Forget all of the hacks, tricks, optimized morning routines, AI, and everything else for a moment.
If you want to become a professional writer, you will have to do this ONE thing before you do anything else. What is it? (insert drum roll here) Write consistently.
Yes. That’s really the secret.
It’s not revolutionary, but it’s also not easy.
Most people dream about being a writer in theory but don’t actually do it in practice.
Until you are putting those hours in at your keyboard more days than not in your week, you will not see your writing career start to grow.
Through my decade of professional writing, my consistency has gone through hot and cold periods, but these are the ways I focus and start to build it back when I need to.
How to build a writing habit
1. Figure out why you want to write
If you want to write for the sake of writing, that is one thing.
However, if you are looking to create a career out of writing, you will need to set some clear goals that will drive your path forward.
Are you writing for personal enjoyment, to improve your writing skills, or for a specific project like a novel or a blog?
2. Set some goals
You might want to start writing just for the sake of writing, but I’m a big believer in measuring what you want to achieve.
For that reason I recommend setting specific and achievable writing goals. For example, you might aim to write a certain number of words or pages each day or week.
Through my years of coaching writers, I have found it is easier to start with time-based goals (ex: 30 minutes of writing) versus word counts when they are starting to build the habit.
3. Find time in your schedule
All of us have incredibly different schedules so what works for one 20-year-old online might not work for a parent with four kids.
You might have to write in short bursts or you might be able to block off a few hours.
I cannot tell you when works for you, but I do know it’s possible to find time, no matter what your schedule is. Even if you just start with 10 minutes on your lunch break.
The point is to find time that you can fit in most days of the week. You will most likely go through trial and error to figure out what works for you, so have patience while you do.
Keep it realistic to start or you are going to beat yourself up for not being able to hit it every single day.
4. Create space for writing (optional)
Now, not everyone has the benefit of creating a little writing room, but you might be able to make a small routine or space for your writing.
Even when I was in tiny, tiny spaces, I did a routine such as making tea and getting out my writing notebook in order to trigger my brain to “writing mode”.
You might prefer pen and paper or you want the latest tech gadget to write on.
5. Prepare for resistance
I wrote a whole post on dealing with resistance and how hard it can be, but for the uninitiated, you are going to run into what is famously called “the resistance”.
It is essentially that part of your brain that distracts you from doing creative work.
The part of your brain that thinks that creativity is a waste of time when you could be doing more “important” things.
Which, let’s be real, most people are endlessly addicted to social media and that’s really what your brain wants to be doing.
I’m not going to rag on social media, I love it for learning new things and connecting with people. However, when it comes at the expense of you actually pursuing your dream? Throw your phone in the trash.
6. Set up an optional plan
There will be days where interruptions, plans, family, or other things get in the way of your writing time.
That’s when you need to set up a failsafe for your writing time. If you miss the morning, you write at lunch.
If you miss two days in a row, you don’t miss a third.
I first discovered this idea when I was working as a personal trainer. The rule was clients could skip one workout (assuming they’re not sick or it was something more serious), but they could not skip the second one. No matter what they had to show up to workout.
I’ve applied the same rule to my writing for years and it has worked well.
7. Measure your growth
Don’t start measuring anything except for your time dedicated to writing until you have at least a month or more of consistent writing under your belt.
Once you get the consistency down, you need to focus on ways to grow and how to measure it.
Otherwise, you will not be pushing your own skillset and will find it hard to accelerate your career. (This is, of course, assuming you are writing for a purpose other than self-fulfillment.)
This might mean needing to take a class to grow your skills, pushing yourself with your editing process, measuring results of readership on your blog, or pushing your daily word count.
8. Consider joining a writing group
If all of your strategies are continuing to fail you, joining a course and putting some skin in the game (aka putting real cash toward your goals) can help you get the ball rolling.
It can give you the accountability you need to maintain your writing schedule.
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