Do you know how to build a writing habit?
You are an authorpreneur and you need to be focused on the business aspect of writing, naturally.
But if you don’t have any books, you don’t have a business.
I used to be an advocate of marketing while you’re still writing the book, but what I’ve found is the marketing and brand building became a fantastic excuse not to write anything. It became a procrastination tool.
The bottom line, is without books, you are wasting your time with branding.
So you need to focus on building your writing habit.
I once had a professor tell me that if I wrote every day for a year, I would be a writer.
I did that experiment twice.
Once in college and once a few years later.
I actually did write every single day for a year.
Even if it was a line about how tired I was, I still wrote.
But in no way am I advocating you write every single day for a year. I am advising you to develop the habit.
Scientists say it can take anywhere from 21 to 66 days to formulate a habit.
That sounds a helluva lot better than 365 days.
But reality is if you can build that habit, you will have a writing practice that will get you where you want to go.
Let’s get started on that path!
Steps on how to build a writing habit.
First, take inventory.
Do you REALLY want to be a writer or do you want to have written?
Be honest with yourself.
A lot of folks really love reading and they love talking about writing and they love storytelling.
But that’s a world away from spending hours alone with characters in your head moving your fingers on a keyboard.
Take a deep look at what you really want from this writing life.
If it’s to be a writer, move on to step two.
If it’s to have written, or maybe it’s just meh, you aren’t quite sure yet. don’t despair. Keep reading and attending conferences because it is a blast to be around creatives and you’ll find your path.
Second, take action.
If you’ve decided that YES you want to be a writer, you want to put in the time, then decide to take action.
Look at your life and your schedule.
What can you really devote to your writing life?
An hour? An afternoon? Ten minutes?
50 words? 1000 words? 5000 words?
Be realistic.
Third, take the time.
Are you a morning person?
Then don’t schedule your writing time after everyone goes to bed.
If you’re a night owl, don’t tell yourself you’ll get up at the crack of dawn and crank out pages to the sound of roosters.
Set yourself up for success by figuring out which part of the day really works for you.
Put it in your calendar and do not deviate for at least 66 days.
Fourth, go public.
The more accountability you can force on yourself, the more likely you’ll hit your goals.
Whether you post daily or weekly goals on your social media or you put your goals in a weekly email to your followers, find a way to go public and hold yourself accountable.
Going public makes it more real.
Fifth, get creative.
Give yourself a reward for meeting your daily, weekly, monthly goals.
Got your 10 minutes of writing in?
Awesome! Gold star!
Finished your 1000 words?
Starbucks time!
Whatever will motivate you on an incremental basis is what you want to put in your reward jar.
Make it happen
Finally, just remember, you are doing this because you want to be a writer. You want to sell books.
Figure out how to build a writing habit that works for you. Then keep it going until you’ve created your inventory.
Create great things and become the authorpreneur you want to be!