7 Healthy Habits for Writers to Find Success

Cultivating good practices and incorporating them into your daily routine can make you more a far more dynamic, efficient, and productive writer. In fact, making a few small adjustments can make all the difference.

(13 Paying Horror Markets for Writers.)

One: Write Every Day

It sounds like a cliché, and it probably is, but try to write every day without fail. Whether you feel like it or not. It doesn’t even have to be for long. Depending on your schedule and other commitments, an hour a day five or six days a week would be a good starting point. If your time is especially limited, try to organize your thoughts and develop an idea of what you want to write beforehand so it saves ‘thinking’ time when the opportunity comes to sit down at the computer. It might help to unplug to eliminate distractions, so turn off the TV, and most importantly, your phone.

Pro tip: Avoid the dreaded writer’s block by not working exclusively on a single project. Keep several on the go concurrently, and when the words dry up on one, switch to another.

Two: Cultivate a Routine

Get into a routine. Try a few variations, and see what suits you best. Personally, one of the first things I do each morning when I sit at my computer is check the news. If someone started World War III overnight, I want to know about it. Before I head to the news sites, on the way past, you might say, I often take a quick glance at what’s trending on X. The platform has its detractors but does a decent job of judging public opinion and distilling what people are reading about. As the day progresses I have regular meal times and exercise breaks. Structure is especially important if you work from home.

Pro tip: Experiment writing at different times of day until you find the working conditions that make you most productive.

Three: Read Widely

Another cliché, perhaps. And also bang on the money. Try to incorporate a designated reading period—half an hour immediately before you go to sleep, for example—and stick to it. Don’t just read in your niche or genre, but read everything you can get your hands on. Study the various techniques and styles you come across, and make notes about what works and what doesn’t. You can learn just as much from bad writing as you can from good writing. All this provides not only a literary education but a solid grounding for your own work. Finally, visit or revisit some of the greats and try to understand what makes them great.

Pro tip: Joining a book club can not only provide motivation and inspiration, but also help with book recommendations and encourage you to venture outside your comfort zone.

Four: Consume Media

And don’t just read books. Consume all media. That means magazines, TV shows, movies, podcasts, radio shows, and websites, especially those which publish content with a cohesive narrative structure. Study the plot, the characterization, the pacing, and the dialogue. If you have never read poetry, read some poetry. Also, talk to members of your social circle who have an appreciation for a particular writer or artist and ask them what the attraction is. Try to think of ways—any positives you identify can benefit your writing.

Pro tip: Writing opinion pieces or short reviews of the things you see or hear is not only a great way to flex your writing muscles, but also provides a steady stream of content for your blog or social media channels.

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Five: Keep Records

Take copious notes. Life is happening all around you, so document as much of it as you can. You never know when inspiration will strike or when something seemingly mundane will ‘land’ and provide a spark. While a great many writers still prefer the old ‘pen and notepad’ approach, you can just as easily write notes using an app on your smartphone or even email them to yourself. When you have an idea for a story, or a snippet of dialogue spontaneously forms in your mind, write it down immediately. Don’t trust yourself to remember it later.

Pro tip: Keep a notebook next to your bed because you will probably find that many of your best ideas come at night when you are processing the day’s events. This can also double as a dream diary, another potentially fertile source of material.

Six: Be Organized

This means filing away everything you write in a logical order so you can easily find it again later, and regularly backing up your files to avoid losing anything. Make to-do lists so you don’t forget anything important, prioritize time-sensitive projects, and keep detailed records of everything you submit. Trust me, there is nothing more embarrassing than receiving an email from an editor saying, “We already said ‘no’ to this story last December.”

Pro tip: Physically write your to-do list on paper, or print it out and pin it somewhere you will see it multiple times a day. On the wall of your office, for example, or on your refrigerator door. This makes it more tangible.

Seven: Create Clear Goals

Think seriously about what you want to accomplish, both long term and short term, and devise a strategy that will give you the best chance of getting there. One inescapable commitment is word count. You should always aim to work smarter, not harder, but as a writer, you won’t get very far if you don’t write. Be firm but realistic. You often see people crowing on social media about how many thousands of words they wrote that day. What they don’t tell you is how many hours they will have to spend bringing that writing up to a publishable standard. Personally, I would much rather have 700 carefully-honed words I can use than 7,000 words it will probably take me another two days to polish and edit.

Pro tip: Implement a reward system. Everybody works better with some kind of incentive in place, so be good to yourself.