New Year, No Pressure: Easy Hacks to Kickstart Your Writing Habit in 2024
It’s that time of year when everyone is ready for something new. New wardrobe, new exercise plan, new hobbies. It’s easy to load up a list of new goals and habits you want to tackle in the new year as if you’re creating the guide to a personal rebranding. This is when perfectionism can creep in, that “all or nothing” thinking. It’s important to create sustainable goals for yourself that won’t have you burning out every three weeks. The new year offers a different kind of energy that gets you excited for change and thinking creatively. This is the perfect time to start a sustainable writing habit.
The key to adopting a new habit is consistency. We’re not trying to be perfect. Every writing session is not going to be 1000 words or more and that's okay! We’re working towards something real. Life happens and some days are more hectic than others. What’s important is that after a few busy days, you’re able to pick back up and continue without much mental stress.
Write short, unrelated snippets
Write throughout the day either in a notebook or your phone. Write bits of dialogue and sections of prose that have nothing to do with any major project you're writing. This keeps you from thinking too hard about your plot and characters and allows the creativity to flow. You might find yourself trying new things, compiling future story inspiration, and working out resolutions to plotholes in your major project.
If you do only one thing on this list it should be this. Writing short unrelated sections every day keeps your mind in the space for writing, encourages creative thinking, and builds a consistent low-demand habit
Write something outside of your chosen genre
This doesn’t need to become a new novel on top of your current work-in-progress, but at least a few times a month try writing a blog, research paper, or short story on a topic you usually would never choose. Two things could happen, you learn to love this new genre and have expanded your skills, or you’re so bored that you’re brain starts thinking of all the exciting things to write in your current project.
Be mindful and ask for help
Sometimes going brain-dead and scrolling social media is necessary, especially when you’re showing signs of burnout, but other times you might feel like you have no time in the day to fit in a writing session, yet you’ve spent four hours on Instagram. Ask for help. Especially if you have trouble transitioning from one task to another, ask someone around you to remind you that you wanted to write today.
Remind yourself it’s something you want to do not something you have to do.
When we mentally berate ourselves for not doing a task it makes it harder to do it the next time. Now you have guilt attached to the task which can cause some to avoid the project even more. Remind yourself that you don’t have to write, you want to write! Writing is something that gets you excited. You have an amazing story to tell which can only be done by sitting down to write.
Keep a journal
When days are too stressful or you just can’t seem to find that spark of inspiration, write a few sentences in a journal about how you’re feeling. Write about what’s going on that's keeping you from writing. You will find yourself feeling a little lighter and maybe even find some motivation to work on your project.
Take each day at a time, write when you can, even if it's just a few sentences, and find others who are working on similar goals. With consistent practice, you'll find yourself naturally sitting down to write out chapters and your novel will be ready for the world in no time.
When StoryForge launches in January 2024 you will have your writing desk right at your fingertips wherever you go! Draft the Cat and folks in your writing circle will be there to encourage you through every page. In the meantime, sign up here for updates!
