nothing else is happening. Is there a lunch or coffee break you could use for writing? Do you wake up well before other members of your family and have the house to yourself? Are you a night owl? All of those might be an ideal slot in which to carve out some time to write.
Consider also which time slots are not ideal for writing. For example, do you use public transportation on your commute? That could be distracting, not to mention many people dislike the feeling of someone reading over their shoulder. These are "black spaces" in your day—times when you already have things going on that require your full attention.
Consider also where you choose to write and with what. You may find that you prefer the table and a laptop, or your bed with a pencil and legal pad. No option is the best option except the one that encourages you to write.
Make a list of these times, places, and instruments and choose two or three promising combinations to try out for a week or two. After the trial period, ask yourself which worked out the best. Why did they work well? Is there anything you could tweak to make it even better? Perhaps you prefer blue ink to black or that the brightness of your screen is set to 50%.
Once you've settled the when, where and how, it's time to consider who, what and why. What do you want to write? Why do you want to write it? Is it for personal gratification, to show off to family and friends, or for publishing? Who are you writing for? As you've likely heard, you should write for yourself and to others, if sharing is your aim. Trying to please others with your craft is a road that leads straight to disappointment and discouragement, both of which are anathema to beginning a habit.
Combine all these things and make a plan: In a notebook, write "I am going to write at this time in this place with these things. I will write about this story for this reason."
All that's left now is to commit.
Set Realistic Goals and Deadlines
George Doran created the S.M.A.R.T. method of setting goals in 1981. The S.M.A.R.T. method for our purposes stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. This method was originally developed for project and employee performance management, but it can be applied to personal development just as easily.
To apply this method to your own writing, think about what it is you want to achieve. Don't pick something aeriform such as "write a book" or "get published". Choose something Specific: "Write 10,000 words". "Remove filler words". "Rework the main character's dialogue in Scene Three". Once you know what you're writing and why, your goal can be anything you want
This should be easy if you know what you're writing and why, and your goal can be anything from simply finishing the first draft to holding your published novel in your hands. Although you don't have to be published to consider yourself a writer—your writing doesn't matter less if it's only a hobby or coping method for you. As long as you're content with your content, the path you choose is up to you.
Once you know what you want to achieve, ask yourself how you know you've achieved it. With writing, this can be as easy as writing a certain number of words or pages per day over an extended period or as difficult as completing an entire draft.
Take a Break
Many writers I know have struggled with finding the balance between passion and obsession. Remember to be mindful of your mental health and other aspects of your life, such as social events and family time. It's easy to get so absorbed in a new project that it's the only thing you can think about. This isn't always bad, but if you ever find yourself feeling guilty for not writing or restless in bed thinking about story ideas, it's okay to remind yourself that taking a break is okay and sometimes necessary. Not only can it impact your mental and social health, but it can end up burning you out or making you resent the story you're trying to write. This, in turn, can lead you to write poorly, which will only lead to more frustration.
If you're trying to adhere to a schedule, it may be helpful to select a day of the week or a certain time of day during which you put down the pen (or keyboard) and engage in something else, like reading, gardening, or fighting dragons. If you're not so in love with your current project, try resting up for a few days! Even something as simple as changing projects can help, if you insist on writing.
Remember Why You Want To Write This Story
Every one of us has a reason to write the story we're writing. Maybe you think it's cool. Maybe you're trying to share your experience with others, or pay tribute to authors who impacted your childhood. There's no good reason to write, but there aren't any bad ones, either. Writing is one of the earliest inventions, and for good reason—it can change the world. Wars have ended and begun with writing. Scientific discoveries have been recorded and petitions for the cause penned, each stroke another drop of knowledge. Truly, to write is to sculpt the world around you, and even if you're only chipping at a tiny corner it's still changed. Because of that, all of us are blessed.
Thanks for reading! I'll be back next week with a new topic. I'm excited to hear your thoughts and experiences. Remember to vote if you think this deserves it and follow if you'd like more!
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References
(1) Lally, Phillippa, et al. "How Are Habits Formed: Modelling Habit Formation in the Real World." European Journal of Social Psychology, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 16 July 2009, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.674/full.
(2) Doran, G. T. "There's a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management's Goals and Objectives." Management Review, Vol. 70, 1981.
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