Yes, it can be. I promise!

I used to be an unbeliever. How the hell can someone write something every single day? They must not have regular jobs or don’t have any other distractions. However, I do think it’s possible for every writer to find some way to write every day of their life if they really want to. Yes, even if you have kids. Yes, even if you have a full time job. Yes, even if don’t have a working computer or any other number of reasons that limit your writing time.

It really comes down to three things for me:

1. Prioritizing
2. Routine
3. Obsession

If you really, truly want to learn how to write every single day, then I can show you how it worked for me. It may not necessarily work for you, but every experience and different, blah, blah, blah.

For me I decided in 2013 I was sick of writing things that never got completed or of starting and stopping projects. One way I thought I could stifle this would be to work on only one project at a time. I have since found that I’m not capable of doing this. Instead of giving up, I decided to make a priority list of projects that are most important. It looks something like this:

1. Main WiP
2. Secondary WiP
3. Short Stories

That’s in. I don’t believe in working on more than two novels at any one time. I think one should be the editing stage and one in the draft stage. That’s how I keep myself from getting burned out or bored with one project. I jump back and forth. The main project always gets the most attention and if I can only work on one each day, it damn well better be the main one.

Next, I needed to figure out a routine. I tried various things like working for three hours on the weekend or having a daily word count. Those ideas didn’t work. So in February 2014 I came up with the idea of Recharge Your Novel Month. This was a way for me and others to dig up that novel that had be stagnating and try to get it in better shape. I decided the routine of writing one hour per day would work. Since I started working full-time again, it’s now 30 minutes a day. However, it’s now June 18th, 2014 and I’ve written something every day for five months straight. I only did this by treating writing like taking a bath, brushing my teeth, or any other daily routine. It had to be done. If it didn’t get done, I couldn’t sleep. Literally.

This is where obsession comes in. If you love writing, you’re going to think about it constantly. When people are talking to you, when you’re at work, when you’re driving in your car, whenever. It can become crippling if you let it be this constant pressure on your head. However, if you treat that obsession like someone who loves working out a lot or eating really healthy, it can become a good thing. I feel so much better stress-wise since I’ve been writing every day. It’s honestly one of my favorite parts of the day without fail. Even if I stumble and some of my writing sucks that day, I have the peace of mind that I did work and that editing is a writer’s best friend.

So that’s what worked for me. I hope any of my ideas can help you get a routine that works for you and keeps you going.