Are you trying to establish a writing routine? 

Over the past two months I have been on a journey to cement an unshakable habit to write nearly everyday.

It has been a huge challenge. But two months in, I can proudly say that this piece is yet another brick in my path forward.

I want share some of the perspective shifts and resources that have culminated to this point that have helped me become, while still imperfect, a more regular online writer.

Make the shift from “I need to build this habit” to “This is a part of my routine.”

The moment I realized that I had had a mental shift from seeing my writing not as a habit I was trying to build but as a regular routine I was practicing was the moment I realized that I would never lose it.

I am not perfect in my schedule; things happen, life gets in the way, or simply lose motivation for that day. However, I never lose the faith that I still have the power and perseverance to create a piece of content the next day. I have let go of the fear that if I don’t produce something on any particular day.

I have stopped letting the hopes of perfection get in my way of building my long-term routine.

What’s the end goal?

While for some people writing is a pleasure which comes naturally, words gushing forth onto the page, for the mere mortals among us — me included — it’s a chore.

I quickly realized that what motivates me to write everyday stems from a clear desire of who I want to be and seeing clearly how being an effective writer directly supports that identity.

Cultivate a voracious curiosity seeking out techniques and resources

As soon as I made the mental shift to seeing how writing is a tool to help me be who I want to be, I started actively and naturally searching out resources to help me improve my writing in my own way.

For me I think about these resources as being part of two categories: techniques on how to improve the writing process and resources teaching about excellence in technical expertise.

Two great resources on writing routines that I found recently have been Julia Cameron's Morning Pages and the process Jeff Goins explains in his LinkedIn course, The Three Bucket System: How to Get Your Writing Done Every Day. 

On writing technique, I have shared these previously, but William Zinsser’s books On Writing Well and Writing to Learn and William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style are three great resources!

If you’re looking to grow your writing routine, I hope that these personal discoveries I have had and resources I have found are as helpful to you as they have been to me.