I’ve wanted to be a writer for about 12 years now. And it’s a relatively simple field to break into: all you have to do is sit down and write every single day.
Simple enough, right?
A couple of weeks ago, I read a post by Nathan Barry that convinced me I needed to get back into a habit I’d developed almost by accident several years ago.
It was 2007 and it was my first time participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), where you attempt to write 50,000 words in one month.
In order to make the goal, I had to write every day. Which I did, and it was awesome.
When December rolled around, I figured I’d keep writing because I enjoyed it so much. And that’s where all the content for The Writer’s Coin came from.
In case you didn’t notice, I haven’t written there in a while.
Lucky for me, it isn’t because I don’t have the time — I’m still waking up earlier than I need to so I have the open time. But increasingly, I find myself catching up on email, looking at box scores, and trying to learn MySQL.
And it hit me: I missed the creative process.
So I decided to set a relatively small goal: write 1,000 words a day. Every day. No matter what.
It doesn’t all have to get published anywhere. It doesn’t have to be amazing. It just has to be 1,000 words.
That was two weeks ago, and already I feel very different. It’s kept me focused and has gotten my brain into a routine of constant brainstorming.
James Altucher has something called his daily practice, and he’s a big proponent of coming up with ideas every day. He claims that once you get into a habit, your brain will anticipate the need to come up with ideas and start working even when you’re sleeping or rarely paying attention.
Notes from 14 days in a row
It’s important to share this with others. It keeps you honest if other people know you’re trying to accomplish a daily goal like this. It’s also good to give yourself a pat on the back every day that you succeed. My daughter has a chart where she checks stuff off — eating breakfast, packing her bag, brushing her teeth — and I added a space on her chart for my check. I only get it if I hit 1,000 words.
The sooner, the better. During the week, I get my count out of the way first thing in the morning, so I’m not stressed about trying to find time later. It also feels great to accomplish something before you even get to work. It makes you feel like you aren’t just what you do at work, which is important.
Share what you’re doing. Austin Kleon wrote a book called Steal Like an Artist where he spends a lot of time talking about how important it is to share your work. Not everything I’m writing is going to be published, but I think most of it will eventually.
Have a lot of different pieces going. If you only have one idea and you won’t move on until you’re done with it, it’s going to make things tough. I’ve woken up raring to go and then opened up a piece and thought: “Eh, this is boring, I don’t want to write about this anymore.” Danger — streak is in jeopardy. If you have a few things going at once you can just switch over to another and write away. The end goal is 1,000 words. Don’t forget.
Keep a list. Whether it’s on your phone or in a notepad, keep this with you at all times and jot down any ideas you have for topics. The bigger the list, the better odds you’ll have something you’re motivated to write about.
Mix it up. Baseball, digital marketing, research, fiction. Lots of different types of writing keep my brain moving and stave off boredom.
Long and Short. So far I’ve been writing smaller pieces that average around 1,000 words. After editing, they’ll probably be around 650–700. That’s a nice, bite-sized length I can easily publish quickly. Small wins are important and have helped me generate some momentum I can use to start working on bigger projects. Starting small and building up.
I’m a machine. I’ve gotten so good at this that I can throw down 1,000 words in 20 minutes. A few times it’s been late at night, I’m tired, and I’ve had to drag myself to the computer to hit my daily goal. And afterwards? I feel unstoppable.
I don’t know how many days in a row I’ll be able to manage this, but it’s been great to get back to my writerly life and have lots of new content to share.
Boom — I’m a writer.