The 5 Easy Steps to Creating a Writing Habit that Will Allow You to Publish a Story Every Day

1. Set daily word count goals

Set daily word count goals, as they allow you to set realistic expectations of what you can accomplish every day. Writers who write at least 500 words per day are often most successful in their long-term writing goals because they do not let writer’s block stop them from working on their story.

By setting word count goals, you create a get-started trigger for yourself so that you start writing right away. If your story is about 2,000 words long, for example, and it takes one hour for you to write 200 words, set your goal at 200 words. Once again:

Don’t worry about finishing! Just start! That’s how writers get into a flow state and finish their story each day. Set your daily word count goal for all writing projects.

This can be 500 words or 2,000 words per day. Choose a number and stick with it every day. If you don’t reach your goals one day, don’t worry; it doesn’t mean you failed, just try again tomorrow and stay consistent in your effort.

Having daily word count goals will create a measurable process for success. If you know that you need 500 words per day, then every day will be successful.

If you’re writing two or three times per week and expecting some of those days to be short (maybe due to your boss being on vacation), having words per day targets will eliminate excuses when they do come up.

Put in X amount of hours and write Y number of words each day; repeat as necessary until your goal is met.

2. Schedule your time

If you’re trying to build up your writing habit, set yourself goals in terms of word count. Rather than tying yourself down with deadlines and finished projects, start small. If you have 10 minutes of downtime every day, aim for 300 words per day.

If you only have time at night, try for 1000 words per night before bed. Once you’ve created a habit for those small goals (and are consistently accomplishing them), gradually increase their difficulty over time until you’re hitting your project-based milestones each day.

This will allow your life and other writing commitments to come first while still helping you reach your goal of completing a story every single day.

After you know what your story is about, it’s time to schedule your writing time. Take 30 minutes out of every day, and set some reminders so you won’t forget.

It’s important not to schedule something immediately after you wake up as you will be tired (unless it's super important). I personally like early morning because I find it easier to concentrate when everyone else is asleep.

Once you’ve blocked out your daily writing time, schedule it on your calendar. It might be easier for you to write at 7:00 AM or 11:00 PM every day, but try not to be too strict about your time — you don’t want to burn yourself out before you even get started.

3. Commit

Decide when you will work on your novel each day and write out a schedule. You can even find free apps for your phone or computer that will make it easy for you to keep track of your schedule.

It’s okay if it takes some time — you should get into it before you actually begin writing. As with any new activity, start off slowly and build up more time as you go along.

Before long, writing will become part of your everyday routine and you’ll be amazed at how productive — and happy — you are! Pick a trigger in your life. Maybe it’s waking up every morning, getting home from work, or sitting down at your desk.

Maybe it’s some other cue in your daily routine, like brushing your teeth or eating lunch. Whatever you choose, try to make sure it happens every day at roughly the same time.

Do something every day, even if it’s just for half an hour. Then tell people about it. It will feel hard at first, but eventually, you’ll see progress and realize you don’t want to miss out on your daily writing time.

Then you can celebrate your new writing habit! Share pictures of yourself with your journal or notebook, or tweet them with #WritingHabit so everyone can cheer you on. The more support from friends and family members, the better!

Most importantly, don’t stop yourself from writing because you don’t have time for it in your busy schedule! Remember: creating a writing habit is easy if you make it a priority — and if others know about it!

4. Write every day

I can’t stress enough how important writing every day is, not just as part of building a writing habit but also as part of producing quality work. Writers who write every day are simply better writers than those who don’t.

The best thing about it is how easy it really is: once you start doing it and make it into a habit, you won’t have to force yourself anymore, which will free up more time for writing.

Find a small chunk of time every day — even just thirty minutes — and schedule your writing session for that exact time and then do whatever else you need with your life until then.

Make writing part of your daily routine, and you’ll get into a habit of writing every day. (It’s just like flossing — you don’t want to do it, but you do it every day because that’s what good people do.)

Even if you only write for 30 minutes, aim for daily sessions so you build momentum and maintain your focus. Writers write. If you want to be a writer, you must be willing to make time for writing every day, even if it’s just for 15 minutes.

I’ve been writing every day since March 2014. Some days are better than others, but I find once I get into my groove (usually after 10–15 minutes), everything flows naturally and quickly. Find out what works best for you! And don’t fret about things not being perfect — just get it done!

5. Build Consistency

Consistency is key. If you have committed yourself to publish one story per day and have published five stories so far, then you don’t want to miss your sixth day.

All it takes is one missed day to throw off your writing schedule and make it harder for you to continue with your habit. To build consistency into your new habit, create an alarm on your phone that goes off every morning at 8 AM (or whatever time works best for you).

That alarm will be your reminder that it's time to get started on another chapter of writing. After you start writing on a regular basis, it’s important to develop a habit of making consistent progress every day.

Set yourself up for success by building in mini-milestones that make your long-term goal easier to achieve. For example, if you want to write 2,000 words per day.

Try breaking it into smaller goals of 500 words at two different times in your day (i.e., 500 words first thing in the morning and then 500 more before bed). Inconsistency is one of our biggest enemies. In order to get your writing habit, you must be able to create a routine for yourself and stick with it.

One of my favorite ways to do that is with an app called Habitica. It’s basically an RPG for productivity; it uses all sorts of game mechanics, like experience points and rewards, to motivate you into improving your life.