What it is
ARTICLE
If you have no idea where to start with creating a writing routine, this is is it, by getting used to writing every day. When you first start doing it, you should do it every day without fail for at least three months. By doing this you make writing something that is a fixed part of your day, it is normal, it is part of who you are. It’s a bit like running. When you first start you hate it, it feels foreign every time you do it and you suck at it. But when you do it every day for a couple of months at some point it is normal, it is part of who you are. And once you get to that point, that doesn’t go away anymore. Sure, you might stop running for a while or don’t go for a run every day anymore, but it is still who you are, you miss it when you don’t do it and you can easily get started with it again. You never fully revert back to that point when it was something foreign.
How to do it
You can go about it very simple and rather messily. To start with you need a time window and a tracking measurement.
Time Window
Some people like to write first thing in the morning. Me, I like to write right before bed. This is the time window. The time window is not a set time, more an approximation at what point in your day you get your writing done. The important factor here is to make it a set time window that always follows the same event. Say you like to write first thing in the morning. In that case, it doesn’t matter if you write when you get up at 6 am before work, or at 9 am on a Sunday. What is important is that you always write right after getting up. Writing for you follows the event of waking up. For me, my writing happens right before bed, sometimes that is at around 10, sometimes that is at around 2 am, depends on what else is happening in my life. For me, the event that precedes writing is always getting ready for bed.
Tracking Measurement
The second thing you need is a way to track yourself. I use the target of writing at least 2000 words every day. Those aren’t clean words, often those aren’t even words that end up staying. Just 2000 draft words. The reason why I use word count instead of a fixed amount of time is that this way I can make sure there is progress. If I tracked myself by time, let’s say write for an hour every day, the output could vary largely and that would affect my own motivation. By setting a word count of at least 2000 words it doesn’t matter if I have a good or a slow day, the output is always there and therefore also the learning curve. Again it’s like running. When you first start out you don’t want to go for a 30 min run. Because then there is the chance that you will just walk most of it and cover hardly any distance. Whereas if you go for a 5k run, doesn’t matter if you walk half of it, you will still have covered a distance of 5k and this in itself, walked or jogged, is training and therefore progress.
Tracking: Benchmarking Technique
Take several 1-hour writing sessions and track how many words you get written. Use this as a personal benchmark of what your average hourly output is. This can be useful for setting daily output goals and also for planning projects more realistically.
TECHNIQUE
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