How to Establish A Writing Routine & Schedule

I write in an effort to exude love from my vessel and to spread awareness to others in a way they may have never perceived certain ideas before. I write to feel safe. I write as a form of therapy and to express myself freely. I write without fear of judgment because everything is relative.

If you love to write as much as me, you find both intrinsic and extrinsic value in the cathartic sliding of fingers across keys…or perhaps a utensil against paper. I have started to realize my lack of routine and pure reliability on my flow state, which admittedly is often inconsistent.

I wanted to share some techniques and practices that have helped me to hold myself accountable, make time for my writing on a consistent basis, and enjoy writing on days when I truly don't feel like it. Feel free to share any tips and tricks that I have missed in the comments!

Practice Makes Perfect

Although it may sound tired, the phrase holds true in every aspect of improvement. Consistent writing is the best way to improve yourself and grow into your voice, your stylistic choices, and even learn new words. This is also important when trying to create and implement a daily writing habit. But you must not hold yourself to a degree of perfect writing. You must just keep writing!

A routine will lead you closer to reaching your writing goals. I personally have an outpouring of writing goals both in a hard copy version amongst more ideas in my head. So I need to stay organized and hold myself accountable.

When I feel like I don't have enough hours in the day, I remember that I am not prioritizing my writing. When I sit down to type, I am often distracted by my phone, even for a valid reason. And if I am not in flow state, it may take me a little bit longer to get my ideas down on the page in a succinct, concrete way. When you block off time during your day, every day, even if it's a small amount of time, you are telling yourself that you value your writing and wish to continue doing it.

When I first began writing online, I spent a lot of time educating myself about how various platforms operate. I figured, why not learn from the best since I have access to them?

I'll never forget what a renown writer said. Her writing is not limited to her desk. She takes the opportunity to write something during any sliver of her day that she has a spare moment. Whether it be in a waiting room, on a bus, on the toilet, she just writes and writes. She mentioned that you always have access to the notes section on your phone to jot down something that may turn out to be worthy. And truthfully, she is right.

During college, I had to take the Rutgers bus from campus to campus and would spend over an hour per day on transportation on some days. I spent that time studying, catching up with friends on the phone, eating, and you guessed it - scrolling on social media mindlessly. Not only did I waste such valuable nuggets of time that likely added up to a whole lot. I also underestimated the potential of making those in-between moments of our day really count.

The Writing Zone

Keep your brain in the writing zone: I have noticed that when I am on a regular writing schedule, I come up with article ideas at random times of the day. It's because my brain is in the writing zone, and it tries to create quality content out of literally anything I encounter in my day-to-day life.

Often in conversation with people, I will come up with an idea for an article and quickly jot down the title or main idea into the notes on my phone. It might be on a topic I know nothing about, consider myself an expert in, or simply have foundational knowledge in and could use some other resources to help me with.

When you live in a state of the writing zone, you are able to view life from a writer's perspective and come up with ideas and content in a more natural way. And the longer you live your life through the lens of one who likes to write, the easier it will become each morning when you wake for you to jump into the next fresh idea.

A big concern amongst writers, specifically newbies is that they will eventually run out of things to say. Personally, I have yet to experience this feeling. This is because I am fond of researching the nooks and crannies of different topics and subsets within these topics. I consider myself a student of life.

Truthfully, I take a little longer than the average person to form an opinion about something because I like to thoroughly educate myself before jumping to conclusions. When you write, you are pulling ideas from an infinite supply of inspiration, which is one of the reasons I personally value writing so much.

How to Set Writing Goals

If you don't set goals for how often you want to write, you will struggle with focus and motivation. Maybe you can try writing your goals down on paper, rather than allowing them to float around in your head. This will serve as a daily reminder of what you are working towards. Most new writers often have a goal of wanting to write more. But what counts as more and what is more being based on?

When we are specific with how often we want to write per day and on what topics, it can help us to actually achieve great things. Language also matters. Rather than saying, "I want to write more," you can say "I will write 500 words every day." This is more concrete and will enable you to hold yourself accountable as well as further your improvement.

Maintain realistic goals, but dream big. By starting small and working consistently, you can reach your biggest aspirations without putting too much pressure on yourself. Ease yourself into it. Maybe you want to write for thirty minutes per day and then gradually increase.

If you have a hard time considering your writing time as a serious thing, distractions and excuses may invade your creativity. When you treat your designated writing times like a meeting with a colleague, your mindset around the specified time block may change significantly.

Workspace: Creating your designated workspace can be beneficial for entering the flow state and unleashing our creativity. I personally do my best writing outdoors and feel energized by having my bare feet on the grass with frequent kisses from the sun.

Ideally, I would love to always write outside because it naturally immerses me into a space of hyper-awarenesss, acute focus, gratitude, and sense of purpose. I am lucky to be able to get the majority of my writing done outdoors.

If you don't have the opportunity to write in a place that is ideal for you: eg, at the beach, in the mountains, by water, etc, then create a space that includes elements of your happy place. If you love nature, perhaps you can play nature sounds while you write, keep some plants on your desk, and work in a room that has lots of natural light. Do whatever you can do that brings your space to life, relaxes you, and keeps you feeling inspired and focused.

The Value in Ritual

When we associate certain sounds and sights, we can train ourselves to enter a specific mindset when being exposed to these stimuli. If you think this sounds odd, compare it to studying. In college, I would try my best to study in the same classroom and even same seat as the place I would be taking the test.

I would chew peppermint gum or have a specific drink or snack while studying and was sure to repeat what I ate moments before or during taking the test. The specific stimuli of my peppermint chewing gum assisted in helping me recall the material I needed. This can be translated to maintaining a successful writing ritual as well. Using the same pen to write, the same color of ink, the same notebook, etc may trigger feelings of security and creativity that you are not even aware of.

Consistency and repetition are key, and I believe that it takes just thirty days to build a new habit. After thirty days of incorporating different aspects of your personal writing ritual, you will be able to sit down and write more fluently and practice the same habits each day that will help you to succeed.

Don't anticipate perfection for there is no such thing. Expect to experience the occasional day where you just don't feel like writing, perhaps because a neglected passion is pulling at your heartstrings for some attention. There's nothing wrong with taking breaks. If you try to force yourself into your best writing when you just aren't whole-heartedly present with your keyboard or pen and paper, then the product will not be the best. And when we fail, we grow and maintain control over the ego. And that's okay. If you are writing, then you are a writer.

And great writers never stop writing. Yes, they take breaks. Yes, they fail. Yes, they have days and weeks and months where they just can't articulate what exactly they want to say or how they want to say it. But they keep writing and push themselves to meet their daily writing goals. They try their best to maintain a consistent lifestyle that promotes growth and better writing.

When you have those days when you feel like your writing is inadequate, take a step back and breathe. Failure is monumental in the creative process. If we got everything we wanted on our first try, how would we get better and what would we strive towards? There would be no desire for an upward movement and we would become stagnant.

By establishing a routine, you are setting yourself up for success whilst reaching for your dreams. Just keep writing.

Xo, Susie

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