?

When was your last writing date?

When is your next?

If your answer to either of those questions is 'I don't know', then it may be time to put writing on your calendar.

A regular writing habit is one thing that the most prolific, most published and most contented writers have in common.

It doesn't need to be every day and of course, everyone is different, but it's obvious really – the more often you write, the more you'll have written.

So, don't wait for inspiration to strike – write. Put writing on your calendar. Let others in your life know you have an appointment. And then keep it.

Over and again.

Little by little.

Or, as Anne Lamott would put it, Bird by Bird.

Give your writing the status it deserves

Next time someone needs to do an emergency run to the shops as it's World Book Day and your son needs a Dog Man outfit before 9am, you'll be safe. You'll have a work appointment in the calendar. Someone else can go, or he can get creative and make a pirate patch.

For many of us who work flexibly, it's all too easy to put non-billable hours at the back of the queue. Not surprisingly, our creative projects are the first to go. Why not try flipping it? Block out your 'non-urgent' creative projects first and fit your other work around this.

Just because your writing isn't billable in the short term, doesn't mean it isn't going to be the real needle-mover for your business or career in the long term.

What value can you put on long-form blog content, a book or an article?

What you can do today:

Take out your calendar and schedule writing times for the next week. Start with 15 minutes, then each day, increase the time by 2 minutes.

Make sure you know what you’re going to be writing each day before you start. This will stop you frittering away the time reading through what you wrote the day before.

Set your timer for your session and don’t do anything but write during that time. If you want to keep writing after the timer goes off, then do. Often, the hardest part is getting started.

Systems first, not goals

As James Clear notes in Atomic Habits*, it’s not the goals that get us there, but the systems. So instead of thinking, ‘I really need to finish my book’, identify the one small step you can take today, and tomorrow, and the next day to move you closer to your goal.

If you're ready to join a supportive community of writers, check out my educators' writing circle starting Jan 26th, 2024. Making a weekly appointment with your writing will help you get your expertise on paper and out into the world to the readers who need it.

Join us in the writing circle