You don’t need to write every day in order to finish your novel
You may think you need to write every day, or even most days, in order to actually finish your novel.
But really, you need to create a writing routine that is flexible, sustainable, and unique to you.
A lot of professional writers talk about how they write every day or most days of the week. It’s often their job, so it makes sense that they would write that much.
But when you’re working on your first novel, it can be hard to find the time to write every day.
Maybe you have a demanding job, two kids with busy schedules, or a chronic health issue. You might have the best intentions of writing every day this week, but if you miss one day, it can feel really hard to get back into the next day, especially if you’re tired or overwhelmed from everything else in life.
You aren’t a professional writer (not yet!), and so you don’t need to follow the rules of professional writers. Instead, you need to establish a writing practice that fits into your lifestyle.
Maybe this means you write once a week for 2 hours because you get a babysitter to watch the kids. Or you write 5 days a week for 15 minutes during your lunch break in your car. Or each day, you wake up, figure out how your body feels, and write for 45 minutes before heading to work if your body feels up for writing. If your body doesn’t feel up for writing, then you skip writing that day and try the next day.
We need to stop being so hard on ourselves about what our writing routine looks like, and instead embrace a routine that fits into our lifestyle and is flexible and sustainable.
I’d rather you write 1 day a week for the next year, vs only writing a couple days a month because you can’t stay consistent.
Even if it feels impossible to create any kind of routine because every day is different—set some guidelines for yourself about when you’ll write. Each day, ask yourself if you feel up for writing and if you can carve out 30 minutes that day to write. Write on your phone or in your journal—whatever it takes to get the words down. If one day you don’t have the energy or the time to write, then skip it, and ask yourself those questions again the next day. You probably won’t write every day, but you’ll write more than if you didn’t check in each day.
In 1:1 coaching, we’ll craft a unique writing routine that will allow you to finish your novel. Book a consultation call here to get started.