Ever feel like you have no time for writing?
It’s not that you don’t want to write nor that you’re lazy.
But modern life is filled with competing priorities.
So, the question is, how do you write a lot and still have a life?
Psychology professor and author, Paul J. Silvia, answers this question and the response is simple:
- Develop a brief daily writing slot (even 20 minutes will do)
- Defend that time vigorously
That’s all there is to it.
Silvia’s published more than 10 books while building a successful career. (And he has kids!) So, he knows about writing a lot while balancing life’s demands.
His advice is remarkably simple, and it’s based on proven human behavior.
Below, I’ll cover Silvia’s practical tips for how to write a lot.
How to Write More
The reality is if you want to write more, you need to build the right habits.
Here’s my own experience with writing more:
I’ve been writing professionally for more than a decade. Still, finding time to work on non-urgent writing projects, like this blog, hasn’t always been easy.
My writing productivity jumped once I started writing every day before doing anything else.
I write more now than ever before thanks to a daily writing hour.
It’s a slice of quiet time before the kids wake up, and it looks something like this:
- Wake up
- Have coffee
- Write for 45 minutes
In this lecture, academic Paul J Silvia discusses the simplest strategy for making writing time.
Now, though his tips are for academic writing, his advice is relevant for anyone in any industry.
The trick, said Silvia, is to find time for writing without letting writing dominate your life.
“(It’s) very hard to find time to write. People have lives, they’re trying to carve out some semblance of lives. It’s natural to feel stretched for time.”
By following his strategies, you could be writing more in under four weeks.
5 Steps to Crafting Your Writing Slot
Raise your hand if you ever spent hours writing, carried away on a wave of creativity?
And then…nothing for a few weeks.
You’re not alone.
Silvia discussed two of the mistakes people made when they approached writing:
- Impulse: write when you feel like writing
- Willpower: write when you need to write, like you have a deadline
He explored each of these motivations:
Depending on impulse was like gambling:
“The problem with gambling is not that you never win, you sometimes win. You don’t know when it’s going to be, so you get the occasional reign of time when you feel really good about your writing and you strangely feel like writing…
“And then the next day you don’t feel good about writing and you’re going to wait and you’re left with the sense that people who are really at writing are sort of special because they must feel like it more.”
Next, he looked at willpower. Let’s say you have an urgent deadline to meet.
You’ve put writing off forever, but eventually, the deadline comes due. You stop doing everything else and focus all you attention on writing for a short burst:
“This is binge writing time.”
Both approaches won’t give the one thing you want: to write more.
Then there’s habit.
Silvia makes a surprisingly irresistible case for a writing habit:
“(Habit is) the most humble, least sexy motivation. This is the kind of motivation that gets it done…Willpower is strong, impulse is strong, habit is patient and implacable.”
Why do habits work so well?
Silvia explained the psychology of habit development:
“Habits are active mental systems that are vigilant they’re always looking, they’re looking to see, is it the time for this, is it the place for this, is the stuff for this around.”
This is exactly why bad habits are so hard to break.
“Writing is hard, painful, you don’t like it, you don’t feel like doing it, there’s no time for it, it’s a job for habit.”
Now, let’s look at practical ways using habits to write a lot.
Here are some practical tips for getting started with your writing habits.
- Start small
You don’t need to start writing 1,000 words a day.
In Tiny Habits, BJ Fogg said big life changes take root in small daily actions.
When he wanted to establish a flossing habit, he started only with flossing one tooth each.
How do these tiny chunks of time help you write more?
English novelist Anthony Trollope divided his writing time into blocks of 15-minute sessions. He is considered one of the most productive writers, publishing 47 novels, 18 non-fiction pieces, short stories, and plays.
Some days, I write for just five minutes. On each individual day, it seems like nothing. But those small slots add up and set the foundation for sustainable writing habits.
If you want more resources on habit development, check out Fogg’s site. He also has a free Tiny Habits programme.
2. Get a schedule you can defend
When it comes to scheduling your writing slot, you must pick times that are “reasonable and defensible”, said Silvia.
Look at your day and be realistic about when you can write.
For me, that’s before my kids wake up and my work day begins.
So, scan your daily schedule and identify the parts of the day when there no demands on your time.
3. Treat it like a class
Approach these slots like a writing class. Silva said this strategy worked because we have “good mental models for class”.
Writer Jeff Goins said he approached writing practice like a job.
4. Track your writing
Silvia tracks his writing by using a table and marking whether he wrote or not on that day. This is a great tool for showing you what you were doing and reinforcing the right behaviour.
Another motivational tip you can use here is “Don’t break the chain”.
If you believe Hollywood lore, comedian Jerry Seinfield used this strategy to improve his skills.
The idea is to complete an action every day. Each time you reach your daily goal, you add an “X” to the calendar.
The Doist blog covers a plan for using this method: Accomplish Your Big Goals With Don’t Break the Chain
If you stick to this strategy for at least four weeks, you’ll find yourself writing more and more every day.
“You are not waiting to feel like writing. It is part of a routine that happens,” said Silvia.
5. Eliminate Distractions
The best way to write is to remove distractions. For me, that means turning on a timer and putting my phone in another room.
A good strategy to improve your focus is this technique from Cal Newport’s book, Deep Work.
Select a project and give yourself a tight deadline, not one you have no shot of meeting, but with the knowledge that finishing in time will require deep focus.
In doing so you “practice resisting” the urge to give in to the temptation of distraction.
The work I produce when I can achieve this far surpasses the output I deliver during periods of distraction.
Another thing: whenever you read writing advice online, consider the person’s context. I have young children. If I want to write in the morning, I need to be awake before them. And, I have a remote full time writing job.
Image credit: Shurkin_Son/Shutterstock/Standard License
