Tips for Consistent Writing to Build Skills

Exact Steps on How I Built a Writing Habit When "Writing Was Not My Thing"🖊️ As a new faculty, I was given protected research time, and yet...I could never bring myself to write. My old excuse, "no protected time," was no longer valid. It turns out, I hadn't trained myself to write. Here are the exact steps I used to build a writing habit. The main obstacles to developing this habit were: ⛔️ inconsistency ⛔️ lack of structure ⛔️ lack of muscle memory ⛔️ not anticipating obstacles. Let's look at a simple plan to build your writing habit. This takes 30 minutes a day, for 3 consecutive weeks (Mon-Fri). 1️⃣Step 1:📅Schedule 30-min writing blocks into your calendar. Why 5 days? Consistency breeds discipline. Why 30 min? It is short enough to take away any excuses Yet, it is long enough to challenge a new writer. 2️⃣Step 2:🕵️Know Thyself. Understand your roadblocks before you face them. Distractions? Writer's block? Be aware of what will hold you back. 3️⃣Step 3: Remove roadblocks before they hit. Get distracted easily? Turn off notifications, put away your phone, close the door Don't know what to write? Have a set of writing tasks ready. Preparation is key! 4️⃣Step 4: Don't know what to write? Writing is not only having words flowing out on your word document. EVERYTHING you do that leads to a complete manuscript counts as writing. Creating outlines, tables, figures, or even simply editing sentences counts as writing. The goal is to make incremental progress in the manuscript. 5️⃣Step 5: Want to get into the flow quickly? Try Copy Work for 5 minutes. Copy a small section of another research paper word-for-word, and S-L-O-W-L-Y. Once time is up, move on to your own work. It creates a muscle memory that when your hand hits the keyboard, word comes out. 6️⃣Step 6: End your session right. (5 min) Do 2 things, and do not skip it. ⚠️ 1. Audit your session Understand how much time it took to complete one writing task. We're usually terrible at estimating the time we need. This is your chance to know exactly how long it take YOU to complete something. 2. Plan your next steps and schedule them into the next writing block. Be specific: "Find 5 articles that support this argument" "Create a shell table for the primary outcome". ----------- We often struggle to build a writing habit, but by understanding our roadblocks, creating a structured approach and celebrating each small achievement, we can make it a part of our daily routine. Let's start #WritingToday! 🚀🖊️

I had to build a system to make my writing into a habit. Now, I've helped 2,000 others adopt the same, and here are the six key steps you can apply yourself. Let's acknowledge that building consistent writing habits can be challenging, especially for busy individuals. As a parent myself, I understand the struggle of finding time amidst family responsibilities. My journey taught me valuable lessons on habit formation. The attached document outlines six effective strategies to cultivate a writing habit: 1. Set Clear Goals: Define what you want to achieve with your writing, and make these goals specific and measurable. 2. Create a Writing Schedule: Dedicate regular time slots for writing, ensuring consistency. 3. Designate a Writing Space: Establish a specific area for writing to trigger a productive mindset. 4. Start Small: Begin with manageable writing tasks to avoid overwhelm. 5. Seek Accountability: Share your goals with someone who can hold you accountable. 6. Celebrate Progress: Acknowledge and celebrate small milestones to maintain motivation. These strategies helped me balance my writing aspirations with family life, leading to the completion of my recent books. It's about making writing a part of your life's routine, just like any other important activity. #motivation #inspiration #writingcommunity

I've never met a great marketer who couldn't write. But most young marketers hate to write. Ironic, considering that writing is most of the job. No matter your specialization, written communication underpins most of what we do as marketers. PPC, strategy, advertising, copywriting, SEO, creative briefs, sales, PR... Crystal clear written communication anchors everything. If you don't build your writing muscle, you don't build your career. Simple. So how do you become a strong writer? A few tips. Actually, one super-obvious-but-massively-important tip and six not-so-obvious ones. 1. Write every day (super obvious) Bad news: good writing can't be taught; it has to be learned. Read the books. Follow the writers. Take the courses. But make no mistake, there's only one way to become a strong writer: to write every day. I have two degrees in writing. I read the books, followed the writers, and took the courses (lots of them). None of it made me a strong writer. Writing every day for the last fifteen years did. 2. Get used to slow starts Getting started never gets easier. It's not the writing; it's the thinking. Organizing thoughts, pattern matching, searching for clarity... it's like trying to lasso the wind. We can't escape the discomfort. But we can normalize it. Slow starts happen to everyone, even seasoned vets. So get used to them: they're not going anywhere. 3. Write what you won't use Most of what you write won't make the final version. That doesn't make it unimportant. Early drafts inspire final drafts. It's the ten foggy versions of the sentence that make the final version possible. When you get stuck, stopping and thinking won't unstick you. Writing through it will. 4. Limit the verb "to be" (my fave) To be: Is, are, was, were, am, being, been, has been, be It's the weakest verb in our vocabulary, and weak verbs make weak writers. Replacing "to be" with stronger, more descriptive verbs will make your writing more active, confident, concise, and authoritative. Like, immediately. 5. Make it sing Great writing sings. Read it out loud: Too many syllables? Not enough pauses? Awk. word choice? Great writing rolls off the tongue and bounces to an effortless rhythm. 6. Plan for fatigue Writing is the tangible form of your thoughts. And thinking tires the mind. Perhaps no other craft forces you to make as many small decisions as writing does. To avoid decision fatigue, wake up early and start writing immediately. Don't get dressed. Don't shower. Don't scroll social media. Don't eat breakfast. Don't even get out of bed. Open your laptop and start writing, before you've made a single decision about your day. 7. Flow or bust Nothing derails your writing like a text message, quick chat, slack, doom scroll, or wife asking you to take the trash out. Just. Say. No. If you can't, hang it up until tomorrow. Seriously. --------- What not-so-obvious tips would you add? *Posted this last year but people liked it :)

The secret weapon of successful writers is not what you think... Let me tell you a story from my experience. Last summer, when I lost my job, I felt utterly lost. I threw myself into courses, networking like crazy, desperately seeking the 'secret sauce' to success. But the constant hustle left me burnt out. I began to think that only the geniuses could make it on the platform, and that left me doubting myself even more. This feeling of inadequacy is a common pitfall for aspiring writers. I didn't know what to do next, and I was on the verge of giving up. But that's when my friend and mentor Lara Acosta challenged me to set all of that aside and just commit to writing 3 good posts each week. That was December 2nd, 2023. I've written a new post every day since then, and learned a simple truth. Just showing up and writing consistently was the key. The fact is success doesn't require being a prodigy. Some of the most successful writers weren't necessarily naturals, but they built their skills and audience through consistent effort. How how I turned obstacles into opportunities in 4 steps: 1. 𝗙𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻    Focus less on inspiration and more on developing habits. Good habits are reliable and can sustain your writing whether you feel inspired or not. Consistent practice is key.     2. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴    Talent is not a prerequisite for success. Like habit surpasses inspiration, continuous learning outstrips talent. Always strive to improve, learn, and adapt your work, avoiding complacency or resistance to change.     3. 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻    You already possess creativity, which will only grow through reading, journaling, and learning. Experiment and enjoy the process of developing your ideas, regardless of how whimsical or unconventional they may seem. Commit and persevere.     4. 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁!    Perseverance is crucial for any writer. It involves finishing your work, continuing to write despite rejections, and constantly engaging with new knowledge and literature. The truth is, success often boils down to one thing: pure tenacity. It's the ability to get back up after being knocked down, to keep pushing forward even when the odds are against you. This is the most important lesson I learned–write one post, learn from the feedback, and keep writing. Imagine the progress you could make by consistently writing three quality posts each week!  This commitment would build your skills, overcome challenges, and help you achieve your writing goals–regardless of inspiration or perceived talent. > Are you ready to take action?

Over the past 30 days, I’ve written one piece of content every day. Here are 3 things I learned about my writing and myself: 1. You can be better at anything by just being consistent. Writing for 30 days straight has transformed how I would approach any habit I’d like to adopt in the future. James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, has popularized the concept ‘the power of tiny gains’. The idea is that by improving 1% every day you’re improving exponentially in the long run. By following the online writing program Ship 30 for 30 and writing a short essay every day, I’m applying all the lessons I’ve learned previously and continuously getting better at my craft. This is only the beginning of my journey as a lifelong writer. 2. Structure is 80% of your writing. Ship 30 for 30 (or any other good writing course) is the cheat code to being a successful digital writer. The course teaches you everything you need to know about capturing people’s attention on the internet. The most valuable takeaway I have is that if you keep using the effective writing structure, you’re saving both your own time and your reader’s time. First, you spend less time deliberating how you want to write something. Instead, you focus more on brainstorming the idea you’re hoping to spread. Second, your readers actually prefer to read content written with the same formula. Once you have a solid foundation, you can build anything on top of it. 3. You have more to say than you think. Ship 30 for 30 also challenged my notion that I only have a finite amount of topics to write about. The framework for idea generation provided in the course has illustrated that ideas are limitless, even when you’re constrained to only one subject. This has completely changed how I perceived my writing process and by extension what I believe I’m capable of accomplishing. If I can write about anything, then I can do about almost everything. Writing is the first step to imagining a greater future for yourself. -- Where I plan to take my writing next • Newsletter: I’m starting my own newsletter (link in the comments), where I’ll be documenting my journey in tech and personal growth. I’ll be publishing one article a week. • Linkedin: I plan to keep writing short form content on Linkedin. I’ve enjoyed interacting with others who are on a similar path of job hunting and breaking into tech, and would like to continue doing so.