It’s no secret that writing, like any craft, requires sustained practice. With a daily writing routine, you have the chance to work on your writing in smaller, more manageable sections. Making writing a priority, then, is the key to unlocking your potential as a writer. To become a better writer, we must maintain a consistent writing practice that is possible only by placing “writing” at the top of our “to-do” lists. Here are five tips you can try to better prioritize your writing.
1. Find your optimal time of focus
Some writers are early risers who sit at their desks first thing in the morning, brewing some tea or sipping on their coffee as the dust catches sunlight from their bedroom windows. They stay focused and lose themselves in the flow of writing for hours. Others may type all their best ideas deep in the darkness of the night, their faces illuminated by their laptop screens. Still other writers may be best-attuned to focusing in the middle of their days, after they’ve started the rhythms of their afternoons; they may dedicate a 30-minute window of time to writing just before their big lunch break. Carving out daily writing time, regardless of the outcome at the end of your timed session, is crucial to your development as a writer. To echo Maya Angelou’s wise words: “One of the problems we have as writers is we don’t take ourselves seriously while writing; being serious is setting aside a time and saying if it comes, good; if it doesn’t come, good, I’ll just sit here.” Taking yourself seriously means dedicating time to your writing, especially when you’re feeling less motivated than usual.
My point here is that there is no “right” way to approach the timing of your writing session; you may write best in the morning, daytime, or evening. You might write more effectively in shorter bursts or longer work periods. As a writer, figuring out your most worthwhile writing time is a matter of trial and error, depending on your writing project. To understand your own rhythms as a writer, explore your options, learn what time frame works best for you, and honour your dedicated daily writing time in your weekly schedule.
2. Write in response to a prompt
To develop a consistent writing practice, it’s essential to have something to write about. With writer’s block, we as writers may feel constrained and tense. When you feel stuck or lost, seek out prompts to draw inspiration from. Writing to a prompt o flexes your writing muscles because you can experiment with different topics and styles, like trying on new clothing in the changing rooms of a shopping mall. Most importantly, writing to a prompt gives you a clear target or topic—something to aim for; prompts provide clarity that helps to dissolve writer’s block. According to Natalie Goldberg, “Writers end up writing about their obsessions. Things that haunt them; things they can’t forget; stories they carry in their bodies waiting to be released.” The point of prompts is to identify these moments of excitement and to reignite your passion to tell the stories behind them.
A prompt could be something as simple as a word or an object around you. It could be the colour of the perennial daffodils in your front yard, the way your coffee cup leaves a ring on the table when you forget to use a coaster, or last night’s leftovers in the fridge. A prompt could be something striking someone said to you in passing or in passion, a quotation you read, or a favourite song lyric. In any case, prompts stir your imagination because they are catalysts for writing freely.
“One of the problems we have as writers is we don’t take ourselves seriously while writing; being serious is setting aside a time and saying if it comes, good; if it doesn’t come, good, I’ll just sit here.” -Maya Angelou
3. Try some freewriting exercises
One way to get over the slump of writer’s block is to try free-writing. Choose a prompt, set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes, and write without worrying about spelling, grammar, clarity, or anything else that holds you back. Allow your ideas to be released onto the page without worrying about errors, and write down as many ideas down as you can in full sentences. Writing is messy, so embrace the mess—and polish your sentences with elegance, proper pacing, and grammatical changes after you get the initial ideas written out.
The goal here is to overcome the impossible demands of perfectionism. You can always edit your sentences after they’re on the page. When you’re struggling with writer’s block, the most important action you can take is to move your pen on the page—to start somewhere—even if you don’t know where you’re going yet. In the words of Roxane Gay, “If people cannot be flawed in fiction there’s no place left for us to be human.” So, let yourself be human on the page—and let go.
4. Set word counts as your writing goals
Sometimes, the most efficient way to measure your progress is through numbers. Tracking our word counts improves our awareness of what we have achieved in any given writing session. Try out different ranges of numbers to see what works best for you.
Setting a word count as a daily or weekly goal to achieve is an excellent way of prioritizing your writing, because you have a specific and measurable metric to strive for. Choose a number, set it as your word count goal, and aim to achieve this goal. Evaluate your writing sessions with word counts to adjust your goals as needed.
5. Write with others
The craft of writing is a process which may feel elusive and endless, so being part of a community of writers is one way to enrich your writing experience. Bonding with and speaking to writers builds collaboration and collectivity, even if your writing projects are distinct. In a group, writers can meet to discuss their writing techniques, inspirations, challenges, and solutions. Having a strong support group which holds you accountable to your goals is crucial to the success of your writing practice. By attending creative writing workshops or weekly writing groups, you meet individuals with shared interests and improve your writing simultaneously.
Every writer experiences ups and downs in their writing practice. If you’re struggling to meet your writing goals right now, try these strategies and adjust them as necessary to suit your schedule. Above all, just keep writing. Soon enough, you’ll feel the creative flow that brought you to this craft in the first place.