Building a Writing Habit

It can be tricky to form a solid writing habit and stick to it. The number of times I’ve made a New Year’s Resolution to write more, only for it all to fall apart by February? Innumerable. I mean, not literally, I’m only 28, but it feels that way.

But writing is something that I want to do. I even enjoy it, mostly! So, why is it so difficult to make writing a habit? I wanted to try to get to the bottom of it.

In January, I read Atomic Habits

Atomic Habits, by James Clear, is a practical guide to building better habits. It goes into why and how habits form, and how you can use those mechanisms to your advantage.

I’m not going to go into detail about the theories he puts forward in his book. If you’re interested in habit formation, and how to create and stick to good habits, I’d recommend reading it. If I was organised enough to have some sort of Amazon affiliate link set up, I’d put that here, but I don’t. But it’s a pretty easy read, and has a lot of actionable advice. What I am going to do is take a few of the ideas suggested in the book and apply them to writing.

How can you make a writing habit easier to stick to?

In the book, Clear talks about the four things you need to do to establish a habit. In its simplest form, you need to:

• Make it obvious
• Make it attractive
• Make it easy
• Make it satisfying

Let’s look at some ways you can apply that to your writing habits.

1. Make the option to write obvious

The first principle of good habit formation pretty much comes down to your surroundings. Your environment is hugely important. Essentially, to make your habits stick, you’ll need a cue. For that cue to be maximally successful, you want it to be related to something you already do reliably.

I’ve seen this work both ways for myself. I wanted to start writing a few pages of a notebook every day, and I initially planned to do it first thing every morning. I managed it a couple of times, but it didn’t stick. On the other hand, something I have been doing reliably is filling out my bullet journal at night. So, I put the notebook where I want to do my writing on top of my journal. And I’ve written two to three pages every evening, right before I go into my journal. I can vouch for this one!

For me, going to fill out my journal in the evening is now my cue for my writing habit. Whatever format you want your writing to take, try to tie it to something you already do and you’re likely to see more success.

2. Make it attractive to write

We’re motivated by positive reinforcement. For more habit success, pair something you want to do with something you need to do where possible.

If you like stopping for a coffee on your way to work, you could leave early enough to stop and write for 20 minutes in the coffee shop. Pairing that activity that you enjoy and look forward to with the habit you’re trying to build will help create that positive association.

3. Make it as easy as you can

This was a hard one for me, I’ll be honest. But if you want to be successful in your habit, don’t set your standards too high. Setting out to write 10 pages a day might be overwhelming, and make it feel impossible to get started.

If you’re having trouble sticking to it, make it easier. Lower the threshold for success. If you look at what you’re asking of yourself and think, “That seems too easy,” you’re probably in the right area.

Once you’ve established your habit, you can look at growing it. Go from three pages to five. Build up from five minutes of writing to ten. But if you try to start at the level of challenge, you’re setting your fledgling writing habit up for failure.

4. Make your writing habit satisfying

We like feeling like we’re making progress! Helpfully, writing can be inherently satisfying, as you see the wordcount tick up or pages of a notebook fill up. But you can also try other ways to add that satisfaction factor to your habit.

If you’re a very visual person, you could use a calendar or habit tracker. I also highly recommend making use of the online writing community! Share your success and look for other people who are trying to develop the same habit. Engaging with other people to celebrate your progress can be another way to find satisfaction in your new habit. And that satisfaction provides the positive reinforcement to make sure you come back to the habit over and over again.

Do you want to write more regularly?

If you try any of these tips, I’d love to hear how it goes! Let me know if you have any tips for people who want to build more writing into their routines.

You may also like:

• Making time for writing
• Reading to become a better writer
• Activities to help make you a better writer