5 Tips for Developing a Daily Writing Habit
Hi writers!
One source of anxiety that comes with being a writer, especially if you’re just starting out, is finding the time to write. Or more specifically, developing a daily writing habit. It can be hard to find the time to write every day, when you have commitments like family, school, work, or just a block of time you dedicate to relaxing and having fun. This last bit is true right now, with all the excitement that comes with summer. (And, let’s be honest, summertime = fun and relaxation, right?)
If you’ve been struggling to figure out ways to develop your own daily writing habit, I have some tips you may find helpful. These tips are focused for fiction writing, but can be adapted to nonfiction writing and poetry as well.
Here are five tips you can try out to develop a daily writing habit.
1) Track writing days on a calendar.
This is a simple, effective way to keep yourself on track for writing daily. It works best if you have a monthly calendar. It doesn’t matter if the calendar’s big or small, it just has to have all the days of the month visible. At the end of the day, if you’ve done any amount of writing, mark a “\” through that day’s square. The goal is to keep a string of slashes going for as long as possible. You can use stickers or other marks if you’d like.
You can track writing days whether or not you have a goal to work towards. It’s more effective for me if I start tracking days with a goal in mind, like finishing a short story or working on my novel. Marking down a writing day, and seeing those slashes build up into rows over several weeks, gives me a sense of accomplishment. It also motivates me to keep writing, if only to continue those rows.
You can even set smaller goals if you’d like, and give yourself rewards, like scheduling a day of binge-watching your favorite show once you meet X-amount of writing days, or treating yourself to your favorite food.
2) Find the time of day you write best.
It’s possible to write at any time of the day, if you put your mind to it. But I do think there are times in the day when the writing comes easier. For me, I find the words flow easier at night, in the time after dinner and well into the “burning the midnight oil” time of the night. (I’m a bit of a night-owl, which as other night-owls know, isn’t a lifestyle the rest of the world is kind to. But we make do.)
You can of course write whenever you like, wherever you like, however long or much you like. But it’s easier to come to the writing when you’ve established a time when the words seem to flow out of you, because you’ll be more eager to actually sit down and get those words out.
That’s my take on it, at least. Let me know how it works for you.
Tips 3-5 relate to and may overlap with one another, but I’m listing them as separate tips for reading ease.
3) Read the scene you last wrote before you go to bed.
I’m not saying that you’ll end up dreaming about the last scene you wrote, and wake up in the morning with the next section of dialogue, action, character development, etc. ready to flow from your fingertips or your pen. I have dreamt of characters from a story I was working on in a scene before, but I also had a starring role in that scene, which gave me a weird out-of-body experience because I knew I was dreaming about myself being in a dream . . .
Digression aside, I can’t guarantee you’ll dream up anything that can be used in your writing. This activity helps in a more subtle way. Mainly, it helps keep your motivation and momentum to keep writing up. This is especially true if the scene you decided to sleep on is one you’re having difficulty writing. You’ll wake up the next morning refreshed and ready to tackle the scene that’s been giving you so much grief.
And while you may not figure out that problem-scene right from the get-go, you may have at least recharged your problem-solving and creative thinking part of your brain, and brainstormed a few possible directions the scene could go. And that’s already a step in the right direction more than you were at the beginning of the day.
4) Think about what you’re writing about. All the time.
Even when I’m not writing I’m writing. Or in other words, I’m thinking about what I’m writing. I don’t think I’m alone in doing this—daydreaming is a writer’s best friend. Targeted daydreaming that is, when you’re thinking of which direction to take a specific scene, which scenes you need to include to show one character’s development, how two characters might argue, and anything else you need to think about to keep your story moving forward.
The great part about this activity is that you don’t have to be sitting down at a desk, ready to type or write. You can take a walk, run errands, do chores or whatever else you need to do in your day, and think about your writing. Then, when you reach the point of your day when you have time to sit down and write, you’ll already have an idea of where you want your story to go, and you won’t have to stare at a blank screen and try to come up with something to write just for the sake of writing on the spot.
5) Be open to inspiration.
Finally, don’t be afraid to find inspiration in books or other forms of media. Finding inspiration doesn’t mean copy-pasting a scene, lines of dialogue, a character sketch, or anything else, from another book like or unlike yours, or from a TV show or a movie. But don’t be afraid to let yourself be influenced by these works, either. If you’re stuck in your writing, finding these sources of inspiration of how this book or that show did a scene that’s similar to yours can show you different storytelling techniques you can use in your own writing.
Note: While a daily writing habit can be good for discipline and productivity, it should never take over your life at the cost of your health and wellbeing. If you have other priorities and obligations—family, work, etc.—make sure you put those first. The writing will always be there, as long as you have the desire to write.
Personally, I don’t follow Tips 1 and 2 unless I’m nearing a deadline (self-imposed or assigned). I’ll discuss this more next time, but while writing is important—because you’re a writer, so you should write, right?—it’s equally important to know when to take a break.
And summertime is full of opportunities to take breaks. :)
Until next time!
—Leah