What’s up. I want to put down some of my own rules for writing a) to solidify some of the habits I’ve started to make and b) to have something to come back to in times of despair.

I also started a big list of writing advice. I felt like there were so many people / blogs / billboards / posts telling me what I should be doing to be a writer. Some of it was really good advice! This is essentially my own selection from that, as well as potentially unadvisable rules that work for me but are weird.

things to do on repeat

  1. Yearly, make a rough project plan that goes quarter by quarter, including what you might work towards in those quarters.
  2. Quarterly, review the plan for that quarter, add some detail, and add some concrete goals you’d like to hit.
  3. Monthly, set goals + todos.
  4. Weekly, on Monday, review the past week (how’d it go? why?), list out all the things you want to accomplish this week. Try to choose the highest impact items and work on that.
  5. Weekly, also on Monday, add content to be posted to your 3 content streams (IG, IG, substack) for the next 10 days. IG should have 10 posts, substack should have 1.

principles

  • make it easy, fun, enjoyable (Atomic Habitzzz)
  • juuuust make it exist, then make it better
  • it should be fun…!!

current routine

I’ve gone through a lot of iterations of “writing” routines. I still feel like I need to write every day in order to build up some discipline + confidence that I’m I’m going to do the thing I say I’m going to do. I’m aiming to write an hour or two in the morning before work.

I write by a river, on my computer, with coffee. All these things make writing easy/fun/enjoyable for me. I love being outside in the morning with coffee, and the spot I go to is so beautiful! I also have wifi here, which is nice, because I like to work out of Google docs, and make posts/updates to this site.

My warmup is #morningpagessszzz: I write for 10-15 minutes in a (free) app called DayOne. Even on days when I don’t really want to write, I’m able to get through morning pages. And then after that, I’m usually ready to roll. I try to not write for more than 750 words and my LIMIT LIMIT is 1000. I would spend all morning just vomitting out journal thoughts, but that’s not very productive, is it.

Next, I consult my list for the week, and get going. I try to write for 2 hours a day, but this has been hard for me! Usually, I’ll write from 710 or so to 830, when I have to start getting ready for work. The remaining 30-60 minutes I try to do at lunch.

There’s an outdoor spot near my work where I like to write. There’s a garden, some shade, and sometimes even a little jazz! I let myself warm-up again in DayOne (still trying to keep my total daily entry <750 words and definitely under 1000) and then I continue working on one of the tasks for the week.

I track my hours per month, because doing it every week makes me feel like I’m falling behind. Somehow, tracking monthly tricks me into thinking I’m making enough progress, and allows me to work in swings. (Some days, really productive. Other days, not so much.)

I am trying to write for 2 hours a day - or 40 hours a month. I feel like this is my base, and eventually I hope to be doing more like 30 hours a month!

outliers

Is planning writing? I’m big into planning apparently. I do count my planning time as writing, but I try to keep it minimal. If this is my business, it’s not like my PM is going to be a non-paid employee. We gotta do it. It’s important work! Same goes with other business tasks… I count it as writing time, and trust that if it’s on my list, it’s important enough to need to get done. This includes setting up social media accounts / scheduling tools, creating an LLC, and website (coding) updates.

On Writing On Writing - how meta can we get here. Look, if it’s writing, and I like it, I’m gonna do it. Even if it’s just about how I write. Even if it’s about bananas. I’m pretty attentive to what projects are FUN!!! and what projects I thought would be fun, and actually suck. If a project I thought would be FUNN!! actually sucks… then I try to make a note to not do that kind of work in the future. For me, writing and thinking about process has always been fun. So I indulge. Also, I love to go meta. I allow it!

Current Mantra: Just Make It Exist.

From none other than the substack of Caitlin Kunkel, my personal hero and guide: “Sometimes, making it exist is all that matters, and then you move into making it good.” (from: Writing is a Game of Attrition)

This has really helped me to CHILLOUT whenever I write. Usually, no matter what I’m writing, I’ll get to a point where something inside me says, “THIS FREAKING SUCKS - UGHHH HORSE CRAP! THIS IS HORSE CRAP!” Not super fun to get that kind of self talk… so that’s where I’ve been trying to just remember that existing is way better than not existing. So anything written is really a huge improvement.