Guest Post by Allyson Jamison: 6 Ways You Can Build Consistency as a Writer

Our desire is to become a better writer. To learn and grow and see the fruits of our labors. We want to wake up one day and suddenly see how far we’ve come. How much better a writer we are.

This desire will hit strong and we’ll write nonstop for several days in a row, maybe even a week or two. But then it happens. The motivation runs out. We skip writing days. We go weeks, even months, without writing a word.

What do we do about this? How do we grow that consistency? How do we balance the busyness and responsibilities of life with our writing life? How do we find time for it all?

These are all popular questions and tough ones to answer. It all depends on your personal life and what you’re willing to sacrifice for the things you love. And how much diligence you have to get a project done.

Sound like something you’re interested in? Read on.

How are you spending your free time?

Life is understandably busy. We have responsibilities that can’t be ignored no matter what age you are or what season of life you may be in. Life is busy.

But, no matter how busy life is, we all have free time. That half hour you spend drinking coffee in the morning. All the time you spend checking social media or texting friends. Your lunch break. In the evening before you go to bed. Watching movies. We all find time to do the things we enjoy… But you have to get your priorities straight.

I’m not saying you should become an unsocial recluse and stop texting your friends or become a workaholic and never stop for meals. There is importance in finding time for yourself, but there’s also things you can cut back on to find time for other things.

How long do you spend on social media in a day? How long do you spend in the morning getting ready? How long do you spend on your lunch break? These are all times you could be writing!

Make a goal to only spend, say, five to ten minutes on social media and spend the rest of the time usually spent there writing. Or even make it a goal to only get on a couple times a week so it’s not a distraction at all.

Is there a way you can speed up your mornings? Or maybe you could get up earlier so you can squeeze in a pajama writing session before the busyness of the day kicks in (this is one of my favorite writing times).

Is it possible to write while on your lunch break? Even if it’s only ten to fifteen minutes of quality writing time–even if it’s only five minutes!–it’s words that you managed to get in today.

It’s all about your priorities. If writing is a priority, you will find time for it. Talk to your family and ask if it’s possible for an hour in the afternoon uninterrupted. Rearrange your schedule so that you can have more time for it. If it’s not a priority for you, though, then it will show in the amount of time you find.

Plan for writer’s block

Another thing that always trips writers up is running low on mental energy. If we write, write, write, with little to no breaks then there’s no doubt that our brains will get tired and we’ll need a break. This is when writer’s block, self-doubt, or procrastination kicks in.

If you take the proper time here and there to read a book, take a walk, go on a picnic, or anything else that might fill your creative well then you won’t spend as much time facing these road blockers. Find out what fills your creative well and intentionally incorporate those activities into your day to day life. This is what I’ve done for myself and I was amazed at the improvement I saw in my life. You can see the same in your own life.

When you’re not constantly being stopped by your mental energy taking a dip, you can work harder on building your consistency and growing as a writer.

Make it fun

Writing can feel like a chore at times–especially if you’re trying to build consistency. It becomes just another thing on your to-do list that needs to be checked off. But it should never be a chore!

If your writing has become a chore, then I suggest taking a step away from it and reevaluating why you write. Writing should always be fun and exciting, something you love doing. But sometimes you need to help yourself in this area and make it fun for yourself.

There is a trend going around about “romanticizing” your writing, and, I have to admit, I’m a fan. It’s all about making your writing space lovely or your writing time fun. It’s about reconnecting with your writing and remembering what you love so much about it. This is important as a writer. You should never forget what you love about your writing!

So take some time, find out what makes your writing time fun and then incorporate that. For me, it’s having a clean desk, candles, and the perfect music playlist. With these elements, not only can I have a more focused writing time, but I fall in love with it while I’m doing it.

Set a daily writing goal

If you’re working on building consistency then something that could be very beneficial for you is to set a daily writing goal. This is what made the ultimate difference for me back when I was struggling to find a more consistent writing schedule. Even if this word goal is only one hundred, that’s one hundred words that you made time to write each day. And by the end of a month or two, you’ll be amazed how many words you’ve racked up!

Now, a daily word goal isn’t for everyone. I’ve found some people who have said having a daily word goal is more stressful and blocking than helpful for them. Even for myself, these days I’ve found that they can be too stressful sometimes. But when I was focusing mainly on consistency, they were a lifesaver for me and they might be for you as well.

I would suggest giving them a try. If it doesn’t work for you, there’s no harm in stopping. At least you tried! I still enjoy them on occasion, especially if they’re a part of a word crawl. The point is to find what motivates you to sit yourself down day after day and write the words that are locked up inside of you. Don’t hold them back, let them out and see the beauty that comes from it.

The two day rule

I recently heard someone say in terms of working out not to take two days off in a row. Taking a day off is fine and needed a lot of times, but it’s when you take that second day off that it becomes easier to take another day off and another and another… until before you know you’ve taken weeks off.

I believe that this applies in terms of writing as well. There’s no harm in taking a day off here and there–in fact I encourage it! But it’s when you start taking multiple days off in a row that you hit the danger zone. Set a goal for yourself to not skip two days in a row, even if that means you’re only writing every other day. Do not take two days off.

Find a support team and personal cheerleader

What the turning point was for my path to consistency was finding an accountability partner. (She also happens to be my best friend so that’s a win win. ;)) I never thought I needed an accountability partner–never realized what having one would do for my writing. But it was what made all the difference in my writing career. Without her, I would have given up a long time ago.

She’s my personal cheerleader that I can always count on to celebrate my wins with me, be there when I need a pick-me-up, or challenge me to work harder than I otherwise would have. An accountability partner was what led me to being a consistent writer. We critique each other’s works and push each other to become the best that we possibly can. I will always recommend writers finding an accountability partner, especially if they’re working on building consistency.

A support team is also great. Community is more important than a lot of writers give it credit for. There are a lot of great writing communities out there and more continually popping up for writers of all ages to find and grow from. Your support team can even be as simple as your family. They’re the best support team you could have!

Conclusion

These tips are in no certain order, they are simply pointers that I think will set you off in the right direction. Consistency is hard to maintain as a writer and very easy to break. It will take a lot of diligence and hard work to find this in your own life. Are you willing to put in the time?

Once you finally have a consistent writing schedule, you will notice a huge difference in your writing. When I was younger, I always thought consistency was overrated (showed what I knew, right?). But when I actually took the time to build consistency in my own writing life, I suddenly realized how much my writing was improving as a result. And now as I look back over the past couple of years, I’m amazed by how far I’ve come.

That is what you have to look forward to, my friend. If you build and maintain a consistent writing schedule for your life, in a couple years you’ll be able to look back and marvel at everything you’ve accomplished. And that is an incredible feeling indeed!

So tell me, how much time are you willing to dedicate to your writing career? What things are you willing to sacrifice in order to find more writing time? Which of these tips resonated with you the most? How are you going to walk away and use them in your day to day life?

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About Allyson

I am a quirky young writer with a passion to serve Christ in all that I do. Writing makes up the very being of who I am and I could never imagine doing anything else. In my spare time, you can find me reading my pocket-sized thesaurus, playing friendly pranks on unsuspecting family members, or writing my next great novel. Always with a cup of tea.

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Find Allyson’s wonderful blog here for all kinds of writing encouragement, advice, and bookish conversations!