It’s no secret that writing is a thing we all love to do. But, what happens when we sit down and stare at the blinking cursor after weeks or months of no doing anything? In this post, I’m going to walk you through the benefits of why you should write daily and why it’s important to your role as a writer.
I used to say, I’m an aspiring writer–maybe I still am–but instead of using the moniker, I am a writer, whenever some asked me, I reverted to the aspiring remark.
Jordan Aspen said this in her post on Medium, “The only difference between an aspiring writer and one that writes is that a writer, writes.”
It’s easy to say you want to write that book, article, or next blog post–but when the rubber truly hits the road, our brain shuts down because we’re out of practice. Writing daily is the wake-up call your brain desperately needs. Not only will daily writing help you focus on your major projects, but it will also open your mind to new possibilities and endless resources to draw inspiration from.
Why is it important?
- Journal each morning.
One aspect of writing that is easily overlooked is journaling. When you write in a journal in the morning, it will help you revisit yesterday by revealing important ideas or lessons learned, and can help you relieve stress and tension. - Helps you improve your craft.
By taking the time to write on a daily level, your brain begins to understand what you’re about to do. It’s a conditioning that brings to the surface ideas, thoughts, wisdom, and inspiration from the springs of life. You’ll be able to write better and maintain a stronger sense of expertise as you focus on your projects. - Gives you fresh ideas for your next project.
Remember that stupid blinking cursor? It’s the bane of a writer’s existence, and yet we must overcome that blank page obstacle in order to achieve what few actually accomplish; writing something worth reading. Daily writing allows you to put fresh ideas into your idea well. You’ll have more than enough material to draw for your next book, ecourse, blog series, or articles.
It’s no secret that writing is a difficult task, and yet most aspiring writers miss one important detail–the writing part. They spend so much time learning the craft of writing, going to conferences, attending guilds like this one, and yet fail to do the one task they aspire to produce.
Five ways to approach daily writing.
1. It takes creating a habit.
You’ve heard the theory of setting New Year’s Resolutions? It’s all a giant farce. The reason most resolutions fail is not the lack of creativity or the lack of the idea, it’s the implementation. Writing daily must become a habit. It’s a daily commitment to see the endgame of what you’re trying to accomplish.
Habits are something you do without thinking about doing. In other words, you’ve done something for so long that it becomes second nature. That’s what a habit is; a second nature thing that becomes so ingrained that it’s something you never have to think about.
2. Install your habit.
This is the crux of any habit. It must start off as a goal. Something you’re striving for. There’s a difference between achievement goals and habit goals. Achievement goals are akin to quitting smoking. You know it’s bad for you, so you’re working on giving it up. But a habit goal is something you wish to install into your daily rituals of life.
By setting a realistic goal and working daily toward that goal, will help you take your life to the next level. Installing a habit takes dedication. So if you’re wanting to write a book, you must resolve to write daily. I recommend you establish a goal of writing every day, seven days a week, for the next 90 days at 30 minutes a day.
3. It’s okay to fail.
Now that you have a goal in mind, you will fail. Setting habit goals keeps you focused on the end result–being a writer. Remember, the difference between aspiring to be a writer and being a writer is writing itself. But if you fail at that goal, it’s okay, because failure isn’t the end. Failure is the beginning of taking a weekly inventory of what worked or didn’t work and learning to press into tomorrow with the vision of words filling the paper.
Failure means you can focus on what steps you need to take to begin again. The endgame of setting habit goals is to install it as a daily ritual. It’s all about trial and error. Humorist and speaker, Ze Frank says that the important thing is to synthesize the knowledge gained so you can refine an idea and then create a new and improved version.
4. You must start today!
It’s so easy to say, “I’ll start tomorrow or one day I’ll be a writer.” Yet, without a well-executed and smarter set goal, we’ll never accomplish what we truly desire to finish. You don’t have to wait until January 1 to start your new habit, begin today. Let it become the reining item in your life you wish to install.
It takes 90 days to fashion a habit, 172 days for that habit to become part of your routine and officially installed into your life. It’s hard work, but the work is worth the benefit of time compounded with determination that equals success.
5. Set a SMARTER goal.
This is where the rubber meets the road. If you’re wanting to generate writing success, it begins by setting a goal that will leverage your time, energy, and future dreams into a realistic habit that is risky and exciting.
How do you set a smarter goal?
- Be Specific. – Don’t generalize by saying, “I’d like to write daily.” How about, “I will write 7 days a week for the next 90 days.”
- It needs to be Measurable – “I will write 150 words, 7 days a week for the next 90 days.” You can measure against that.
- It must be Actionable. – Is the goal something that inspires you into action? Can you achieve that goal daily?
- It should be Risky. – Will this goal stretch you? Writing seven days a week is stretching and will force you to focus.
- Must be Time-bound. – “I will write 150 words, 7 days a week at 6:00 am for the next 90 days beginning, December 10.” You have a starting and an ending date and time.
- Should be Exciting. – Does the goal excite you into action? Are you able to push the boundaries and be truly excited for success?
- It needs to be Realistic. – Is the writing goal realistic enough for success? In this example, yes.
Remember, writing daily is a habit that will offer you massive rewards down the road. If you simply write 150 words every day, you will have 13,500 words in 90 days or 54,750 words in a year–that’s a short 220-page novel.
Oh, and by the way, this post took me 45-minutes to write.
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