Writing habits – The Regal Writer

I used to be really good at keeping to a schedule. It was easier when I held a steady job. I’d get up in the morning, dress for work, have breakfast, then wait for the bus to take me to my job. After work, I had another routine, usually going to the fitness center in my office building to work out, take the bus home, make dinner, then collapse on the TV or read before bedtime.

Routines can be easy to fall into – and fall out of. When I no longer had a steady job and began freelancing, well, my routine fell apart. I had to develop a different routine for myself, one that allowed me to squeeze in time for my personal writing projects.

Developing a writing habit isn’t that much different. It’s a matter of finding the right time, the right space and the right mindset. If any of those factors are off, that can hinder your writing progress. Having a writing habit can help you stay focused, produce more writing and avoid burnout.

What happens when you fail to make progress on your current project or you lose interest in your story? The problem may not be a lack of knowledge about the writing craft. Instead, it may have more to do with your writing routine, or lack of one. Here are a few signs it might be time to audit yourself:

* You’ve become dissatisfied with the quality of your writing.
* You don’t feel connected to your writing or your project.
* It’s easy to find other things to do instead of tending to your work.
* You’re dissatisfied with the progress you’re making on your current project.
* Something has changed in your life routine, such as changing jobs or moving, which can impact your writing routine.

Before tweaking your routine, you need to know exactly what’s not working, writes editor and book coach Tiffany Yates Martin. She recommends doing an audit of your writing habits to examine the effort you’re actually putting in. Are you spending more time with online research or social media? That means time away from actual writing, she explains. Her post on audits is worth a read.

Mind you, this isn’t about assessing your skills or your craft. It’s about making yourself aware of what isn’t working with your routine so you can make necessary changes to become more productive with the time you do have.
When you assess your routine, be honest with yourself. Here are a few questions to keep in mind.

1. Do you have a writing routine? If not, why? Would your writing benefit from having one?

Perhaps the reason why you’re not making progress toward your writing goals is because you don’t have a routine in place. In which case, it might help to set up a regular time and place for your writing. Or schedule it in your journal or calendar. Understandably, setting a routine may not be possible due to travel, work or school schedules. The important takeaway is awareness. As long as you are aware that not having a writing habit may be the reason you’re not making progress can help you identify a solution.

2. Assuming you have a writing routine, how often do you write and how long are the sessions?
Is the current setup working for you?

You might have a writing routine in place, but that doesn’t mean it’s working for you in its current state. Perhaps you’re writing every day for an hour, but you still feel you’re not making a lot of progress on your story. In which case, maybe you need to add another fifteen minutes to your sessions. Conversely, if you are putting in three hours or longer in the hopes you’ll make better progress, you might experiment with cutting back on your sessions to avoid burnout. Sometimes having a limited time to write forces you to stay focused on the project at hand.

3. What do you actually do with your time? How much do you accomplish during your writing sessions?

This is a tricky question for many writers because their writing sessions may include other tasks, such as proofreading or research, which is fine as long as it pertains to your current project. But if you’re checking emails and looking up information on the internet that has nothing to do with your manuscript, then that’s a sign that you’re either procrastinating or you’re bored. Be aware of how you use your sessions.

Ditto with taking breaks. All those breaks add up and can cut into your productive time. If you’re constantly taking short breaks to play games or browse news stories, it’s time to scale back on those activities and refocus your efforts. It might help to set a timer when you take a break and keep it limited to ten minutes or less.

Be honest with yourself. No judgement either. The audit is intended to make you aware of the weak spots in your habits. It’s up to you to figure out how to change them.

4. Do you set goals for your writing sessions? Do you know what you want to accomplish during that time?

Not knowing how you plan to use your writing time may contribute to your lack of progress. If this step is missing, start your sessions with a small goal in mind, such as drafting 500 words to finish a scene, or reviewing and editing the material you wrote the previous day. Having that small goal in mind keeps you focused so you’re not looking for something else to do.

5. Do you reward yourself for meeting milestones?

Celebrating milestones, such as finishing the first draft or writing 10,000 words in a week, gives you a sense of accomplishment and helps you stay motivated. Author Steven James rewards himself with a sticker in his calendar to mark every day that he writes for three hours. When he sees all those stickers, he knows he’s made progress.

How often you audit your writing habit is up to you, but generally speaking, every six months is a good plan to start with. You might also consider an audit whenever your work or life routine has changed, such as moving to a new house or starting a new job. When your life routine changes, your writing habits will naturally be affected.

If you’re dissatisfied with your writing progress or feeling easily distracted or uninspired, performing an audit of your writing habits can reveal whether your current routine is working.

I’ve written previously about how aspiring writers can create a regular writing practice. Yet, the term “writing practice” might be confusing for many people. “Isn’t that the same as a writing habit?” you might ask.

No, they are not quite the same. Let me explain as best as I can.

A habit is any activity that is done at roughly the same time every day, like brushing your teeth after every meal or kicking off your shoes when you enter the front door. Habits are more about time and place – where you do that activity, at what time of day, and how often. Some habits, like nail biting, are done so routinely (like during scary movies or intense sporting events) that you don’t even think about what you are doing or why. It becomes mindless.

If you’ve already started a writing habit, you likely write at the same time every day. That set routine encourages consistency and helps you monitor your progress. A writing practice takes the habit a step further by creating stronger purpose, intention and focus.

I borrowed the concept of a writing practice from yoga. I felt there were similarities in the way they are both very individualized experiences. How you progress through the poses is based on a number of factors, such as your level of confidence, body type and skill level, even how you’re feeling that day. Further, yoga isn’t necessarily dependent on practicing every day, though many people do. If you only make it to one class a week, it’s still considered a yoga practice, not a yoga habit.

Like yoga, a writing practice consists of a purpose and intention, such as getting in touch with a deep emotional wound, creating better sensory descriptions, jotting notes for a non-fiction book, or experimenting with a different genre. Writing every day might make it a routine but to make it a regular practice, you need to add intention and purpose. It’s this mindfulness aspect – of being one with your creative self – that I believe is missing from most writer’s routines.

When comparing a writing habit to a writing practice, there are four characteristics that separate them.

1. Schedule – Think of all the habits you’ve developed over the years. You might go to bed at the same time every night or maybe brush your teeth every morning and every evening. A writing habit provides structure and routine. If you already have a writing habit, you probably have a set schedule for your writing, say writing for one hour starting at six a.m. every day. A writing practice is less structured, and you can choose to write whenever and wherever it is most convenient. If all you have is two hours on a Saturday morning to write, that is your writing practice.

2. Purpose – The goal of a writing habit is to encourage consistency, to make sure you write every day. When you set up a routine time and place to write, it makes it easier to stick to that schedule. In a writing practice, the goal is to create an immersive experience that challenges you in some way. For example, you might dedicate your writing practice to writing a collection of essays or learning to write a different genre. The practice not only benefits your writing, but also your personal development.

3. Intention – Some writing habits can be mindless in nature. You simply write because it appears in your appointment calendar. Or you write with no set intention for improvement or progress toward a larger goal. Like a yoga session, you might set an intention at the start of your writing session. The intention is designed to help challenge yourself, whether it’s to finish that chapter you’ve been working on or perfect your dialogue or release some pent-up emotion. Without the intention, you have no opportunity to improve your craft.

4. Focus – Writing habits tend to be more externally focused. Perhaps you set office hours and ask your family not to disturb you. People on the outside will see that you are involved in a regular writing session. On the other hand, a writing practice is more internally focused because when you write, you experience growth and progress within yourself, perhaps through greater confidence or a more observant attitude. No one on the outside may notice the difference in your attitude, but you will.

I’ve summarized the comparison in the table below.

	Habit	Practice
Schedule	Set schedule, usually same time every day	Unstructured schedule, not every day, but frequently
Purpose	Provide consistency and structure	Improve writing or create a more immersive experience
Intention	Can be mindless in nature	Mindful intention to achieve something with each session
Focus	Externally focused	Personal, internally focused

If you have a regular writing habit, that’s great news. It’s important to establish a consistent routine of writing, especially if you are a newbie writer. However, if you want to turn your writing habit into a writing practice, try adding a dose of mindful attention to your work. You’ll create a deeper, more meaningful personal connection to each writing session.

Tag: Writing habits

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