If you wait for inspiration before you write, you'll mostly write when it's already easy. A writing routine flips that around: you write at a set time and place, in an amount small enough to manage even on a bad day, and inspiration can show up whenever it shows up.
Two findings support this. Plans that spell out exactly when and where you'll do something, known as if-then plans, helped people reach their goals far better than simply making up their minds. And when habits were tracked in everyday life, it took anywhere from eighteen to more than two hundred and fifty days for them to stick, but a single missed day didn't affect the habit.
Pick your path based on where you are:
- If you write when the mood strikes: decide when and where.
- If you're short on time: ten minutes is enough.
- If you've lost your routine: start again today.
- If you write but never finish: one next step a week.
A first step today: write one sentence that says when and where you'll write tomorrow, for example "after breakfast, at the kitchen table, for ten minutes."
If you wait for inspiration before you write, you'll mostly write when it's already easy. A writing routine flips that around: you write at a set time and place, in an amount small enough to manage even on a bad day, and inspiration can show up whenever it shows up. Research on plans and habits shows why this works, and why it takes longer than you'd expect. This article walks through that research and offers four paths depending on where you are.
A plan with when and where
In 2006, Gollwitzer and Sheeran pooled nearly a hundred studies on plans that tie an action to a specific situation: when it's morning and I've had breakfast, then I sit down and write. People who made plans like these reached their goals at a clearly higher rate than those who had only made up their minds, with an effect rated as medium to large.
The point is that you make the decision once, ahead of time. When the moment arrives, you don't have to decide all over again, and that moment, when there's something else you could be doing, is exactly where writing usually loses out. You can read more about building these plans in if-then plans.
A habit takes longer than 21 days
Lally and colleagues had 96 people choose a habit to do every day in the same situation for twelve weeks, and measured how automatic it became. The time it took for the habit to come close to its peak ranged from eighteen to 254 days. For many people, then, it takes considerably longer than the three weeks you often hear about, which is what the 21-day myth is about.
Two other findings matter more if you write. Among those who did the habit more consistently, automaticity followed the expected curve more closely. And a single missed day had no meaningful effect on the habit. One day without writing doesn't ruin anything. What ruins a routine is letting a missed day become a reason to quit.
- The cue Same time and place, for example after breakfast.
- The writing Ten minutes, even when it's slow going.
- The next sentence Write down where you'll start tomorrow.
- Tomorrow Pick up where you left off, without searching.
A missed day didn't affect the habit. Keep going the next day.
Small enough for a bad day
A routine that demands two hours and a free afternoon only holds up when life is calm. One that asks for ten minutes holds up even on a Tuesday when the kids are sick. The amount should be so small that you don't have to negotiate with yourself. If you write more on a good day, that's a bonus, not a new standard.
End each session by writing down where you'll start next time, ideally in the middle of a sentence. That way tomorrow's session doesn't begin with searching, it begins with continuing. The fact that better ideas take a while to arrive, and that we often give up just before they do, is covered in the guide to creative discipline.
Four paths, depending on where you are
If you write when the mood strikes. For you if you write in bursts and then not at all for weeks. Make a plan with when and where, and write it as a single sentence. First step: today, write "when I've had breakfast, I'll sit down at the kitchen table and write for ten minutes," with your own time and place.
If you're short on time. For you if your days are already full. Shrink the amount until it fits: ten minutes, or a single sentence. What matters at the start is that it happens, not how much. First step: set a timer for ten minutes tonight and write without stopping until it goes off.
If you've lost your routine. For you if you wrote every day for a while and then stopped. In Lally's study, a missed day didn't affect the habit. Start again with the smallest version, not by making up for what you missed. There's more on getting back on track in coming back after a setback. First step: write for ten minutes today, without rereading what you wrote last time.
If you write but never finish. For you if you have a routine but a project that never ends. This is the most demanding path, because it requires you to decide what finished means. Choose one next step a week, write it down, and show something to someone before it feels ready. First step: write down this week's one next step for your project.
A first step today: write one sentence that says when and where you'll write tomorrow, for example "after breakfast, at the kitchen table, for ten minutes."
This is the understanding and a first step. Atlas is where it becomes a habit. If you add Creative discipline as its own area, you'll find Write without stopping, This week's project and Show someone there as suggestions to make your own, so you can see over the weeks how often it actually happened. Try Atlas free for 7 days, and cancel whenever you like.