on writing: consistency
on writing series
"There are two of you. One who wants to write, and one who doesn't." – María Irene F.
Maybe you have heard other writers claim that you can’t rely on motivation to get you through writing a book, sometimes you need to force yourself to do it and make a habit of it. I used to scoff at that, found it restrictive and, frankly, boring. What, I’m supposed to turn my passion into a chore rather than keep it a fun activity?
I haven’t lived as long of a life as the biggest writers, but I don’t have to, because all writers figure out their craft all by themselves. And I have worked out that writing is a craft that requires time, dedication, and discipline. It’s all fun and games until you actually have a first draft to finish.
I don’t write full-time, although that would be a dream life, and I lead a busy life like most of you, so it’s often challenging to find the time to nurture that creative pursuit. Let me explain my take on sticking with writing.
Acceptance (The necessity of a baseline)
You’re not always going to be inspired to write.
You’re not always going to be motivated to write, but if you only write when you’re motivated it’s going to take a lot more time than it already would. Forming a habit is annoying at first, but it’s going to enable you to write consistently. The draft builds with progress, even unmotivated and uninspired as progress can get.
Establishing a consistent writing routine is essential for making progress, and it’s theoretical and painful to think about at first, because in a way or another we feel stuck. But maybe you can try and take it as a motivational nudge towards finding what can work for you to get ahead.
I used to only write when I was inspired and could get myself to start writing, and even then I would be inconsistent, taking years to move forward with any project. I would experience writer’s block for months on end. I was terrified of making myself commit. It could be weeks or even months between proper writing sessions. Now I have a baseline, and you’ll find yours, too.
Own time & place
Finding your pace is a lot of trial and error; it took me year after year to figure out mine, especially with a lot of changes in my life.
These questions can help you figure out yours:
Do you prefer writing at fixed times of day, or maybe with a fixed word count as a goal?
Do you write better irregularly but a lot in those sessions?
Do you prefer writing in the morning or at night?
Do you stop writing when you know how the next part will go or do you stop at a cliffhanger?
Could you write right before going out or does that stress you out too much? Could you write after an evening out with friends?
Could you write before work? After work? On your day off?
Do you write better in bed, on your desk, in the kitchen, in the garden, on the balcony, in gardens, in cafes, graveyards, churches, hotels?
Can you get rid of distractions or do you need to soothe your brain with background noise?
Does the Do Not Disturb mode on your phone help you or do you need to flip your phone all across the room to concentrate?
Does reading other literature motivate you to write or would you rather keep in your story’s bubble to stay in the mood?
All of these questions do not take into account the quality or quantity of writing, more so the convenience of it, or rather your ability to motivate yourself to put some words down. I find that getting to the actual typing, writing, is the hardest part for me, and that figuring out how and where I am most likely to motivate myself to actually get going is what helped me most.
Finding what works for you, not forcing yourself to work in a certain way, is the key. There is no use in forcing yourself to write in the evenings if your brain feels mushy in the evenings, and there is no use in writing in the morning if you’d rather sleep in and can barely keep your eyes up.
Once you have figured out your own place and time, schedule your writing sessions in a calendar to stick with it if you’re a planner person. Finding what works for you is only half of how you can stick to writing, though. The other half is:
Training the muscle
To stick with something you have to make it a habit, and to make it a habit, you help yourself with rituals. You can’t expect yourself to start writing every day religiously from day One.
Susan Sontag unplugged her telephone, limited herself in meeting friends and reading until evening.
Murakami writes in the morning, swims or jogs afterwards.
I do morning pages daily after waking up, read a chapter of a book, get ready, make coffee or tea & then go to the café on free days or write at my desk before I need to go to work. I also do yoga and then read in bed in the evenings everyday ritually.
You can look up routines online of other writers, writers you admire, or make up your own, since you know best what schedule works for you. Don’t treat writing as a chore, or more of a chore than your other chores. Writing shouldn’t be something you dread, like doing the laundry if you dislike doing your laundry, or cooking if you dislike cooking. It’s best to combine it with something else you like (listening to music, winding down, have a series running in the background), or as a bridge between two appointments (between getting ready and going out, between your morning routine and lunch, between your afternoon tea and dinner).
Try the 30 minute rule: make it a ritual to write or take notes regarding your project for 30 minutes, most of the time you'll extend that period, you just needed to start the process.
You will need realistic goals, as small as they are. Ten minutes a day, 1000 words a week, regardless of how insignificant the goals seem. Something small enough that it doesn’t drain you but frequent enough that there’s still a habit being formed.
Remember
There’s no such thing as not enough progress when it comes to forming a consistent habit.
What everyone else seems to think is if you miss even one day of your routine, if you don’t get X amount of words written daily, you’re a failure and you’ll never finish your book, you’re supposed to suffer for your art.
I would be lying if I said watching new authors bust out book after book every half year hasn’t encouraged me to lose sleep and a social life over my manuscript. But it’s just not the way my life is, I’m not a full-time author with the same resources, and the same amount of time to be dedicated to one project.
Do what makes you comfortable, because you don’t want to lose your love for writing.
Remember, life happens, and getting thrown off your routine is inevitable. There will be times when your writing routine gets disrupted. It’s essential to be flexible and adaptable in such situations, try out new ways and places if necessary. Sometimes you need a day, a week off, and that is okay, too.
