#115 - How to Develop a Writing Routine

How do you develop a writing routine? My name is Shelley Hitz, and I help writers take a step of faith and finally finish your book so you can impact lives with your message. In each of my Ask Shelley episodes, I promise to share at least one thing that will help you write, self publish and market your books so that your books can impact lives. So I received this question and it just said, help me develop a writing routine. And this is something that I hear often from writers. And there are so many different things I could share, but I'm going to share three things that I think can help most writers. And you'll have to find what works best for you. I always say, don't try to shove a round peg into a square hole. So what works for me or another writer may not work the same for you. So you have to do some trial and error, some experimentation. But my first piece of advice is to start with 15 minutes. So set a timer. Like literally have a timer in front of you and say, tell your brain I'm just going to sit down and write for 15 minutes. And there is power in giving your brain a deadline, especially a short one. Your brain's like, oh, yeah, I can do anything for 15 minutes. And so, so you sit down, you get started writing. And many times it's the starting that's the hardest part. So once you get that first 15 minutes in, if the flow starts going, keep going. Inside Christian Book Academy, every month we host a 15 minute writing challenge for five days. And our members have said that this is some of their most productive time of the month. And it's just a time that we challenge you. Just sit down for at least 15 minutes a day, and so many times, you'll get so much more done. So that's my first tip. Start with 15 minutes. The second one is create a writing space. So even if you don't have a specific writing desk or writing nook or a writing space that you can have, consider thinking about how you can create something that you can take out, you know, when you need to write. So you might have a little backpack or, or a basket or.

Some sort of organizational bucket or something like that, and you put your computer in there. Or if you write it out by hand, you have your notebook and pen and paper or maybe a combination, but you have the stuff that you need and you create this rhythm. So it's like the same thing you do every day. Just like brushing your teeth, you have a certain rhythm. It's like my husband, C.J. and I have now been married over 25 years. And he has this little habit when he brushes his teeth afterwards, he hits his toothbrush on the sink twice. And it's like, I just know his rhythms and his routines, and he probably knows mine. But start to find some sort of space and set up your writing space. Declutter it. Make sure that you don't have a bunch of distractions in that area. And like I said, if you don't have a dedicated space, do something like having a bag, a backpack.

Some sort of crate, or some sort of container to carry your stuff back and forth wherever you need to go. If you write on the dining room table, then you put your stuff away and you take it and store it in the same place. And then you bring it out and you have a routine. So that's the whole thing. It's like you're creating a rhythm. You're creating this habit. Like your brain doesn't have to think about, like, oh, where am I gonna write? What am I gonna do? Da da da, da da, where's my pen? Or you just do it because you have a rhythm. So first is just start with 15 minutes. Second, the second is create a writing space or a rhythm of how you set up your writing space. And then the third is just consider a writing warm up. I think many times we're so hard on ourselves, and we think, I've got to get it right this first time. And we sit down and we pressure ourselves, and it's like we have to write for performance, or we're trying to write a final draft as a first draft, and that's impossible. But. But just give yourself some space just to do a writing warmup. So my husband, C.J. is a competitive runner, and I was a runner for many years. And even though I'm not as fast as he is, I've ran a lot of races and things, and it's just important to warm up when you're a runner. And I think sometimes as a writer, we don't think about those things. So even just getting out a journal, like a paper and pen, and just dumping out all of your thoughts and just getting them out of your head and, you know, the checklist that are going on and the things that you have that happen today, just dump all of that out and then just consider that like your writing warmup. Or you could write out a prayer. You know, we teach you to partner with God in your writing so that he can use your words to impact lives. And one of those ways is through prayer. So maybe just your writing warm up. It doesn't have to be even paper and pen. Maybe you're typing out a prayer and you're, you're praying for your future readers and you're praying and asking God for his inspiration and for the doors to open for this book and all of the things. But don't pressure yourself to have to just start to sit down and start writing this best selling novel or this book that is a final draft. Get the ugly, messy first draft out of your head and onto paper and give yourself a chance to do a writing warm up. So those are three tips that I can give you. There are so many more and we would love to have you join us inside Christian Book Academy where we can really work with you closer. I have a call right now that I do every month called the Next Steps Coaching Call and we can talk about some of these things and help you to really figure out what's going to work best for you. We can brainstorm some things and I've really seen breakthrough with our members when we do that. But again, to recap how to to how to develop a writing routine. First, start with 15 minutes. Second, create a writing space and third, give yourself a writing warmup. Again, my name is Shelley Hitz, the owner and founder of ChristianBookAcademy.com where we help writers become authors and we cannot wait to help you give birth to your book.