How to Make a Habit of Writing

October 24, 2024

First Things First: October Questionnaire

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How to make a habit of writing

1. Put it on your schedule. Block off time during which you will schedule nothing else.

2. Instead of aggressive productivity goals like word count, make a goal to show up and do a certain activity. Small goals are good: open the file of your work in progress and spend an hour with it.

3. Incorporate a small reward—a bead in a jar, a square of chocolate, your favorite tea.

4. Have an accountability buddy (or several). Consider doing the work with friends, the way we do in writing sprints.

5. Tell others you’ll be busy. Make yourself unavailable for the time you’ve blocked out. For real. Even your kids. It’s good for them to learn independence and to see a parent working hard on something that’s meaningful to them.

6. Pat yourself on the back. Tell a friend who gets it, “I spent an hour with my art today.”

7. Return to #1 and repeat.

8. If you miss a day, do not freak out. Get back at it next time. Put the next writing time on your calendar and move forward.

It’s not magic. Making writing a habit is all about repeating small acts of focus. It’s about coming back to your work week in and week out, keeping the thread going, and making incremental progress. Big chunks of productivity are great but infrequent. What keeps you going are the small actions you build into your daily life. No Time to Write Club is here to help you build a writing habit. We’re all about showing up, being consistent, and helping each other by being present and doing the work together.

If you join us twice a week and write a page during each sprint, in a year you’ll have written nearly a hundred pages. And perhaps even more important, you’ll gain writing momentum to carry you through the other days of the week.

The world needs your work, and your work needs your attention.

—Sara

October Podcast

In which we discuss what it’s like when writing is difficult—and why that means you’re doing it right. Our next podcast episode will be out on November 14.

No Time to Write Club Schedule: October 25–November 10, 2024

To join our sprints you must be a paid subscriber :)

Zoom links are below for paid subscribers.

• Sunday, October 27, 4:30pm ET: Zoom writing sprint (75 minutes)

• Tuesday, October 29: Asynchronous Sprint Day, 6AM–11pm ET on the Substack Chat

• Wednesday, October 30, 9:00pm ET: Zoom writing sprint (75 minutes)

• Wednesday, November 6, 9:00pm ET: Zoom writing sprint (75 minutes)

• Thursday, November 7, noon ET: Zoom writing sprint (75 minutes)

• Sunday, November 10, 4:30pm ET: Zoom writing sprint (75 minutes)

What We’re Up To

Sara sent her completed manuscript to her agent! Cue flailing-Kermit hands! She is celebrating by participating in the first annual Crozet Book Fest this weekend. Hosted by the fabulous proprietors of Bluebird & Co. in Crozet, Virginia, the book fest features panels, activities, bookish trivia, and crowd-sourced mad-libs read dramatically by award-winning audiobook narrator Marni Penning (who also happens to be a member of NTTWC!). And of course, copious opportunities to enjoy, read, talk about, and buy BOOKS! If you’re near central Virginia, come check it out.

Tes is working on some rebranding/website tweaks (stay tuned) and is heading to DC on Sunday to see Cyndi Lauper! (SO EXCITED!!!)