Despite my best efforts, the perfect writing routine has eluded me for years. I thought it was because I was unmotivated, or that I had writer’s block, or because my stories were unoriginal or insert any number of excuses. However, I think my biggest problem was that I just wasn’t consistent enough and didn’t really identify myself as a writer. Check out my Be, Do, Have post to see what I mean.
Since I changed my mindset a couple of months ago, I’ve found that ideas and words have come flowing out of me easier than I could have ever dreamed! I believe it’s because I changed my identity to that as a writer, but I’ve also committed myself to writing every single day. What’s my secret to actually writing every single day? The answer is: a ridiculously low word count target. Seriously, that was all it took.
About six months ago, I bought a new computer because my old one bit the dust. After figuring out how to work this whole new system, I installed my favorite software, Scrivener, onto it. I had this on my old computer and even though I really used it for the very, very basic functions-I loved it! One of the reasons I loved it so much, was because of the nice little window that kept count of my project goal and my daily targets. That’s right, I’m like a horse and very motivated by carrots, or in this case cute little bar graphs.
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Now, when I first got this amazing program, I set my daily targets at 500 words. Seems reasonable, right? Well, that number loomed over my head each day and ended up being a major mental block for me. All. Of. The. Time. When I put the program on my new computer, I set my word count at 200 words per day. I don’t know if you’re a big writer, but hitting 200 words is fairly easy. Like, crazy easy. That’s really just two paragraphs. In fact, this paragraph is already at nearly 100 words, which is really nothing.
There are days I can whip open my laptop and pound out 200 words in less than 10 minutes if I can manage to get to my computer fast enough to put my thoughts down. Also, when I’m on a roll and have the extra time, I can usually exceed that target by leaps and bounds. The low word count goal has been a game changer.
For 2020, I’ve set my intention to write everyday, which for me means I only have to write 200 words. If that seems crazy you’re not wrong, because believe it or not, by following this simple step I can have a 73,000 words long book by the end of the year. Well, that’s if I was monogamous with my projects, which is a rare thing in writer world, I hear. However, I guess these rare unicorns must exist somewhere.
Despite my promiscuous writing practices, I can still get a good distance on several of my projects which is better than anything I’ve done in the past. Watch out 2020-there’s a serious writer here who is going to finally get some projects out into the world!
So, fellow writers out there-take heart. There is no need to set that word count high unless you are just some kind of amazing rockstar. The measly little 200 words minimum per day will get you to your endgame, maybe even quicker than you think because we all know that once you get started with an idea they tend to take on a mind of their own and sometimes it’s hard to stop.
Want to check out my other writing goals? Check out this post and then drop me a comment on what your goals are as well!