20 Tips for Creating a Writing Habit
These are the best tips I know for creating a writing habit, gathered from reading lots of books on writing and my own experience of writing for more than fifty years.
Know that your voice is important. There are 8+ billion people on the earth but there is only one you. Your voice matters!
Make a list of all the reasons you want to write. Put the list in a place where you’ll see it often. “I don’t know why yet, I just feel something inside of me calling me to write” is a great reason.
Write regularly, every day if possible.
Make your writing goals extremely small to start, such as one sentence a day. At the beginning, it’s more important to establish the habit of writing regularly than it is to produce a certain quantity.
Don’t worry about what to write about. Just write whatever comes to you in the moment. If you continue with that for a while, you’ll start to get ideas about what you want to write.
Write at the same time every day if possible.
Combine writing with another habit you already have, such as your morning cup of coffee.
Create a simple writing ritual, something you do before you start to write, such as lighting a candle, turning on music, or taking a deep breath and connecting with your inner writer.
Make writing feel like fun rather than a chore.
Make friends with your inner critic. We all have an inner protective voice that tries to stop us from doing new things. Find out what your inner critic is afraid of and reassure it.
Try not to miss more than one day. If you miss a day of writing, do your best to write the next day so you keep building the writing habit.
Use technology to help you, such as setting a reminder in your phone to write.
If it feels like fun, use a habit tracker. There are free habit tracking apps or you can create a manual system such as a checklist or crossing off days on a calendar.
Spend time with other writers, both online and in person if possible.
Don’t worry about how “good” your writing is. We all have ideas from school about what “good writing" means, and most of those ideas are not helpful.
Start paying attention to which writers inspire you. What do you find inspiring about them as people and/or their writing?
Learn to regulate your nervous system. When we’re trying something new that feels a little scary, it can throw our nervous system out of balance (especially if we’ve experienced trauma). Fortunately there are new discoveries every day about how to regulate our nervous systems and you can find many simple suggestions and tools online and in books.
No editing! You can always come back and edit your writing later if you want to, which is a different process. For now, just write.
Be selective about who you share your writing with as you build your writing habit and your confidence.
Read other people’s ideas about writing if you want to, but remember that you are unique and what is helpful for other people may not be best for you.
Bonus (actually the most important): Make your own list of writing tips - what helps you to write?
Love,
Liz
P.S. If you are a heart-centered woman who enjoys writing, come join our free private Facebook group to connect with other like-minded women!
In the group I share tips, writing suggestions, quotes by women writers, and other fun stuff. Here’s the link to join:
www.facebook.com/groups/womenwritingforfunandhealing/
