Mastering Writing Habits for the Journey Ahead
When Discipline Fails, These Habits Can Save You
This work, the writing life, is a grind. I recently saw this Tolstoy quote and wanted to share it with you: “A man on a thousand-mile walk has to forget his goal and say to himself every morning, ‘Today I’m going to cover twenty-five miles and then rest up and sleep.' ”
On the writing journey, it’s tough to wake up every day thinking about the pages of work ahead. That’s why you have to focus on today’s twenty-five miles. Then get some rest. Then repeat.
That’s how you reach the end — not by obsessing over the distance, but by mastering the discipline of showing up daily.
The goal is important.
But in the end, it’s the routine that gets you there.
Another way to think about routine is through habits. If I focus too much on my routine, I get distracted because inevitably, something breaks my routine — a sick kid, a work deadline, etc. Life is excellent at doing that to us. So, what do I do when I’ve been knocked off course?
I lean into my writing habits.
James Clear can teach us something about that:
But most days, mental toughness isn't about crossing the finish line. It's about getting to the starting line:
- Show up when no one is watching
- Keep your eye on the ball
- Do a little bit every day
Mental toughness is not skipping the days that are easy to skip.
One of my writing habits is starting. Just get started and see what happens. Whether I’m building a book proposal, writing a story, or trying to get in a groove, I force myself to start.
The second thing I do is I set a timer. I’m a big believer in the Pomodoro technique. The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that utilizes a timer to break down work into focused intervals, typically 25 minutes in length, separated by brief breaks. You can get a lot done in short amounts of time – and short amounts of time are also super doable.
The last thing I try to do is give myself a lot of grace. The world we live in, with its fast-paced current, is not conducive to the writing life. Every time I see a runner out running, I say to myself, That’s someone who is choosing to do something hard; they are putting themselves out there.
As writers, you are doing the same. You deserve a lot of credit — make sure you remember that.
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