![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/images\/typekeys.jpg\")
One of the most common bits of writing advice is to write every day!<\/p>\nOne of the most common bits of writing advice is to write every day!<\/p>\n
But with a day job, family, and trying to find a moment to relax that\u2019s easier said than done, right?<\/p>\n
Wrong!<\/p>\n
10 Ways to Write Everyday<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Write Early.<\/strong> Writing should become an automatic reflex. When you wake up, you should want to write — not tell yourself, \u201cI can sleep another hour and write later.\u201d<\/p>\n Remind yourself before falling asleep that each day you don’t write is another day you have to go to work. Make that your mantra when you wake up and consider hitting the snooze alarm.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an added satisfaction to writing before the day really begins: as people spill into work half-awake, you’ve already accomplished more than most of your co-workers will do all day.<\/p>\n 2. A writing lunch.<\/strong> It\u2019s important to get away from work during lunch. The person who eats a quick bite at their desk while working only gets more work piled on them. Make your lunch break work for your sanity and writing.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s bringing a laptop to work each day and writing in the breakroom, or finding a nearby park and writing in a notebook, it\u2019s the best way to break up the day and squeeze in some precious writing time without interruption.<\/p>\n 3. Paper lists and notes.<\/strong> There are writers who are able to organize everything in a PDA, but there\u2019s nothing wrong with a real paper notebook.<\/p>\n Use the front pages of the notebook for lists. Force yourself to cross things off, or stare at tasks you haven\u2019t done. It\u2019s easy to not turn on a PDA, but if you also use your notebook for notes and ideas, you force yourself to see what to-do items you\u2019ve done and haven\u2019t done each day.<\/p>\n 4. Setting a schedule.<\/strong> It doesn\u2019t matter if you write when you wake up, during lunch, or after dinner — writers who stick to a schedule are writers with piles of work.<\/p>\n Be realistic when setting a schedule. If you can only find half an hour of peace in your day, that\u2019s still enough time to finish a manuscript page. Do that everyday for a year and you have a completed novel.<\/p>\n All you need is to schedule the time.<\/p>\n 5. Setting rules.<\/strong> You\u2019ve set a schedule — now set some rules.<\/p>\n Set rules for yourself: no e-mail, close your Web browser (if you have to research, do it after reaching your writing goals), and turn off the phone. Let family know you need to focus for your scheduled time, or write at a library if there are too many distractions at home.<\/p>\n The rules you set lead to good writing habits. Good writing habits lead to piles of writing.<\/p>\n 6. Remember loved ones.<\/strong> If you expect family to respect your writing schedule and rules, you need to respect their needs as well. Living with a writer can be lonely — especially living with a writer with a day job.<\/p>\n Time after work is often the only time family has with you. There are worse things in life than being loved. If you have a hard time balancing writing time with family, write during lunch or wake up an hour earlier.<\/p>\n 6. Shut up!<\/strong> It\u2019s easier to talk about writing than actually sitting down to write. Try not to discuss your stories or articles in detail. Once a plot or idea is revealed, it\u2019s easier to not<\/em> sit down and write.<\/p>\n It\u2019s much more satisfying handing a completed manuscript to a trusted reader than talking about something you\u2019ll never finish.<\/p>\n 8. Exercise.<\/strong> Sitting in front of a keyboard or a notebook for hours isn\u2019t going to do wonders for your waistline. When lost in ideas, it\u2019s easy to spend all your freetime sitting down. It can be a bad trap to fall into, leading to weight gain and poor health over time.<\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t seen the sun for weeks, it\u2019s time to get reacquainted with that bright thing in the sky. Exercise for the sake of exercise can be a chore for most people, though. There\u2019s an easy work-around, however. Remember when you were younger and you played outside?<\/p>\n Try looking at exercise as play: get out and ride a bike, play a sport you enjoy, or just go for a walk. (Walking is a great time to think of new ideas or work through problems in your head.) Your body — and your writing — will thank you.<\/p>\n 9. Write when you don\u2019t want to write.<\/strong> After toiling at the day job all day, it can sometimes be difficult to write. If your ultimate goal is to one day make a living as a fulltime writer, you\u2019re going to have to learn how to write when you don\u2019t want to write. There\u2019s no time to wait for the mood or inspiration to hit. Fulltime writers write whether they want to or not…or the bills aren\u2019t paid.<\/p>\n For all the schedules you set and pages you write, there will still be times it doesn\u2019t seem to come together the way you\u2019d hoped. During those times — perhaps more than ever — it\u2019s important to keep writing.<\/p>\n Keeping busy sets serious writers apart from the dabblers. More times than not, if you just keep writing, you\u2019ll find the sections of articles or stories that gave you problems aren\u2019t so bad after all; in fact, you may forget what gave you problems in the first place!<\/p>\n 10. Have fun!<\/strong> Writing is not something you have <\/em>to do. It may be a compulsion, but nobody\u2019s putting a gun to your head.<\/p>\n Write because you want to. Treat it seriously, learn how the business side of things works, and you have a shot at making writing your day job. But there are jobs offering much better odds if all you’re after is money.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a sense of satisfaction when an article is accepted, a client tells you how much they appreciate your content, or when you realize how long it takes to finally print that novel you\u2019ve worked on all year.<\/p>\n Make writing fun and you\u2019ll always be satisfied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the most common bits of writing advice is to write every day! But with a day job, family, and trying to find a moment to relax that\u2019s easier said than done, right? Wrong! 10 Ways to Write Everyday 1. Write Early. Writing should become an automatic reflex. When you wake up, you should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[5],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}