Writing Habits
Writing habits shape your career one day at a time.
What Are They?
Every writer has habits, whether they realize it or not.
Some habits help you produce words consistently. Others quietly sabotage your progress. The first step is simply identifying what your habits are. What do you do when you sit down to write? Do you immediately open your manuscript, or do you check social media first? Do you focus on the story, or do you spend half an hour rearranging your desktop folders?
Take an honest look at your routine. Your habits are already shaping your writing career, whether you’ve chosen them intentionally or not.
Are They Positive for You and Your Writing?
Not every writing habit deserves to survive.
One thing I’ve learned is that punishment stops behavior. If you make writing painful, your brain will eventually start avoiding it. Writing should be challenging at times, but it shouldn’t become something you dread. Reward the behavior you want to encourage.
For me, that means adapting to circumstances instead of fighting them. These days, I often write in five-minute sprints. Five focused minutes, then a quick pause, then another five. It’s amazing how productive those short bursts can be. I’ve put down a thousand words in thirty minutes working that way. The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is to get the words.
Re-Read Yesterday’s Work and Tweak It, or Berate Yourself?
A lot of writers start each session by rereading what they wrote the day before.
That’s fine, as long as you’re using it to regain momentum. Maybe you smooth a sentence, clarify a scene, or reconnect with the flow of the story. That’s productive. What’s not productive is reading yesterday’s work and deciding you’re a terrible writer because it didn’t instantly knock your slippers off.
The purpose of a scene is to do its job in the story. It doesn’t need to be the greatest paragraph ever written. It needs to move the story forward. Tweak what needs tweaking, then get back to writing.
Don’t Punish Yourself While Writing
Writers can be surprisingly hard on themselves.
Every rough sentence becomes proof they’re failing. Every awkward paragraph becomes evidence that they shouldn’t be writing at all. That’s nonsense. You can’t improve if you stop. You can’t finish a book if you’re constantly beating yourself up for not being perfect.
When you catch yourself turning writing into punishment, stop. Remind yourself that progress is the goal. Finished words can be improved. Blank pages can’t.
Rewards Build Lifelong Habits
Positive reinforcement works.
The rewards don’t have to be dramatic. A cup of good coffee. A short walk. Five minutes with the dog. A sense of satisfaction from hitting your word count. Small rewards reinforce the behavior and make it easier to repeat tomorrow.
When you consistently reward productive writing habits, those habits become automatic. Over time, writing stops feeling like a battle and starts feeling like part of your normal day. That’s where long-term success comes from.
Thoughts Become Words, Words Become Actions, Actions Become Habits
Everything starts with what you tell yourself.
Your thoughts become your words. Your words influence your actions. Repeated actions become habits. If your internal dialogue is constantly negative, eventually your habits will reflect that negativity. If your thoughts encourage progress and persistence, your habits will support your goals.
I always come back to trust. Build trust with yourself. If you say you’re going to write today, write today. If you say you’re going to finish the chapter, finish the chapter. We tend to judge ourselves by our intentions, but results come from actions. The more often you follow through, the more confidence you’ll build in your own process.
Final Thought
Writing habits shape your career one day at a time.
Take a close look at what happens when you sit down to write. Are your habits helping you move forward, or are they quietly slowing you down? Reward productive behavior. Stop punishing yourself for imperfect words. Focus on progress instead of perfection.
A small change in habit can create a massive change in results. Build habits that make writing easier, not harder, and you’ll find yourself producing more words, more books, and better stories over time.
Writing Habits — Original Medium Article
Writing Habits — Over 1000 Five Minute Focus videos on the Successful Indie Author YouTube Channel
Successful Indie Author articles are created from reworking the original Five Minute Focus video transcripts obtained through HappyScribe. The final drafts are edited in Prowritingaid.
Author Sprints for Maximum Productivity — Sprint Your Way to Becoming a Successful Indie Author
SIA Writing Challenge website — Record Your Progress on Your Way to Becoming a Successful Indie Author
Craig Martelle is an author, leader, and entrepreneur living in Alaska. Retired from the Marine Corps military intelligence community and physical security, he graduated summa cum laude from law school and went into business consulting. From intelligence, to the inner workings of company boardrooms, to on-the-ground leadership, Craig has seen it firsthand.
He is a million-selling author of over 200 science fiction (post-apocalyptic, military sci-fi, and space opera), thrillers, and the non-fiction series, Successful Indie Author. Craig has been running author conferences since 2017, and also the Successful Indie Author Facebook Group, and the Successful Indie Author YouTube Channel.
Leadership is a service, not a crown to lord over others.