Do I Have to Write Everyday?

Another month, another series! This month, I want to talk about writing: how to become better at writing, how to effectively set writing goals, and much more. So many people love writing, but when it comes down to it, it can be tough to get started. Writing can seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. In this series, I hope you’ll take the opportunity to really jump into writing. Thanks for joining me! You can see all posts in this series by clicking here. 

Here’s a question I get a lot—from my family, from my friends, from comments on this blog, in writing groups, everywhere:

Do I need to write everyday? I struggle to find time and I often hear that writers write every single day. What does that mean?

Here’s the thing about writing every single day: some people can do this and be fine; some people do this and get burnt out fast; some people do this and don’t think about it; some people have to take time training themselves to write everyday without feeling like it’s a chore.

Where you fall on that massive spectrum is up to you.

But here’s my answer: you don’t have write every single day to be a writer, become a better writer, or even write a novel. But you should work on writing at least every week and focus on building your creativity every single day (even if that isn’t in the form of writing).

Here’s why: creativity is a muscle. The more you work it, the easier it will be to call on it.

When you take care of yourself every day—give your brain plenty of rest, good food, take your medication, whatever you need to be a human—it will be easier to call on your creativity when it’s time to write.

Here’s what that process looks like for me. I try to journal every single day, but I’ll be honest: I fell into a pretty serious depression starting in September and as a result, I let go of journaling. I needed to be focused on healing myself and feeling better. So, when it need, I drop journaling. Otherwise, I try to at least read for 15 minutes everyday, stop using my phone after 6pm (this one is hard), and do something creative (write, embroider, whatever) every single day.

I do write every single day in that I write blog posts, social media for clients, and more. I can’t really stop doing that unless I quit my job(s). However, outside of work, I do try to at least thing a little bit about writing and flex my creativity muscles.

All of this is to say: you don’t have to write every day. But the issue isn’t necessarily writing every day, but being creative every single day. You might work on characters; you might research and read books that you like or that are related to your story; you might draw or paint.

So, I think the answer to the question is ultimately this: it depends on you as a person; you should try to at least be creative in some way everyday; your mental health comes first, always; and if writing everyday works for you, then go for it, hun.

Want more about writing everyday? Here are a few blog posts I liked on the subject:

• 9 Steps to Writing Everyday

• How to Write Everyday

• Why You Need to Write Every Day

• “Write Every Day” is Bad Advice

Monthly Journaling: 31 Prompts for October 2020

Happy October! Another month, another exciting set of journaling prompts.

This month, I wanted to focus on finding little joys throughout your month (make sure to check out my Inspiration Sunday post on this subject!), as well as Fall memories, focusing on your mental health (and how that feels in your body), and connecting with yourself through writing.

These prompts are a great way to get yourself writing every day, or just give yourself a few minutes to relax and tune out (and get away from a screen!). I hope you find these helpful!

How to Become a Better Writer

Another month, another series! This month, I want to talk about writing: how to become better at writing, how to effectively set writing goals, and much more. So many people love writing, but when it comes down to it, it can be tough to get started. Writing can seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. In this series, I hope you’ll take the opportunity to really jump into writing. Thanks for joining me!

What does it mean to be a good writer?

Here’s the tough thing about all creative endeavors: what makes them good is incredibly subjective. We tend to think of writing, however, as slightly more subjective (although this isn’t necessarily too). Art is a visual medium and is more accessible to most people; everyone can pretty much look at a photo or piece of art and say, “I like that!” and it’s easy to tell why. With writing, good writing is often not that different from bad writing and lots of people can read good writing and say they don’t like it.

It’s just incredibly subjective.

It also doesn’t help that writing, like art, can be a skill your born with a predisposition to. But by and large, most people become good writers by practicing, by focusing on it every single day.

This brings me to the question of this blog post: how do you become a better writer? How do you get started on the path to improving, to making writing an every day part of your life? Here are my 3 tips.

1. Write every single day without expectations.

You’re not writing the great American novel every single day. You’re just writing. Write in a journal, write in your planner, write somewhere: on the notes app of your phone, in a Google Doc, somewhere, anywhere.

You can write with a prompt, like these ones. You can write about the weather or your day. You can write poems or drabbles or flash fiction; you can write out quotes; you can write about what you read that day.

It doesn’t matter. You can henpeck your way through a short story you want to write, or you can just write about your day, or you can write about whatever you want: your favorite memories, your to do list, whatever. There are so many things you can write about every day.

But the what doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you sit down and write every single day.

2. Read.

This is an incredibly easy one, but sometimes, it’s the hardest. If you want to write frequently, if you want to write well, you have to read. If you don’t like to read, then you probably aren’t going to enjoy writing at all.

Reading improves your vocabulary. It gives you ideas of what you like and dislike when it comes to writing. It helps you create your own writing style. It can inspire you, distract you, keep your mind working when you can’t write anymore.

Reading is incredibly important to writing. The best writers are voracious readers. It doesn’t mean you have to have critical thoughts about every book you read. But it does mean that you should be engaging with books—and not just in genres you love, but all books, new and old—frequently enough. Read books, read articles, read poetry, read blog posts, read, read, read.

3. Write about the mundane.

I have noticed this trend among authors that they focus on the biggest parts of their book. It’s very easy to write climaxes, the scenes we’re excited about. But sometimes, focusing on the mundane aspects of our days and lives, and those of our characters, is what is going to build our skills as writers the most.

One thing I do every day is write a list of interesting things I saw that day. It might be things like, “a man with very long, beautiful hair walking to the convenience store” or “grocery pick up at Target punctuated by crows landing on the hood of my car.” Just normal, average every day things that are interesting, that I might use in a scene to provide mundane, but realistic, details.

Write about the mundane. Think about how those small details of your life add up and how beautiful they can be.

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That’s it for this week’s blog post! Thanks for reading as always. Next week, we’ll be talking about the best books for writing prompts. See you then!

Meeting Goals & Making Decisions: My November 2019 Wrap Up

Happy December!

You’ll be happy to know that this month’s wrap up will be significantly less maudlin than last months. A good thing too. November was a significantly better month than October in a lot of ways. I feel like I’m overcoming a lot of mental blocks when it comes to setting and achieving goals, and moving forward in my career.

Let’s jump into this wrap up!

1. I Switched Up My Instagram Content

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A post shared by Michelle | Blogger & Marketer (@michellelocke6) on Nov 5, 2019 at 5:20pm PST

You may have noticed a lot of changes over at my Instagram; I’ve been posting more about goal setting, the mental aspect of being laid off/starting my own business (?)/being a woman in the workplace, as well as taking time for myself and self-care and self improvement. These are all things I care about and think about a lot, but haven’t ever really talked about in my social media presence before.

If those are things you’re interested in too, give me a follow over on Instagram!

2. I Started Working On Daily Goals

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A post shared by Michelle | Blogger & Marketer (@michellelocke6) on Nov 9, 2019 at 4:20pm PST

One thing I’ve been realizing more and more lately is that I need a routine in place.

When Forrest was younger, I found it much easier to be very regimented and organized about my day. I did the same things every day and it helped ease my anxiety and improve my life. But in the last 18 months, my routines have really fallen apart; I was able to keep things organized for Forrest, but I felt like I never was 100% dedicated to a routine for myself. Danny and I stopped going to the gym as Forrest’s bedtime routine got more and more challenging.

In the past month, I started working on my daily goals: day-to-day, I set little goalposts for myself to reach. A few examples are making my bed every day (which helps me to feel accomplished), getting dressed every day, and making sure to go on a daily walk. Those are just a few things that help me organize my day and start building a routine. I’ve also started blocking out my time for my to do list and making sure I actually get things done—even if I have to force myself.

A big thing I’ve realized is that the burn out I’ve been feeling for a year or more has matched up with feeling like I don’t have a good daily routine in place. I’m hoping that the more I work on it, the more I’ll feel myself falling into a natural routine. And I’m hoping that adding in a good work out routine eventually will come a lot easier.

3. I Started Addressing my Lack of Confidence

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A post shared by Michelle | Blogger & Marketer (@michellelocke6) on Nov 16, 2019 at 6:20pm PST

Anyone who has read my blog for a long time knows one thing to be true: i’m pretty upfront about my lack of confidence.

I’ve always been a shy, soft spoken person. I don’t make waves. In therapy, we’ve been working on my need for external validation for nearly everything I do; I’m often overly concerned with the opinions of other people, worrying that what they think of me is more important than how I feel about what I’m doing. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I noticed this side of me getting worse after I graduated from college; when I didn’t have the validation of school and grades, I found myself really struggling with happiness and feeling confident.

Building emotional confidence and self confidence, particularly in my abilities and my work ethic, is a huge barrier for me in terms of achieving what I want to in my career. On one hand, I firmly believe that I’m good at what I do; on the other hand, I often hold myself back, not completing tasks and not following through, because I worry that it won’t be good enough, that other people won’t like it, or whatever.

I feel like I’ve really challenged that internalized belief this month and I’m excited to see how I continue to work on this.

Those were my 3 big November takeaways. We had a lovely Thanksgiving, obviously; we were supposed to go to Idaho, but ended up not being able to make it due to the Pass being totally snowed in! That was a huge disappointment, but we all coped as we could.

How was your November?

3 Tips for Staying Motivated During NaNoWriMo

I’ll say one thing about NaNoWriMo that might be a little controversial: I don’t actually think it’s that much of a challenge.

Put down your pitchforks. In terms of a challenge for writing, it’s not that much of a challenge literally, on paper. If you, like me, are paid to write, then writing 1,666 words a day isn’t a stretch. On average, one of my blog posts in 1,000 words or so; if I write one and a half blog posts a day, I meet that goal easy. If I write a marketing strategy for a client, they average about 5,000 words; I have tripled that. If I write email marketing for a client, at 300-500 words per email, I meet that goal in 4 emails or so. If you think about NaNoWriMo in pure word counts, it’s really not that hard.

The challenge, of course, always mental. People sabotage themselves by editing through NaNoWriMo, deciding they don’t like a plot line or a character or how they’ve written something. It goes without saying: NaNoWriMo is not the time to perfect your story. Save that for December, or better yet, January! NaNoWriMo is about word vomiting 50,000 words into existence.

I had a minor tiff with someone in a writing group this past week who was upset at people talking about NaNo being an opportunity to just get 50,000 words out. “I write with intention,” they said, “with the idea that I won’t need to edit it at the end.”

Whew! Girl, have a seat! No one cares!

If you write with the intention that you’ll never need a 2nd draft, first of all, good luck with that. (It’s literally not possible. Every story you’ve ever read has been meticulously edited not just once or twice, but 10+ times. I guarantee it.) But if you go into NaNoWriMo with that mindset, you’re going to have an even worse time. Why? Because you’ll get behind fast; you’ll second guess yourself; you won’t be able to meet the goal.

So how can you stay motivated during NaNoWriMo to just write, write, write without second guessing what you’ve written? Let’s talk strategies, my writing darlings!

1. Write Without Looking.

Don’t go back and read what you’ve written. Period. End of story. If it helps, once you’re done with a scene… turn the font color to white so you actually can’t look at it. I followed this tip for my first 2 NaNoWriMos because the urge to go back and change things was so strong.

Basically, the less you go back and read what you’ve written the better. If you need to remember a specific detail (did I say the walls were grey or green?) then search for it using the search function in your word processor… don’t start reading past scenes. You’ll only get stuck in the quagmire of self doubt. Remember: it’s a first draft, not a last draft. No one is asking you to write a perfect novel… just 50,000 words.

2. Use Placeholders to Advance the Plot if you Need To

Sometimes, when I’m writing, I’ll get stuck. I need to write a transition scene, but I can’t think of one yet—but I do know exactly how I want the next scene to go. So, here goes a placeholder: [TRANSITION SCENE] or [KEYWORD SCENE].

Placeholders are the perfect solution from getting stuck on something for minutes, hours, or even days. If you stick in a placeholder, you can quickly hit your goal and give yourself time to think of that scene, then go back and add it in. This method isn’t perfect; you can use placeholders too much (cut to me with a word doc of ALL placeholders, scream crying into the abyss). I limit myself to one per chapter, with the intention to go back and fill it in within at least two or three days.

3. Follow Your Outline

Oh, you don’t have an outline? I won’t judge you for being a pantser; my first NaNoWriMo was a pants situation. About halfway through, I forgot my main character’s last name and I had list the single sheet of notes where I’d written this information. So I wrote a new last name. Is this novel good? No. Does it have a plot? Also no. Do I recommend this method to anyone who wants to actually finish NaNoWriMo? Definitely no.

I’m a firm believer in planning. I even have a free NaNoWriMo guide to write the easiest possible outline in the world. If you have an outline, you’ll never get stuck; you’ll never find yourself 10,000 words in wondering where to go next. If you have an outline and character details in place in advance, you’re going to be fine; your only challenges will be mentally getting over a few hurdles.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo? Tell me how you’re doing!

The Moving Diaries: Is It Normal to Feel Sad?

5 years ago, Danny & I bought our first home together. It wasn’t perfect. There were a lot of things, right from the get go, that we didn’t love. We had our home built on land I already owned, so we considered it our forever home.

Fast forward a few years: several job changes, a pregnancy, a newborn turned toddler turned preschooler… and suddenly that house just wasn’t right anymore. It felt tiny. We were cramped, on top of each other, and the prospect of adding another child felt absolutely impossible.

A year ago, we decided to build a second home. We would make better decisions this time! We will pick a better plan, build in a better spot, do all the things we didn’t last time. (I will write more about the process of building your own home later. I know this is a totally privileged thing that many people can’t imagine, so just know, if you’re gaping at your computer, I totally acknowledge that.)

Our home was completed last week. It was about 2 or 3 weeks behind schedule by that point. And when I say completed, I don’t mean… “completed.” It wasn’t really completed. (Again: I can write about this later.)

But either way, we started moving our things out of our home into our new forever home. I was ecstatic.

We moved things for 3 days in the evenings: piece by piece, it felt like the slowest process ever. But there was only so much we could do as two people! On Friday, we went to IKEA to buy some new furniture (including a new kitchen table) and then thankfully Danny’s parents arrived and helped us move boxes and furniture.

Friday night, we all slept in our new home for the first time. Forrest’s room was mostly put together, but in our room, we only had our mattress on our box spring on the floor (our bed frame is still on a delivery truck somewhere!). I had a suitcase and my toiletries and that was about it.

I told Danny, “it feels like we are on a really weird, shitty camping trip.” That feeling isn’t helped by the fact that our contractor hasn’t really finished our upstairs toilet in the master bathroom (again, more on this later!) and 50% of our possessions are still in a different house.

My anxiety was high Friday night. Like really high.

Remus is also an anxious being (in that specifically hyper chocolate lab sort of way), so he woke me up 3 times during the night. He would run outside and pee, then look at me as if asking, “Can we go home?”

And at 3am, my last wake up, I briefly thought: let’s just go home. I started to panic. Do I really want to live in this strange house that doesn’t smell like me? Do I really want to leave all my memories behind?

I thought of all the memories I have of our old house. I let Remus back inside, locked the patio door, went upstairs, and cried while Danny slept. I panicked and cried and felt horribly sad.

I thought of bringing Forrest home—anxious, swollen, bleeding, looking wretched—and seeing the sign my sister-in-law Amy made and put on our front door. I remember sitting upstairs with him, pumping and feeding him, while my family sat downstairs. I thought of the hours I spent holding him during naps on the couch: the light shining through our windows in such a specific way.

I thought of painting our living room wall grey last summer, our breakfasts in our kitchen, standing at the counter making Christmas cookies with Fo.

For once, I thought not of all the things that I didn’t like about that house (the cramped layout, the lack of a closet in the master bedroom, the teeny tiny bathrooms) and I thought about all the things I loved. Sitting with Forrest in his room, reading him Harry Potter. Being in his room when he was 2 weeks old and wouldn’t stop crying and not knowing what to do. The long nights I spent awake and pumping. The sink where I washed all his bottles. Seeing him walk for the first time. Getting home from Disneyland with him and being so relieved and sad.

When Danny finally woke up, I told him I felt panicked. I think a lot of it was the feeling of being totally overwhelmed: we still have so much to pack and move and I feel rushed and anxious to get it done. I want to do it, but I also wish I could hand off the wheel and let someone else (anyone else!) do it! Mostly, I just felt sad.

Danny assured me that this seemed normal: we’re in a new house that doesn’t feel like “us” yet even though it is very “us”. We will get used to it and we will love it.

The same feeling hit me later on Saturday. (I’m actually typing this up Saturday, so it’s a particularly fresh memory.) I ran to the old house one last time—at 8pm, of course—to get my computer. I needed, in order to feel sane, to set up my computer. To get all my desk things and arrange them on my new desk and sit and work and feel normal. I went to the house and packed up my office… then I went into Forrest’s room.

Forrest has gotten a big bed in the new house. He’s incredibly proud of it. But in his old bedroom, his toddler bed is still sitting there, along with some of his toys and some boxed up clothes. About half his books are still there too. (Like I said, so much to move still!) I collected up all his clothes to pack into the car and as I walked out of his room, I started to cry. Again.

It hit me like a wave. To me, that was Forrest’s room. It always will be. I took all his weekly and monthly progression photos in that room on his chevron carpet. I rocked him to sleep every single night for two years—and have read him a story and sang him 3 songs every single night for about 1 and a half more. That room is his room: it feels like him, it smells like him. But we’re emptying it out, shaking out all the things that are Forrest to make into a new space. And while he loves his new room, I can’t help but think of him crawling across the floor, the nights I ran in when I heard him sick and crying, reading him Harry Potter while he drank his last bottle for the night. That toddler bed will be moved to the new house and have the front put back on in anticipation of a new baby: one I don’t know yet, who will fill our lives the way Forrest does.

Moving is hard. As someone said to me on Twitter, moving is nothing but trauma. Change is hard and locational change is particularly difficult for me, someone who is incredibly anchored by my physical space. Not being able to clean and organize the way I want makes it hard for me to feel anything but adrift.

I don’t know if it’s totally normal to be sad over moving. I cried when I moved out of all of my college dorms, however; I cried when I left my college apartment. I cried when I drove away from Caldwell, Idaho, a town I had viscerally hated for 4 years (and now return to on vacations at least twice a year). I cried when I moved out my parents’ house. I cried when I moved in our old house. I suppose for me it is normal, but it feels like this time it has hit me a lot harder than it did before.

It’s a total cliche, but it’s true: moving is hard. It stresses everyone out. And now being the one in charge of the moving (no one is holding my hand and helping me make these decisions!), it’s even more stressful.

I don’t have a real clear message to end this post on. It’s a much more personal one than I usually post. I guess what I’m saying is: I don’t know if it’s “normal” to feel sad when you’re moving, but with emotions running so high, I can’t imagine it’s a new phenomenon either. If you’re moving and feeling sad, tell me about it!

Inspiration Sunday: October 28

Happy Sunday!

October always feels like a very long month, which is good because it’s my favorite month. But as we get closer to Halloween, it starts to click in just how long this month is. Forrest has been asking nonstop to go trick-or-treating; the concept of days is still a bit strange to him, but I made him a little calendar and we cross off each day to Halloween now. He’s so excited to experience Halloween, which makes me so excited because I’ve always wanted him to love Halloween as much as I did and do! He gets to have a Halloween party at school this week, so I may have gone a little wild and made goodie bags for the other kids in his class.

This all leads me to the point of this post: what do we do when we get to a big event we have been beyond excited for?

For me, I always feel a bit ho-hum and let down after big events. A prime example is my wedding; I planned, I excitedly looked forward to, I had fun on the day and then, the next day… there were no big to do lists, no things to check, no plans. I’m somehow to works best by always having something to look forward to, a deadline to hit, and when I don’t, I find it hard to focus my energy. That’s why I liked being pregnant so much; I knew my body was working towards something very specific. That’s a little bit why I struggle with eating regularly and working out the way I know would help my body; I don’t have anything that I’m specifically working towards.

I always stress a bit how to not pass on this trait to Forrest, because, in general, it’s kind of a difficult one. Having to always set deadlines for myself to tasks so I don’t just languish on something is really challenging. So we often take to Forrest about how exciting things can be every single day, instead of just on days of big events. I try to make him excited for our regular days, by doing crafts and activities and lessons, having him help make dinner, playing games, or learning about chores—but still, I can tell he is just plain more excited for Halloween and he wants the days to hurry up so we can get to Halloween already!

The most challenging part of being a parent, for me, is looking at the big picture. It can be a pretty dismal way of looking at things, to be always focused on what positive traits I’m passing on: I want him to be tidy, like I am, and not prone to being messy, like Danny is, but I don’t want him to be obsessive about it, like I can be. When I reduce my parenting to purely “passing on positive traits,” it can get really overwhelming. And ultimately, Forrest is going to pick up what Forrest picks up!

It is more important for me, as a parent, to work on the things I can change; this shows Forrest, more than anything, that nothing is set. It’s ok to change and it’s ok to adjust your behavior and work on the things you need to improve. A lot of people are so set in their ways because they think their negative personality traits are set in stone; but that’s just not true! My indecisiveness isn’t set in stone; I can choose to work on it, to not get decision fatigue, and to have the confidence to take charge.

So whether Forrest feels let down after Halloween or not, I know I need to let him have that feeling. It's ok to feel that way. But I know it is more important for me to allow him to feel that way, but then also show him ways to keep moving forward, even after a big, exciting day.

This is a bit different of an Inspiration Sunday post. It’s been something I’ve been mulling over for the past few months. And moving forward in my 30th year (!!!) on this planet, I know it’s time to start really working through all these things. What’s inspiring you this week?

How to Write Every Single Day

Recently, I wrote about what I learned from taking on three solid months of writing challenges (you can read about it here). I also recently wrote about staying creative as an exhausted, busy mom (you can read that one here). 

You might be wondering: how will this post be any different from what one about being an exhausted mom? 

Well, I think there are a few key differences. There is a difference between making time to use your brain creatively and actively trying to write (a great amount of text) every single day. Plain and simple, that's the difference: when I first had Forrest, I had to find ways to keep myself creative, whether that meant writing or reading while I pumped or simply creating in ways that were different from before. (Again you can read that post here.) Now, when I expect myself to write consistently every single day, there are other methods I undertake--things that not just moms will relate to, but everyone who seeks to write a high volume. 

So, who is this post for? 

• Are you a blogger who wants to produce more content? 
• Are you an aspiring author who wants to finish a novel or hit an important deadline? 
• Are you a writing hobbyist who just wants to get into the practice of writing even when you feel like you have nothing to say? 
• Are you someone who isn't sure if you would enjoy writing, but like the idea of it? 

Basically: if you want to write more, I want to help you find ways to write more. Every day, actually. I want to help you find time, and discipline, to write every single day. 

The Obstacles

We've all seen the joke tweets, like this one (that isn't specifically about writing, but you get the drift). 

*Goes on phone for specific reason to do IMPORTANT THING*

- Checks Twitter
- Replies to messages
- Checks Whatsapp
- Takes selfie
- Browses Instagram
- Closes everything & locks phone

REMEMBERS I STILL HAVEN'T DONE THE THING.

- UNLOCK PHONE & REPEAT UNTIL THE END OF TIME

— JEMMA 💖 DORKFACE (@dorkfaceblog) January 22, 2018

Does that sound familiar? Sitting down to write and instead finding yourself browsing Amazon, reading the news, browsing Twitter. I think it's fairly typical. We're all prone to distraction, especially when we aren't feel particularly inspired. 

What are some other obstacles we face, as bloggers, dedicated writers, or hobbyists? (I consider myself all three, in case you are wondering!) 

• Distractions
• Discipline
• Time
• Inspiration

How do we overcome them? 

Cutting Distractions

Every year during NaNoWriMo, this is truly my biggest obstacle; when I'm staring down a deadline, I'm definitely a flight kinda gal (instead of a fight). When the going gets tough, I get going, if you catch my drift. When a scene gets particularly sticky or I just find the scene I have to write dreadfully boring... I get distracted, I read the news, I send out a few tweets, I scroll through my Facebook groups, I change my music...

You get my drift. How can we cut out those distractions? 

1. Turn off your internet. I'm not kidding. Turn it off!
    
2. Use pen & paper. Is it slower than typing? Yes. Are you less apt to be distracted? Yes.  
    
3. Download apps that restrict your websites. These apps are pretty popular among writers (just Google it); they allow you to block websites from yourself for a specific period of time. So that hour you plan to get some writing done? You can block social media websites, news sites, and more. And once the hour is up, it undoes itself. 
    
4. Set a timer. And I'm not talking a timer for an hour, or however long you planned to write. Set a time for 10 minutes, stand up, stretch, and take a break. Then set it again. 

It all seems convoluted, but you won't be doing these things forever. Once you get yourself into a good pattern, you can slowly give yourself more freedom; you can start checking Twitter and then getting back to writing, because you'll have more focus.

Finding Inspiration

What are you writing about? Right now, I mean. What's the thing that's making you want to put pen to paper? 

Is it a blog post about writing every day? (I'll admit, I've taken 10 breaks writing this post already!) Is it a story you've been thinking of for years? Or do you just want to start writing essays, or poems, or short stories? 

Finding inspiration to write every single day can be hard. Sometimes, you just won't want to work on the novel you've been plugging along with for years, or the short story that you really loved at first, but now hate to think about. Sometimes, you just won't be inspired. 

So what do I do in those moments? I turn to my handy-dandy notebook. I keep a small, pocket size notebook wth me at all times and I keep a running list of things I see throughout the day that I want to write about. Here are a few examples: 

• The hunger of creativity
• Dystopian society (World War Z style) 
• A man in a flannel pushing an old woman in a wheelchair

Those are just fragments of things I think about, or see, or read about throughout the day. Things that spark a little flame of creativity, but I don't have time to explore in depth. When I don't feel like working on something permanent, or a blog post, I write in my notebook about one of my topics. I spin a yarn about someone I see. Or I write further on a topic I've been mulling over. 

Inspiration can be found everywhere. If you journey out into the world throughout the day (even digitally--you can write about a tweet you found funny, like this one, or an article you read), you have things you can at least free write about. The more you write, the more you'll be able to write. (Trust me when I say, it's all about getting into a rhythm.) In getting into this kind of creative rhythm, you'll find the discipline you thought you previously lacked. (This is basically building a habit.) 

Making Time

Now, you might be asking, when do I have time to do all this? 

You don't have to be writing for hours and hours. On average, I would say I write maybe 1-2 hours every evening... but that doesn't count all the writing I do at work (an average of 6-8 hours of pure writing and creating content at work, plus writing blog posts and social media for this little side hustle of mine). I write a lot. You don't have to write that much, I promise! 

Dedicate the time you have. If you only have 30 minutes to spare in your busy day, then that's what you have. Spend those 30 minutes writing. If you want to develop a habit of writing, making time (even when you really don't want or you want to do other things) is extremely important. And it's really not as difficult as it sounds. You don't have to write in one solid chunk. Here are a few suggestions:

• Write in your notebook during your lunch break or between classes. 
   
• Write while you cook dinner, or make notes on something you want to write about during dinner. 
   
• Write while watching a movie or your favorite TV show. 
   
• Write on the bus or train. 

If you take opportunities to write throughout the day (or at least read and use your brain creatively), you're much more likely to continue the habit of writing when you actually want to get work done. 

What's Next? 

Start writing! You can't start a habit in one day; it's something you have to work at consistently. Once you get a good habit in place, you can modify it, drop certain things, and focus on creating something big.