Atomic Habits, sort of.

Near the end of last year, I decided to spend more time writing. I committed to writing one article a week, which seemed like a solid start since I have never dedicated any time to writing- which is weird because all I ever do in my head is… fake write. I walk through life crafting sentences, paragraphs, book titles, fictional conversations, without ever putting them down in writing. I have scrap papers laying around with little tidbits that I would like to include in a book or poem someday, but until last year, I never spent time making time to write. But I figured, if I wanted to be a writer, and wanted to write books, and to make a living doing it, I should probably actually do the thing. So, one article a week seemed like a good starting point.

This isn’t to say I wasn’t working on other things- my dad wrote a book and I’ve been working on revisions, I published a children’s book that I wrote, I published a book of poetry, I had a job writing scripts for an animation company. But regardless, my writing was inconsistent. And I’d hear all these writers say, the key to writing is to do it every day. I’m sorry, what? Sir and ma’am, I do not have time for that. I hear about other writers that get up at 5 am and write 2,000 words before their families wake up. Also, that’s going to be a big fat no from me. Not because I don’t believe in myself, or my skills, but because I am not a morning person, and if I get up at 5 am to write, all that is going to come out is gibberish. So again, one article a week seemed like something I could commit to and seemed like a good start.

I think if I worked a different type of day job, it would be easier. When I did payroll and benefits, I probably did a whole eight to ten hours of actual work in an entire week and spent the rest of the time trying to look busy. This was back when blogs were everything, and everyone wanted to be a Blogger with a capital B, including me. Point being, when I had a job that allowed it, I did manage to write almost daily. So actually, let me retract that bit in the beginning about never having dedicated any time to writing, because I forgot about my blog “Bedtime Penguin Pals” for the moment, and I am not going back to rewrite my introduction. But that was also 15 years ago. Since then, I haven’t had the type of job that allowed me to toggle between spreadsheets and writing the next great American novel. So, between working at the salon, nurturing my marriage, raising a puppy, having hobbies, and also making time to do nothing, writing two pieces a week is a challenge, but I am absolutely loving it. Since I have started writing more, I feel more… at peace. Less anxious. More focused. Weird, it’s almost like doing the things you love makes you happy or something.

Fast forward to January, and I met with the owner of a local bookstore to discuss carrying my book, Annie the Adventurer, and to schedule a time to do a book signing. While we were getting to know each other, I told her about these pieces that I publish, and she said, “Have you read the book Atomic Habits?” I had heard about it, yes, but not read it. She summarized a few things for me, including that the author used to post a story every Monday and Thursday on his blog, and it became one of the fastest growing blogs on the internet, gained him a book deal, and thus Atomic Habits was born. Or at least that’s what I remember her saying, but mainly my takeaway was, oh I only have to publish something twice a week and I should do it on Mondays and Thursdays to get a book deal, and what a coincidence, I don’t work at my salon on Mondays and Thursdays- TALK ABOUT MEANT TO BE. (I would also like to note that I personally know someone that wrote one article that went viral, and she landed a book deal, so I know it can happen, and mine is on its way.) So, with that inspiration, I committed to writing two pieces a week, which may not sound like a lot, but trust me, it is.

This might be about the time you say, but wait, it is Tuesday. And you would be correct. I had an epiphany over the weekend. I know the experts say, if you want to be successful, look at successful people and do what they do. And I believe that. If you want to build wealth, don’t take advice from poor people. If you want to get good at yoga, don’t take lessons from a dentist or whatever. So, if the guy that wrote Atomic Habits posted on Mondays and Thursdays, I should do that. But then I had that little voice inside say, OK, but that was what HE did, so why don’t you take his formula and make it your own? So, without doing literally any kind of research as to when the best times and day to post are but using his two-times-a-week formula, I decided to post on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the foreseeable future. I’m still not sure why I don’t have a book deal yet, but maybe switching days is the magic formula. But I feel encouraged. Yesterday, I got an email from Substack informing me that I am on a six-week streak- and that is longer than 71% of writers on the platform. That feels like a huge accomplishment to me. For six solid weeks, I have stayed on track, I have produced, I have created, and I have published. I can’t quite figure out why I don’t have subscribers up the wazoo yet, but if you build it, they will come, I guess.

In the meantime, to those of you that read this, thank you for being here. Thanks for listening. Thanks for following me on this journey. Thank you for providing support as I figure out how to write, when to write, and what to write. Some days, I think, let me kill two birds with one stone, and start writing a book and just publish a new chapter twice a week. Or even once a week and use the other day to publish an essay. Some days, I think let me just come on here and clear my head. Other days, I just publish a poem. Someday, I may drag out an old blog post and republish it here. I don’t know. But what I do know is that being this focused, and dedicated, feels awesome, and on the days the little gremlin inside that tries to limit my potential by telling me I’m not good enough, I want to write more instead of less, and I think that’s worth a lot. I have no idea what will come out of me on Thursday, but there will be something. So, until Thursday, my friends, good night.