8 tips for creating a writing habit

I have known a lot of people who really want to get started with writing and want to make it a thing that they do regularly, but they just don’t know how to get into it regularly. It can be really hard to add a new habit to your day, though, and writing is especially tricky because it can also be very dependent on making sure there’s something to write when you do remember to do it.

So here are a few ideas for finding a way to make writing a habit in your life.

Set aside some time in your day dedicated to writing

If you can, schedule a block of time for it. Figure out how long it takes you to get into a good rhythm and stay in it, and be sure to block about that much time a few days a week so that you can get a lot of words in every once in a while. But just to start, block off a little time every day to get started and get in the routine of it.

Set a place

In the same way, sometimes creating a dedicated space for writing can really help. Whether that is setting aside a different part of your room that is dedicated just for writing, or something that you can do to an existing area to change it to a writing space, it can really help to trigger the mindset and the habit if you have a dedicated area for it.

Tell people about it

A little social pressure can be just what we need, so long as it isn’t too judgemental! For some people, just knowing that other people know they were going to try and do this is enough to kick them into making it happen. The knowledge that they might be asked about it eventually means they will make sure they have an answer.

Get a writing buddy

Alternately, get a friend to join in! If there’s two of you working on the same goal, you can coordinate your schedules and meet up to get some writing done, get on a call to write at the same time, or just check in with one another to talk about what you’re working on to keep one another motivated.

Find the time in odd places

If you really look at what you do in a day, there might be a couple strange pockets of time that you can utilize to get some words in on a project. When I wor5ked downtown, I would be on transit twice a day for an hour each, so those two hours were dedicated to writing. I was able to make sure I always got a seat because of my schedule, and that might be something you can manage as well. If there’s a time where you’re waiting for something, or traveling as a passenger, you might be able to turn that into a writing session.

Outline your work

Sometimes the biggest hurdle to the habit is just not being able to figure out the words and what you need to happen. If you can create an outline for your work, or even spend a few of your writing sessions on creating that outline, that might help alleviate that issue because you’ll always know what needs to happen next.

Habit tracking

If you find that you’re just forgetting to do it, or you need to see yourself build that habit visually, try a using something like a habit tracker to help you to remember to do sit down and write. Whether that’s just a mark on a calendar, a page in a bullet journal, a sticker chart where you can add a sticker for every day you remember to do it, or an app like Habitica that can gamify the process, sometimes it’s good to be able to see progress in other ways than word count to stay motivated.

Build in rewards for milestones

Sometimes the fun of writing is not enough motivation, especially if you’re dealing with a lot of other things in your life or your story is just not cooperating with you. In these cases, you might want to try giving yourself another reward for not just finishing, but also for hitting milestones. I’ve used plot points in the past: When I get through a plot point, I’d earn a little treat for myself.

And if you’re the kind of person who will just give themselves the reward without doing anything, you can do this with someone who can hold you accountable and let them be in charge of doling out the treats when you hit milestones.

Do you have any other strategies for building a writing habit?