You’re Not Crazy For Wanting To Be A Writer

Here’s a simple way to get started (and keep after it)

Photo by Hadis Malekie on Unsplash

Things are crazy right now. (understatement of the year, am I right?)

And with the world under house arrest everyone’s trying to find new ways to generate income. If you’re like me — and you’re on Medium — you’re probably contemplating taking writing more seriously.

I know I have.

But after that first burst of inspiration, it’s easy to fall back into a slump. Writing is hard. It takes persistence. And persistence fades like your barhopping memories when you’re too in your own head.

So — naturally — the key is to get out of your head

Simpler said then done I know. All this additional personal time is actually counterproductive to being in a good creative head space. Despite what a lot of productivity gurus will tell you, having all the time in the world is actually worse for you as a writer.

Yes, you have more free time. But you also have way more anxiety. That makes it harder to focus, making it harder to write.

You also have less structure. Structure is good to have when you’re writing — whether it’s deadlines or just having a place to be. Not being able to have your space outside of your home is the wurst (yes, I am aware that’s not the correct spelling).

The task of writing a new article can seem insurmountable when your brain is overloaded with all these factors.

So — instead of focusing on the task of writing something big — focus on the task of writing something small. Make a goal that you know you can achieve.

Would it be crazy if you decided to only write a single sentence?

I know, it doesn’t seem like a lot. And it might not seem satisfying.

But I urge you to try it. Try writing just one sentence.

Chances are, you won’t stop there. But set the goal of writing just one.

And watch your productivity increase.

Don’t believe me? Try it.

There’s a psychological reason why this works — we, as humans, hate open loops. Once you start something, it’s extremely hard to stop.

But we often have a major problem starting.

So stop looking ahead and focus on that first small step.

Strategy: Focus on writing your first sentence. Then — if it feels natural — continue.

Try to write a single sentence for 7 straight days. If you are able to write a single sentence every single one of these days, try a goal of two sentences. Increase the amount by one sentence each week until you miss a day. If you miss a day, back down a word (i.e. if you made it to 7 sentences without breaking the streak but then miss a day, go back to 6 sentences per day until you hit another 7 day streak). For each consecutive day you miss, take your goal down by a sentence.

The goal of this exercise isn’t to be the most productive right away. It’s to be the most productive over the long-term.

You’ll see some immediate gains — remember, after that first sentence, feel free to continue to write. But it will be nothing compared to what you’ll gain in your future career as a writer.

Because when things get back to the new normal, you’ll find out if you truly are a writer by the amount of words you’ve written.

And that can only happen if you finish that first sentence.