5 Steps to Great Writing Habits

Edie here. I'm sure we all knave friends who are not only super organized, but can apply their organizational skills to others. Today my guest post is from just one of those friends - Cynthia Owens. She also has a new book releasing today that applies those skills to organizing our computers. Be sure to check out her book, ORGANIZING YOUR COMPUTER FOR WRITERS & SPEAKERS, previewed at the end of this post. Also leave a comment and be entered for a drawing for a copy of the book!

5 Steps to Great Writing Habits

by Cynthia Owens @EfficiencyAdict

Have you ever been thinking about something while you’re driving and suddenly you’re heading home instead of going to the store? Your body shifts into a kind of autopilot and, before you realize it, you’re pulling into your driveway instead of the Wal-Mart parking lot. That’s the power of habits. They direct our lives when we aren’t paying attention.

So how are your habits affecting you? More specifically, how are your habits affecting your writing? Are they helping you be creative, meet deadlines, and inspire others? If you can’t answer with an enthusiastic “Yes!” maybe it’s time to create some new patterns.

It’s been said that up to ninety-percent of our day is decided by our habits. That’s a frightening statistic if we haven’t been paying attention to them.  The good news is that habits are developed. You created yours—and you can change them.

5 Steps to Great Writing Habits 

1) Recognize Your Habits - To cultivate good habits, we have to pay attention the patterns that currently exist. Think about the routines you follow. What do you do

• First thing in the morning?
• When you sit at your computer?
• When you wake up on Saturday?
• When you start to brainstorm?
• When you come home from work?
• When you begin writing?
• When you start to edit?
• When you get stuck, frustrated or bored with a piece?

Write down all these patterns.

Determine if you habits help or hurt you.

2) Determine If Your Habits Help or Hurt You – Now that you have a list, how well are these habits working for you? Most activities aren’t innately good or bad. It’s how they affect our lives or the lives of others that make the difference.

Perhaps you write after lunch each day. That’s your routine. Great. But what about those days when you eat a heavy meal? Do you find yourself drooling on your keyboard twenty minutes into your work?

Perhaps you do dishes after dinner. You feel frustrated because your writing project is waiting, but you frequently get new ideas for stories as you slosh suds over a dirty lasagna pan.

Which habits, or parts of your habits, make you a better writer? Which pieces need to be adjusted?

3) Make Small Changes – When looking at how to improve your habits, start with the easiest one first. Attain early success by giving yourself a short distance to move. Then pursue the next most reachable change.

Dave Ramsey, author of Financial Peace and noted debt-busting guru, shows the power of making small changes through his Debt Snowball. In this process a person focuses all his financial energy on his smallest debt, making extra payments until the debt is gone. That success spurs him to tackle the next smallest debt. Soon, he’s conquered multiple debts and the Debt Snowball is rolling.

If you recognize your unproductive writing habits but aren’t sure how to improve them, pick up one of these books:

• The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

They’re filled with examples of what good habits look like. Hint – If you’re in a hurry, try Austin’s book. It can be covered in a couple of hours and will give you good ideas. Twyla and Charles’s pieces are more in-depth, but well worth the time.

Celebrate improvements.

4) Celebrate Improvements – This step is frequently overlooked, but it’s so important. Take time to recognize the positive changes you see. Developing good habits, much like writing a book, doesn’t happen overnight. If you don’t appreciate the improvements you’re making, you’re likely to burn out. Then, there’d be no fire to light your writing journey.

5) Repeat – I always think about shampoo at this point. The directions on my bottle state, “Lather, rinse, repeat.” If we’re developing great habits then we “Assess, improve, repeat.” We go back to the beginning and keep refining the patterns we’re creating.

So, study what makes you a better writer. Develop habits in those areas. Then, when you have those times where autopilot kicks in, it will be working in your favor.

What habits are building you up as a writer? Which ones need a reset?

Remember to leave a comment and be entered into the drawing for a copy of the book!
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Organizing Your Computer for Writers & Speakers

by Cynthia Owens

Organizing Your Computer for Writers and Speakers is a 32-page mini book packed with tips, practical advice and step-by-step methods to help writers and speakers take control of their computing spaces. What’s inside:

• The 5 Core Folders critical to organizing a writer or speaker’s computer.
• Tips on why your writing or speaking files are actually the third most important files you keep.
• What information you should be tracking for your speaking engagements and why its so important.
• How to easily organize and later find research documents you’ve collected.
• Free bonus materials you can download to simplify your organizing process.

This #WorkSmarter Mini Book releases Wednesday, October 19^th.

Organizing Your Computer Buy Link:

www.TheEfficiencyAddict.com

Cynthia Owens is The Efficiency Addict, a technical trainer helping writers, speakers and small business owners work more effectively. She runs www.TheEfficiencyAddict.com, which specializes in computer training, business organization, career development and event coordination.

Connect with Cynthia on Twitter and Pinterest.

Twitter: @EfficiencyAdict

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/efficiencyadict