First, forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you
whether you’re inspired or not.
Habit is persistence in practice.
~ Octavia Butler
Good Writing Habits Support Inspiration
Inspiration alone won’t get you where you’re going. When inspiration is nowhere to be found, good habits will come to your rescue.
Think of anything you’ve ever achieved. You start out inspired as a tsunami of ideas flood your mind, and your creative juices flow. What a rush. Somewhere along the way, doubt, fear, or “the hard work” and you hit a wall. You can’t remember why you thought you “could ________.” Where’d all that inspiration go?
This is where your “Habit of Writing” steps in for support. Here are a few tips I found searching the web that might help.
1. To create and implement an intention to write, write down a sentence that looks like this: “I will write for (period of time) at (time of day) at (location).” So, for example, “I will write for 30 minutes at 3 p.m. at the kitchen table.” By sitting down each day at 3, you accustom your brain to this new habit. Once your brain can count on you to keep your new habit, you may find that new ideas and inspiration are waiting for you.
2. Make it as easy to write as to pick up the phone. If you want to develop the habit of writing, you have to remove barriers to our practice. One way is to prime your environment with cues to your habit. So, if your intention is to write in the morning at the kitchen table before you go to bed at night, lay out your writing implements —laptop or pen and paper. I take it further by making writing easier all the time: I carry a small notebook in my purse, have one in my car’s glove box, and leave several throughout my house. This way, it’s as easy to write as it is to pick up the phone.
3. Create a ritual and follow the “Two Minute Rule” as a way to prime yourself for your new habit. If your goal is to write at night, you can help to cement the habit by attaching it to a ritual of your choosing, whether that’s a cup of herbal tea or changing into comfy clothes. Each evening, as you engage in the ritual, your brain will anticipate that you are about to sit down and write. Your ritual primes your habit. Next, write for two minutes. If you feel done, stop. Following that two-minute rule is usually enough to get past any initial resistance.
By the way, if I didn’t have the habit of sitting down every Wednesday morning to send out a writing tip . . . . .just saying!
Enjoy!
Jasmyne
