THREE EASY TIPS ON FINDING YOUR ROUTINE AS A WRITER
I love writing. It’s a medium that has so much versatility and so few material requirements. It’s simple.
Want to write? Grab a pen and paper. Open up a word document.
Want to build a writing empire? Keep writing. Keep publishing. Keep getting your work out there, somehow.
That said, while it’s simple, it’s not easy. As any writer can attest, the actual process of writing involves a lot of coffee drinking in front of a blank computer, hmm-ing and haw-ing and thinking about what to even put on the page, then leaving the computer to watch YouTube videos or read so that you’ll be in a better “writing space”, only to not open the document again for hours or even days.
Anyway…
Writing is about time management just as much as it is about finding the right words to put down. It’s a project. How are you going to create a timeline showing when you want your first draft done, your second draft done, and so on? When are you going to carve out time around your 9-to-5 job each day to work on your novel? Will you have enough writing time to get into a state of flow?
What I’m going to present to you are tips that should get you to find a writing routine that benefits your life.
1. Your Best Time of the Day Is…
I can follow a routine better in the morning than in the evening. In addition, I find that mornings are best for my more solitary activities. I also prefer to start my day off doing something that I find fun, productive, and soul-fulfilling, instead of holding that off until later.
When choosing a time that’s best for writing, consider both the benefits and costs of each specific time and see how it overall works together for you. For me, while I write in the morning, I realize that the trade-off is having to wake up unbelievably early. It took forever to establish a time that’s best for writing, because every time has a “sacrifice” — after work, I’m tired and I want to do laid-back, fun stuff, and in the mornings I want to sleep. “I’ll write later,” I’d say. “I’ll write tomorrow morning.” Habit-forming is hard, no matter how you approach it.
Also think logistically about it, not just about when you feel more productive. Are mornings better for you because you spend your evenings helping your kids with their homework? Is your lunch break the best time to write because you have a 1-hour commute and don’t spend a lot of time home? Whatever your process is, remember that there is no “right” time to write — but there is a “best” time.
2. Make The Space To Write
You don’t need a cabin in the mountains or a quiet home office with an ergonomic chair and polished oak desk to get you going, but what you do need is a place that consistently triggers writing. Right now, I’m writing on my couch with a little laptop lap desk.
You need to put in the leg work and create a habit of writing. There is no advice to this beyond, “Well, you just have to do it.”
That said, whatever you designate as your special writing “space” should be beneficial to your writing. I don’t like working in coffee shops — they’re too distracting. My couch, however, is a great place where I don’t have to worry about anything other than what words I should put down on paper. I’m not thinking about where to put my coffee cup, how high my chair is, or any of that. The more often you write at a certain location, the more your brain is going to associate that particular space with writing.
3. Have A Plan When You’re About To Write
Fantastic — you find that mornings or evenings or after your kid’s basketball practice is your “time”. You also find that the right corner in your basement with the old daybed is your favorite writing place. Now you’re at a word document. Where do you go from here?
Warm yourself up for writing, just like a workout. You are shifting your focus from doing one thing to another thing. What can you do to alter your focus?
Knowing what you’re going to write helps. Read a couple passages of what you wrote the day before to refresh your memory. Have an outline ready. Follow a quick writing prompt to get your muscle going. Do what you need to do.
Having a project and something motivating about your writing helps. Sure, you can eat a cookie every time you finish 5 pages, but you would be a lot more inclined to write if you enjoy whatever it is you’re writing. Maybe your character is about to find out something shocking about her family history. Perhaps you just thought of an idea to write an article about why the Marvel comic universe is like modern-day Greek mythology and would love to research that idea.
Beyond anything, you just need to start writing.
***
There is no “right writing routine.” However, it’s difficult to find a time when you want to pause your YouTube video to write. Switching tasks is always going to be hard.
The only thing that you really can do is give yourself the time, space, and reason to write.
I was not an avid writer in 2020. That quickly changed when I created a routine. Routines take patience to develop, but once you’re there, you’ll hardly be conscious of the routine itself. Writing no longer becomes a looming task — it simply becomes “what I’m going to do at 6PM after work.”
Find your routine.
